Monaco Diaries

When you hear about Monaco, the first thing that comes to mind is that it's the land of the rich and famous.  Do you know how much is the cost per sqm of condos in Monaco?  25,000 euros or roughly PHP1.6M!!!  And that’s just technically air space we’re talking about.  Wow.

 

When we were there, excitement was in the air because it was just 2 days before the Grand Prix. The streets and stores were all dressed up for the Grand Prix. Too bad, we couldn’t stay for it. Since we're in a group tour, we had to stick to the itinerary. 

 

We visited the Grimaldi Palace but no royal family member was in town -  everyone was out of town as signified by the palace flag.

Grimaldi Palace

Grimaldi Palace

According to our tour guide, if Prince Andrew is there, he asks the palace staff to serve tea to visitors. That would have been some experience! 

Anyway, there are lots of beautiful pieces and portraits inside the palace (including that of Princess Grace Kelly’s). I couldn’t share any pics though since cameras are banned for security reasons.

While walking along one of the more prominent streets in Monaco, our tour guide pointed to one of the houses and she mentioned that it's where one of the royal family members lives (Princess Stephanie if I'm not mistaken).  Not sure though which is the house among the photos I took. 😆

We also visited the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception where the tombs of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace Kelly are housed.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

While walking along the harbour, we chanced upon a Pinoy cleaning one of the more beautiful and bigger yachts.   We were dying to know who owns it! Haha… But true to his job, he didn’t squeal such highly confidential info. The only info that he shared is that he knows only one Filipino who ever owned a yacht in Monaco...

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This trip is part of my 20-day, 7-country Best of Europe adventure. Budget requirement is approximately USD3,500 (including airfare, accommodation, land arrangement and travel taxes).