May 30th - Nice (DT to Monte Carlo - Monaco)

 An international day trip today, to the sovereign city-state of Monaco.  Home to about 38,000 people, and recognised as one of the most wealthy countries in the world, at just 2.02 square kilometres it’s the second smallest country after the Vatican.  It’s also the most densely-populated sovereign state in the world, with over 19,000 inhabitants per square kilometre, and we reckon that most of these were on the train with us on our journey from Nice! 😆

When we arrived the whole place seemed to be in a state of destruction as there were hundreds of tradies disassembling the seating stands remaining after Sunday’s Monte Carlo Grand Prix.  Walking around what seemed to be most of the circuit it was interesting to see how close some of the track is to the bay, which was itself full of international mega boats.  Obviously a big attraction as the bay even had its own large screen set up so the ‘Uber-rich’ could watch the race in comfort! 🍾🥂

We spent some time checking out the boats and then headed up the hill to the ‘Vieux Ville’ (the ‘Old Town’) and the cathedral.  The latter, the final resting place of the Monégasque Royals (Monégasque = Native of Monaco), is pretty impressive.  Lovely on the outside, the interior, built of a dark grey stone, is almost austere, but the golden mosaics, religious artefacts, and renovated paintings really stand out against their dark surroundings making it pretty special.  All up a simple yet beautiful space and with probably the most common reason for a visit being that Grace Kelly is buried there next to Prince Rainier. 



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