If Monaco didn't exist, some impresario like Walt Disney or Bugsy Siegel would have had to invent it. This tiny principality (half the size of Central Park), occupying a steep, rocky coastline between the French Alps and the Mediterranean, has become the world's most elegant playground, a fantasy world that cunningly attracts all of society's strata and a lot of its cash. Po' folk and teenagers take the train from Nice or Genoa to view the myriad free attractions that cram the tiny place, while spending what they can at sidewalk cafes, street vendors, and the outer rooms of Monte-Carlo. Celebrities, royalty, and the monied classes play expensive games in the casinos' inner sanctums, stay in hotels that easily outshine the palaces of the real royals, and partake of food and entertainment that (at their best) rival most others on this planet.Under Prince Rainier III, Monaco runs like a state-of-the-art entertainment machine. Beside food and drink, gambling, 300 days of sun, and the Mediterranean, there is hardly a day that goes by without some planned attraction, festival, rally, holiday celebration, or fair.
Once almost the exclusive franchise of Air France, Monaco is now easy to reach via Delta Airline's New York to Nice run. The flight seemed even sweeter when we thought of how we bypassed the usual Paris madness to land at the far more civilized Nice-Cote d'Azur Airport. From there, a seven-minute helicopter ride with Heli Air Monaco brought us almost to the door of our destination, the Hotel de Paris, enviably located right in the heart of Monte-Carlo, with a view of the palace, Old Town, the harbor with its rows of sparkling white yachts, and the Casino. Of course, the hotel comandeered the best location in town because it got there first--a century ago, when there was nothing but olive and lemon trees--and was especially designed to complement the spectacular casino...in one fell swoop turning the impoverished principality into a worldwide attraction. Modeled after the Grand Hotel on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris, it has only gathered dignity with the years.
A natural first stop from the hotel was the legendary Monte-Carlo Casino. To say it's the world's most elegant gambling hall is to beggar its historical importance and architectural accomplishment. The fact that an entire nation (small as it is) depends on the casino (not only for its worldly existence, but its whole raison d'etre) elevates it to mystical heights. It caters to the risk-takers and wannabes on several levels. There is a moderate charge to enter and use the beautiful salons. Even beyond that is a super private casino that allows in but 11 high rollers at a time--minimum bet is 20,000 French francs ($5,000), maximum is 350,000 FF. Needless to say, it is wired, bugged, and cameraed better than any MGM lot. The common folk can throw their francs into slots in the outer rooms or play a bit more seriously at American Roulette, craps, and blackjack in the American Room (no admission charge), or simply walk around the huge lobby, grab a peep at the distinctive opera house which adjoins, use the loo, and bask in the myth.
But it would be a decided mistake to think of Monaco solely as a gaming capital. It is an unending surprise to see how so much has been squeezed into so little. The principality is divided into several sections. Monaco Town is located on a small peninsula that juts into the sea encompassing the famous Port. Here are located the narrow alleys, shops, and cafes of Old Town. Places worth seeing are the Oceanographic Museum and its Aquarium-- spotlighting the work of Jacques Cousteau, the Museum of Monaco, the Museum of Napoleonic Souvenirs and, best of all, the Prince's Palace. While you can't go into the state apartments, much is open to the public-- including the Throne Room, in use since the 16th century.
In addition, there's the newly installed Seabus submarine that leaves from the main harbor and allows passengers a view of Monaco's underwater landscape through its transparent acrylic hull. You can explore unusual terrestrial flora and fauna in La Condamine and Fontvielle. Monaco's famous zoological garden is operated in accordance with today's new thinking (puleeze don't call it a zoo!) where work is done to save numerous endangered species. Fontvielle Park provides a haven of calm greenery and a freshwater pond with ducks and swans. Nearby is the Princess Grace Rose Garden, another serene hideaway fragrant with the scent of more than 3,500 rose trees. In this, as in all specialized endeavors of the Prince, experts from around the world were called in for guidance. Schlock and compromise are words unknown here. Also in the quarter is the Louis II stadium, one of the world's largest and finest sports complexes and scene of a multitude of international sports competitions.
Perhaps the most unusual area is the Exotic Gardens and Observatory Cave. The gardens are laid out along the mountain side (really a cliff), and contain more than 7,000 varieties of succulent plants from all over the world. The view is spectacular, and if this weren't enough, stairs from the gardens lead 60 meters down to a prehistoric cave complete with world-class stalagmites, stalactites, and limestone concretions. Also nearby (isn't everything in Monaco?) the Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology traces the history of the human race with exciting finds, generally local.
Finally there is the casino area itself, with its beautifully kept gardens leading to the shopping area. As you would expect, this is the place for cosmopolitan shopping with a French accent. The boutiques and shops here are second to none for fashions, accessories, just about anything from the luxurious to the sublime. But you will find no more original gift than the Monegasque handicrafts sold at the boutiques operated by the Princess Grace Foundation. There is something of a personality cult rising around the memory of Princess Grace since her tragic automobile accident a decade ago. You'll see her name everywhere--the Prince is making a kind of, ahem, Graceland, out of Monaco.
No matter where you shop, passport-carrying Americans don't pay the value-added tax applied here. And while you're in the area, don't miss the National Museum with its collection of dolls and automata from the 18th and 19th century. A must for the kids.
Small as it is, if you opt to stay in Monaco, and not travel in from Nice or Cannes or even Italy, there is a pretty good range of hotels. One of the most imposing structures is the angular and multi-terraced Loews Monte-Carlo, literally a few steps from the casino. This is an American-style hostelry, with all the amenities American travelers expect and then some. It's ironic that the one quintessential American hotel in the principality also has the only year-round "Monte-Carlo"-like show, a folies review complete with chorines--both topless and not--singers, dancers, and acrobats. The other place to go in Monaco for a "really big shew" is in the Monte-Carlo Sporting Club's Salle des Etoiles. The Club is operated by La Societe des Bains de Mer, Monaco's main tourist organization, which owns four of the finest hotels in Monaco -- Hotels de Paris, Hermitage, Mirabeau, and the Monte-Carlo Beachotel, as well as the Golf and Country Clubs, several other facilities, and the Monte-Carlo Sporting Club with its "Theater of the Stars." This futuristic, glittering palace of schmaltz has a huge roof that opens to the heavens. It has attracted the brightest of earth-bound stars such as Liza Minelli, Julio Iglesias, Donna Summer, Elton John, and many others. This summer alone, between productions of its gigantic stage show, have appeared Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross, Shirley Bassey, Joe Cocker, The Temptations, Trini Lopez and James Brown among others.
We spent our last evening dining at our hotel's Louis XV restaurant, one of the finest and most elegant gourmet restaurants in the world (it is the only 3-star hotel restaurant in Michelin and well deserved). This rococo wonderland is drenched in gold--from the glittering architectural highlights to the gold flatware and plates. Service is nonpareil--to insure perfection, they actually iron the linen right on the tables.
No question that Monaco is one of the planet's most interesting man-formed pieces of real estate. It is a crossroads for pleasure-seekers of every conceivable (socially acceptable) taste. Whether it's a high-stakes game of chemin de fer, a one-franc one-armed bandit, elegant churches, natural history museums, food, shopping, sports, or an evening of spectacular entertainment, it all can be found 365 days a year in that 2-square kilometer piece of fantasy called Monaco.