Monte Carlo and Monaco, French Riviera

We have been to the French Riviera in the past for holidays and we have visited Monte Carlo a couple of times, the last time was in 2016 to watch the Formula One Grand Prix. We had been looking forward to the Grand Prix for nearly 12 months as we had managed to get grandstand tickets. We arrived early to soak up the atmosphere but it wasn’t the only thing we soaked up … from about 9am it rained heavily. The forecast had been good so we weren’t prepared for torrential rainfall and didn’t have coats with us. So we ended up buying 2 coats in Monte Carlo, not a cheap day out ! Well at least Lewis Hamilton won and the sun come out about an hour after we had bought our coats. Ce la Vie!

So we had said that we weren’t going to visit on this trip but seriously how can you drive past such an awesome place??

As you walk around the harbour it just oozes wealth and glamour, there’s dozens of super yachts with crew working hard cleaning and polishing them up. Probably getting them ready for the rich and famous for Christmas.

We then walked up to Monaco which is the 2nd smallest country in the world, the total area is only 2 kms. However, just over 30,000 residents makes it the most densely populated country in the world. It doesn’t feel like that amount of people live there and it certainly doesn’t feel over crowded. The streets have a few tourist shops, restaurants and there is plenty to see.

The Monte Carlo casino was being decorated with Christmas lights and luckily they had finished putting up the beautiful tree.

Le Metropole shopping centre has a sweeping marble staircase, chandeliers and is full of designer shops. although neither of us are really into our designer clothes it was still nice to go and browse and soak up the atmosphere.