EuroTrip - Day 19

Formula 1 and a Film Festival

Spread in a mere 1.98 sq km, Monaco is the second smallest country in the world. If you take the train from Nice to Monaco - Monte Carlo, it takes merely 25 minutes inspite of the fact that the train stops at as many as 5 stations in between. At no time can you be sure that France's limits have ended and you have entered Monaco. I believe we crossed the border when we were in a tunnel. I hate these tunnels now. There are too many of them and they almost always block a nice view of the outside world. In case of journeys in French Riviera, it means missing out on a view ointment which there is vast seaface on one side and charming towns on other.

The railway station at Monaco is made in a tunnel (or atleast it looks like that) and is at a considerable height. As soon as you get out of the station, you see the Monaco harbour in front of you (actually it is below, you have to get down atleast a 6 story building type of height). It is crowded with luxury yachts of the megarich. They say it is easier to own a yacht in Monaco but very expensive to have it parked in the harbour. Whatever it is, we had our own Monaco-on-foot trip planned with the help of the map which was almost 1/1000th the size of the actual country (PJ disclaimer). We were to be here for a couple of hours only and that means that we would visit just the most important places in town. The aquarium and the palace - the two places make it to our list after considering recommendation from many people. The casino should have been on the list too but we could not accommodate it in our agenda. JFYI, these casinos are the only source of income from the government in this tax-free heaven (ofcourse there is income from tourism and other allied industries).

The walk to the museum takes you through the palace and the cathedral. For a country, that hardly had to fight any war, the palace seem quite well secured (or may be those cannons are ornamental). The aquarium opened at 10 and as we would have wished, we were the first few to enter it. This place has a real corral reef in making under almost natural environment. There are fishes of every kind from all parts of the world to make it as close to reality as possible. We spent more than two hours and I can tell you that you won't get to see as many colours anywhere else. Watching shark was a thrilling experience. In the same tank, they have kept fishes of hundreds of kinds and they struggle for their survival amongst these beasts just the way they do in real world.

The change of guard ceremony takes place daily at 11:55 am and is comical as promised in LP (Lonely Planet - Europe on a shoestring). The place is full with tourists at that time. I am pretty sure if we see the physical distribution of human beings in the country at that moment, the palace will have more population than the rest of the country. As usual our neighbors are there in maximum strength as proportional to their contribution to world population. I feel a guided tour of the palace, cathedral and around should be a good option if you have some time to spent in this country. The history and present of this small country has a lot to tell.

Last but not the least, F1 fan would love to come to see this city as it hosts the only F1 race in the normal city roads (Come on Delhi). We could guess some of the roads that are part of the circuit. I wish they had put road signs and directions guiding F1 drivers too.

This is it about Monaco. We had heard this city (country) also hosts some of the very popular nudist beaches in this part of the world. However, we did not try to verify this. :-)

Cannes is just another town in French Riveira and there is nothing special that you can attribute to this place. Unless if you come here at the time of the Cannes International Film Festival. Or if you like to take bath in a sandy beach. Or if you want to have another panoramic view of the Mediterranean sea. Or if you want to see the shops of who's whos of the fashion labels. For us, it was meant to be a place where we will idle on the sandy beach and listen to some nice music while 'observing' the people around.

So nothing much about our day here. Just that the most attractive crowd in town lands at the railway station but then vanishes. The beaches are flocked by middle age and elderly couples who seem to be on their well deserved vacations. Apart from the artists who put their work on display and sell all along the promenade, I did not find anything remarkable. Still, the relaxation that we had while sleeping on the beach made the trip to this town well its worth. I wish the sun had been a little less harsh, I would have felt like being in heaven.

Tonight we move to Toulouse in a corail train. At 1.5 euro reservation fee, they provide amazingly comfortable recliners. What better way to save money than to spend the night traveling in such comfort. It's time for a well deserved sleep for me. See yea soon.