Monaco, Part 1: Monte Carlo

Here begins what I expect to be a five to six-day series of posts on our visit to Monaco and Nice this weekend.

We arrived by train, first taking the Italian regional train, then transferring to the French regional train. The French trains are already nice to begin with, but we were even more shocked by how unnecessarily nice the station in Monaco was.

Welcome to Monaco! In addition to being the most densely-populated country in the world, it is also one of the richest, with around 85% of its population being classified as "wealthy." I guess they have enough money, if even just from tourism alone, to make everything as nice as possible.

A common misconception is that "Monaco" and "Monte Carlo" are the same, or that the country of Monaco consists of a single city called Monte Carlo. I have at some point believed both of these, which are in fact not the real case. The country and the city are both called Monaco, while Monte Carlo is merely a ward (i.e. district), of which the country has ten.

Monaco is widely known for its dense industrial development, and the harmony between the buildings and their environment, which consists of a small shoreline surrounded by hills. (Views of the whole city to come in the next post!)

At the heart of the country is the harbor, which separates the new, industrial ward of Monte Carlo from the old, royal ward of Monaco-Ville.

One of Monaco's most famous attractions, and probably one of its greatest sources of income, is its casino.

In front of the casino is a beautiful garden by the seaside, which is actually also the roof for the hotel portion of the casino! I bet these rooms cost a fortune.

On the other side of the casino, an excellent view of the hills in the back of the city.

The Tour de France kicked off from Monaco on Saturday, July 4, and these signs were found all around the city. A ton of people from all over the world showed up to see Stage 1, which I will also highlight in a few days.

Here's a preview of what the crowd was like, close to the finish line of the course.

Needless to say, I was quite excited to be celebrating Independence Day by cheering on in particular the seven US riders in the Tour de France! You may have heard of one of them... Mr. Lance Armstrong, who was come out of a three-year retirement to ride without salary and promote his cause of cancer research.

Near the starting line - some of the official Tour de France cars that travel with the riders through the course of the race. Also my new desktop picture!

Tomorrow and Wednesday: Monaco-Ville (the old city) and views from the hill, and scenes from Stage 1 of the Tour de France!