The Casino District of Monte Carlo

1st June 2013

 

Just atop the hill behind the Buddha Bar is the main centre of Monte Carlo. The 3 most important buildings of the city are located here - the Casino Royal Royale, the Café de Paris and the Hotel de Paris. The Casino also houses the 'shopping mall' where all the designer shops are found. In front of the Casino and the Hotel de Paris - rows of Ferraris , Lamborghinis, Maseratis and what not are parked  much to the envy of the many tourists who took the chance to take pictures of themselves posing besides these expensive cars.

 

 

 

 

 the mall section of the Casino Royale building

 

 pond with reflecting globe to capture the surrounding scenery

 

 the F1 crowd has definitely left for the next destination

 

 the Hotel de Paris

 

 the Café de Paris

 

 the little garden in front of the Casino, Hotel and Café

the scaffoldings of the seating for the F1 held last week

has not been dismantled yet

 

 the Casino

 

The Buddha Bar Monte Carlo

1st June 2013

 

Just past the Fairmont Hotel - perched on a hilly corner is the Buddha Bar of Monte Carlo. The surrounding area is filled by a clean green and pretty garden with cacti and flowers in bloom.

 

 

 the Buddha Bar seen from the front of the Fairmont Hotel

 

 sishas, cigars, drinks and food with music to liven your spirits

 

 decorative statues as you walk up to the Buddha Bar

 

To the Fairmont Hotel

1st June 2013

 

 

Just beyond the Grimaldi CC - we now headed towards the Fairmont Hotel - one of the more expensive hotels of the city and an important landmark along the F1 Monaco circuit - the Fairmont Hairpin Corner and the Fairmont Tunnel underneath the hotel. 

 

 

 a bronze sculpture of a F1 car

 

 the western end of the Pr Grace Avenue

 

 our hotel is at the top end of this beach

 

 another famous F1 Monaco spot - the tunnel underneath the Fairmont Hotel

 

 the Fairmont Hotel

 

 the Fairmont Hairpin Corner

 



The Grimaldi Convention Centre

1st June 2013

 

Just before we hit the Monte Carlo city centre - we reached the Grimaldi Convention Centre where meetings, concerts and exhibitions are held. There was a run taking place in aid of the Cardio-Thoracic Centre of Monaco which started and ended here. An art exhibition was on at the lobby. On the wall the upcoming "West Side Story" ballet was being advertised and a Jazz Festival would be on in July and August featuring Santana, Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker and many many more jazz artistes that made us wish that we could come back here in 2 months' time.

 

 

 

 

 a bronze sculpture at the Grimaldi CC

 

 hey! this looks like Florida or California!

 

 modern glass-walled Grimaldi CC

 

 West Side Story - the ballet

 

 art exhibition in the foyer

 

Jazz in July and August

The Princess Grace Avenue

 

1st June 2013

 

Princess Grace Avenue runs parallel to the sea along the eastern end of the Principality. Hotel Le Meridien is at the easternmost end and a short 10 to 15 minutes walk takes you to the centre of Monte Carlo. Layers of highrise apartment buildings rise up the hilly terrain from the sea. The beach is fronted by rows and rows of cafes and bars on top of which  is the wide walkways/embankment where folks jog and walk from early in the morning.

 

The weather was a pleasant high teens and it was so nice to walk along the clean and prettily mowed lawn with beds of flowers decorated with sculptures at different spots along the way. 

 

 

 

 

 clean walkway along the Pr Grace Avenue

 

 expensive apartments for the rich and famous

 

 the Sea Club along Pr Grace Avenue

 

 sunny and cool enough for a tee-shirt and cap

 

 art decorations in a small runabout

 

 bronze sculpture adorning the walkway

 

 

The Principality of Monaco is about the size of the Central Park of New York. Its 40,000 population has the most number of billionaires, millionaires, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Maseratis, Porsches and mega-yachts per square foot area of land in the world. These are facts told to us by our limousine driver in the deadly early hour of the morning from the Nice Airport to our hotel a few hours ago.

 



A French Escape

31st May 2013

 

When pakdokter's partner was away in Japan in March and April pakdokter decided to plan a 2 week break in Southern France. With a bit of good luck pakdokter managed to secure the last cabin on the Avalon Waterways Cruise - a 10-days river cruise starting in Arles along the Rhone River through Provence and up the Saone River through Burgundy and on to Paris. The first 3 days would be in Monte Carlo which is a separate holiday from the cruise. The flight on MH to London was quite full - perhaps due to the school holidays. But honestly the last few trips on MH recently has seen its planes quite well filled up which augurs well for the airline.

 

We had a 4 hour transit at Heathrow Airport before connecting on a BA flight to Nice. By the time we landed in Nice it was almost midnight and our pre-booked limousine taxi took about an hour to reach our hotel, the Le Meridien in Monte Carlo. We both crashed into bed only to wake up to a bright sunny morning. Le Meridien is a deluxe hotel located on the beach front. Breakfast was great and Illy Coffee ( the same coffee that pakdokter is selling in pakdokter's newest business venture - the 'Caffe Dottore" mobile coffee van in Kuala Lumpur) is being served at this hotel.

 

As in France, the selection of bread in Monaco is great and we had a hearty breakfast in preparation for a full day plan to explore this tiny Principality.

 

 

 

 

 our hotel in Monte Carlo - the Le Meridien

 

 the garden fronting the sea where breakfast was also served

 

 the beach of the Le Meridien Hotel at Monte Carlo