Following the Formula One track - One way to see around Monaco

Monte Carlo - Thursday

When we first discussed this holiday we looked into the possibilities of travel in Italy and also wanted to see Barcelona and Madrid. It was Drew who suggested we use Monte Carlo as the hinge point from one country to the other. Drew has been a big fan of Formula One for a long time, certainly long before I knew him and we have been together for 12 years. So I expected the Monte Carlo bit of the trip to be his favourite, but he had so enjoyed Florence (and indeed most of the other places) that it would have a lot to live up to.

Booking hotels in Monte Carlo was not easy, both Booking.com and Hotwire had no where actually in Monaco for the days we wanted to stay, only hotels in the French regions around the principality. Drew had therefore searched Trip Advisor and pointed me in the direction of the Hotel Columbus, which had been previously been owned by David Coulthard. We booked this direct and it was therefore the most expensive hotel of our holiday. Compared to the hotels in Florence and Naples it was not at all exclusive in look or feel. Indeed it had the smallest and least well kept room of all of the hotels in which we have stayed so far. This got Drew on a whinge about the expense of the place which was not helped by last night’s dinner. When we first went into the town Drew started checking prices and asking ‘how can they get away with this’. Now as we were on holidays I don’t mind a bit of extravagance, but Drew felt the whole of Monaco was there to rip him off.

 

Still the hotel had its advantages, and one was the amazing view of the Mediterranean and the Rivera that it provided. How about this picture as the view to wake up to in the morning.




As it turned out even with Drew in that negative frame of mind we had a good morning. Drew had researched a blog which outlined the walking route of the Monaco Grand Prix. Thanks to Javier for making it so easy for us. As the most iconic Formula One race of the year its corners and bends are the best known in the sport. So we followed the blogs guide and had a wonderful time walking the track. Perfectionists may argue that we missed the point by going the wrong way around, but I was certainly grateful, it meant we came down the steepest hills not walked up them! Drew was enthralled and for a couple of hours forgot his whinge. I remembered why we had put this place into the holiday plan. 

Drew on the track

The great thing about the formula one track is that it takes you to all bar a few of the significant sites of Monaco as part of the journey. So we started in the harbour with all the wonderful boats. We walked past the Swimming Pool that gives its name to part of the track. We stopped at the point where so many drivers have skidded or crashed as they come out of the tunnel. We went under the tunnel itself and climbed the bendy corners of Mirabeau.

We came to Casio square with the most famous of the Monte Carlo casinos, indeed I mean The Monte Carlo Casino, the Hotel De Paris and the Cafe De Paris, the wonderful Casino gardens and on from there to walk down the steep hill the track takes. It never looks this steep when watching F1 on TV. 

The hill brought us to another famous corner – Sainte Devote. At the corner was the pretty church which gives the corner its name and celebrates Sainte Devote the patron saint of Monaco and the Monegasque people. From there we came to the area where the race is started. The starting grid is still marked out on the road, so Drew got very excited and took numerous pictures of which this is only one.

Back at the swimming pool I made the mistake of suggesting a stop for a coffee and water each. This came to 14.30 Euros. An outrageous sum as far as Drew was concerned so he was back on to his theme of the rip-off principality. We continued out walk by going along what is used as the pit lane in the race and on to La Rascasse, a casino that gives its name to another of the corners in the race.


Having done the formula 1 track it was clear that the key things missing from our visit of Monaco was the Market, the Prince’s Palace and the Cathedral of Monaco. We walked up to the Place de Armes, only a short distance from La Rascasse, and took some photos of the excellent fruit and veg available there. Across from the Place de Armes there was a steep hill to get to the Prince’s Palace, so we began the climb. Drew was amused to note that the sign pointing to the Prince’s Palace also had one below it pointing to a defibrillator – yes it was that steep. I’m not sure if it is all the walking we have been doing over the last fortnight, but the climb up the hill was much easier than I expected. We only stopped on route to take photos of the various gates along the way (and some snaps of the boats in the bay). 

We came up to the Prince’s Palace and Drew remarked that it was more like a Disney palace than a real one – even down to its built in gift shops – like all good Disney palaces.

From the palace we walked down to the Cathedral, this was spectacular. I guess it must challenge the Prince when he is worshipping here to know that all of his ancestors are around him, indeed the past princes and their wives almost circle the sanctuary area of the Cathedral.

I’m not sure what St. Nicholas’ connection with Monaco is, but his relics are venerated in the Cathedral and there were a number of statues and paintings in his honour. I guess as the patron saint of seafarers he has a vested interest in a princedom completely encircled by the mountains and the sea.

The Cathedral also had a lot of small stained glass windows, you will see many of these on Flickr. It also has an amazing organ which changes colour as you watch it, fascinating.


From the Cathedral we walked on past the national aquarium and down a steep path that led back to sea level. From this point Drew took a serious of photos giving a 360degree view of Monaco.

On reaching the sea we walked back up to the Place de Armes and visited a little restaurant we had seen earlier. This was called Restaurant Eden, we sat in plastic chairs on a table outside. The weather in Monaco was only 29 and after the temperatures we’ve faced over the last week or so it seemed almost cool.

We started our meal with Drew having Oeuf Mayonnaise, yes we had the joke about one oeuf not being enough!! They were served on a bed of lettuce and Drew said the mayonnaise was spiced with mustard. I had Assiette de Chacuterie, which seemed like a bit of a cheat, simply having the French name for the Antipasti I’d been eating on and off for a week or more. Still the selection was very clearly French meat not Italian, so it was a nice change.

For our mains I opted for Bifteck Grillé, this was served with pomme frits, and the steak was really nicely textured and cooked as I like it – i.e. not burnt. Drew obviously still had pangs for Italy as he choose Penne Bolognaise and really enjoyed it.

Having completed our meal we sat finishing off our water when, inexplicably, the chair leg gave way. I was suddenly moving from a position of sitting at the table to one of heading backwards and downwards without my own volition. The temptation was to grab the table, which would have brought water bottle and glass down on top of me, luckily I resisted that and gently went with the motion of the chair, which landed on the ground on its back without any of me touching the floor. So I was able, once it had finished falling to stand up and show the severed leg (it was about 2/3 of the way down) to the owner, who seemed to take it for granted and removed the offending chair and the remaining bit of leg. We finished off with a coffee each and paid. Drew was relieved to note that here reasonable prices remained and we paid 45 euros, only 10 more than for a similar meal 2 days ago in Naples.

We walked back to the hotel along the port and looked at a wide variety of restaurants in that part of town, the area is called Fortvieille. Drew started checking menus and saying, I’m not going somewhere where they charge 20 for a starters etc. So when Dinner time came around he suggested we go to Carrefour (about half a mile away) and buy ourselves a picnic. As we walked from the hotel to Carrefour we passed Jenson Button’s father John. We hadn’t been looking out for racing drivers, but accidentally came across the parent of one anyway.

We went to Carrefour bought our food, for 8.47 euros and had dinner in our room. Drew felt he had got one over on the expensive prices of the Monegasque. Though I’m not sure they will have noticed.