Day out in Monaco

 It was a very short train ride from Menton to Monaco, so we checked out of our hotel, left our suitcases in reception and set off. Monaco is a tiny country, the smallest in the world after the Vatican City, and is only 2.08 square kilometres.

It is also perched on an extremely steep cliff and the train goes through a tunnel deep in the rock. We disembarked and walked a few hundred metres along moving walkways in an immaculate tunnel before suddenly seeing sunlight.

We walked through a doorway and on to a beautiful expensive street with huge fancy high rise buildings. We walked a few metres in surprise, then looked back and the station entrance seemed to have disappeared. There was no station signpost, just an anonymous looking stone doorway that was about the width of a garage. 

We tried to remember what the street looked like to find it again for the journey home and then saw signposts for the Exotic Gardens. We followed them around a corner and to an elevator, where we took the lift to another expensive street. This happened twice more I think, then we walked a little way and arrived.

We have been here before, maybe 15 years ago, and it was as good as I remembered, but last time we didn't visit the caves. These were discovered in 1950 and go nearly all the way down to sea level. 

Back up in the sunshine we sat drinking coffee and admiring the whole of Monaco.

The bay is full of massive super yachts because the annual Yacht Show was held over the weekend and they haven't left yet, or maybe they are just there most of the time. 

We caught a bus back down and tried to see the Casino. Unfortunately we couldn't get near it because they were filming an American film, according to a security guard. He wouldn't tell us what it was, but it's very likely to be Oceans 11 the prequel.

We managed to get round the side and then round the back by the sea for a better angle of the Casino.

Then these are just a few photos that show how every square inch of space is used in this unbelievably built up country.

We were now down by the harbour and walked past a beach with the super yachts bobbing around in the distance.

We carried on walking, and a few minutes later we walked out of Monaco and back into France. To be honest it was a slight relief to get out of the almost Disney like atmosphere of Monaco, and back to a more normal world. 

A few minutes later a bus arrived to take us back to Menton, we picked up our cases and then caught a train to Italy.