Tax-haven on the sea

Trip Start Apr 08, 2007
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Trip End Oct 01, 2007


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Flag of Monaco  ,
Sunday, May 13, 2007

Here we are in the land of yachts, luxury housing and tax-dodging millionaires. It's all a bit grotesque and tacky in parts, frankly, no matter how beautifully situated it is. The fact that such mini-states like this exist for the sole purpose of letting rich people avoid paying their dues like the rest of working humanity makes it a little difficult to praise the place. But I guess people are fascinated with royalty, or what makes for it nowadays.

At first I thought the place was rather modern and soulless, but I was surprised to find that a tiny old town exists up on the hill outside the royal palace. That was actually kind of interesting to explore today, even if it didn't take very long. And the bay below was quite attractive and postcard-perfect, no matter how many Gibraltar-registered yachts were clogging up the seafront. I can't really see the point of coming back to Monaco though - I guess pseudo-nations like this are mostly there for novelty value on the tourism level. That and for those who want to say they gambled in the world's most famous casino.

Apart from our sojourn to Monte Carlo, Mayu and I had a great time wandering the tiny streets of little Eze, an old medieval city sited on the top of a mountain 20 minutes outside of Nice. The Jardin Exotique at the apex of the mountain provided absolutely jaw-dropping views over the mountains and Mediterranean. Once we finished taking it all in, we stopped for a sandwich and then hoofed all the way down the mountain via a hiking trail. In about 40 minutes, we arrived just down the road from Eze-sur-Mer station from where we were able to catch a train onwards to here, Monaco.

From now it's back to Nice for dinner and then off to the station once more. Tonight we say farewell to France - around 7:30 tomorrow morning we'll be in Venice, Italy. Looking forward to a fine meal of pasta and wine!
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