Showing posts with label Monaco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monaco. Show all posts

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Monaco And Nice

Monaco

Monaco is a tiny independent nation, tucked into the southern French coast. Its national defense is the responsibility of France, but it is a constitutional monarchy, ruled by the Grimaldi family since 1297, and a full member of the United Nations. The vast majority of its population is wealthy foreigners, who live there because it is a tax haven. Its chief industry is tourism, and its botanic gardens and casino are world famous.

We stopped in for just a couple hours, on a drive from Torino to Nice, and the gardens already were closed.



Beneath this long garden and series of fountains is an enormous garage.



The casino has a strict dress code. Shorts and tee-shirts don't cut it. We didn't go inside.


Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Monte Carlo