Monaco - 2km² of Grandeur - Mikayla Jane Travels

Monaco was a place of golden, shiny, unnecesary wonder. A place where even your dreams seemed insignificant next to the realities of some. The grandeur of the second smallest country in the world is truely unbelievable.

We only spent around 3 hours here, heading over in the evening while staying in Antibes.
A quick drive along winding coastal highways; the boats, cars, houses gettting bigger and bolder as we drove closer.Topdeck provided an incredible picnic on the drive over, as the prices for meals in Monaco were way out of a campers budget.
Dressed in our best, we pretended our juice boxes were fancy champagne, complimenting our cheese platter and handmade mish mash burgers.

First landmark we saw was the Oceanographic Museum. The building itself is a 106 year old historical masterpiece, perched on the edge of the mythical Rock of Monaco. The founder, Prince Albert's vision was to 'Gather together the two driving forces of civilisation: art and science.' Jellyfish, octopus and fish encase its doors, behind which over 6000 specimens are on display.
This is one building on the top of our bucket list for 'next time'.

We made our way up the coastal slope passing apartments that left our jaws permanently dropped. We snapped piccies at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral where Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III. A nice little piece of history to which my grandma seemed most excited.

We continued our way up to the Prince's Palace. Here, history tells of how Monaco has remained true to it's ruling family, through many different interferring nations. The statue on the side of the courtyard, deceivingly innocent, is of a man, in 1297, who pretended to be a monk in need. This man and his small army were invited into the Palace, feed and sheltered, to later kill the ruling italian family and return the nation to it's French roots. This site is the original site of Monaco's fortress, dating it's independance. The building remains true to it's history through it's unique architectural quirks.

curtis very excited at formula one race track monaco europe

We then moved on to the Monte Carlo Casino! Finally able to get our fancy pants on! This was a real eye-opening experience. Standing out the front, you will be gobsmacked at the dollars casually cruising around. Visitors with the best of the best are encouraged to park their treasures out the front of this Casino, to help add to the grandeur. If a BMW is parked and a Bentley pulled up, the lesser would be swapped and valeted underground.
Vroom vroom! Curtis was especially excited to see the iconic Monaco Grand Prix Formula One circuit. As we watched the million dollar cruises passing on this regular city street, Curtis added the F1 sound effects, like a kid in a candy store!
To enter the Monte Carlo Casino, there is a 10 Euro entrance fee, but just to be inside and able to gawk at the jewels encrusted on the walls and roofs, is well worth it. We ordered fancy cocktails and watched blackjack, where the bets consisting of multiple zero's had us nearly choking on our drinks. I played my luck on the pokies and came out even, winning back all of my spendings for the night!

Our night ended with an evening stroll along the water, sea breeze in my hair, splurging on the most expensive ice cream I've ever purchased, and seeing a convertible Range Rover.
The history, coastal landscape, and over-the-topness jampacked into this tiny place left it a unique vivid memory as we continued our European Adventure.