Monte-Carlo, Monaco – first impressions

I began taking pictures before the ship was tied to the dock. The coast is very vertical. The country has only one private beach but there are beaches nearby in the neighbouring countries of France, (Nice) and Italy along the coast known as the French Riviera.

This is Hercules Port. As we were approaching the port I saw an amazing fortress on the coast behind the point of land on the left where the flag is flying above the horizon. Unfortunately, I was not at the right point with the camera ready to take a picture of it. It was actually the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. (possibly a prison also.) I have some pictures from the top of that hill that I will show in a later post.

The picture below shows Monte-Carlo with the Hotel de Paris in the center, the cylindrical building and the white building behind it. The brown building to the right of that is the casino facing the mountain, and the Opera de Monte-Carlo in the same building facing the Port. The right end of that building is the Ballet de Monte-Carlo.

There is some construction scaffolding near the side entrance of the opera space. Isn’t the carving and color around the side entrance impressive? The left part of the lower picture may be the Rotunda Restaurant of the casino.

The Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo is a unique building too with the cylindrical structure facing the port and the classic architecture facing the casino square. Rates for rooms in the hotel vary depending on the view you have with the best views over the casino square and the port and Mediterranean Sea.

Here are some more random buildings near the top of the casino square. Do you recognize the couple in the middle of the fountain?

From the harbour, it looks like it is going to be a great day.

Setting out for a fun day in the sea.

– Where do you want to go today? –