Page 100 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

98  PROVENCE AREA B Y AREA

Exploring Monaco

After the Vatican, Monaco is the world’s smallest sovereign state.
It covers 1.95 sq km (0.75 sq miles), about half the size of New
York City’s Central Park. Its inhabitants, 20 per cent Monégasque
citizens, pay no taxes and enjoy the world’s highest per capita
income. Monégasque, a Ligurian language derived from Provençal
French and Genoese Italian, is reflected in street names, such as
piaca for place, carrigiu for rue, but the official language is French.
The euro is used here and most of France’s laws apply. Monaco’s
road network is complex, so drivers should plan routes with care.

the Salons Privés and American
games in the Salle des Amériques.
Renowned French marine explorer
E Nouveau Musée National Jacques Cousteau
de Monaco
Villa Sauber, 17 ave Princesse Grace. E Musée Océanographique
Tel 00 377 98 98 91 26. Villa Paloma, Ave St-Martin. Tel 00 377 93 15 36 00.
56 blvd du Jardin-Exotique. Tel 00 377 Open daily. Closed 1 Jan, Grand Prix,
98 98 48 60. Open for exhibitions only, 25 Dec. & 7 = 0 Cinema.
check website for details. Closed 1 Jan, ∑ oceano.mc
Grand Prix, 19 Nov, 25 Dec. & 8 Founded by Prince Albert I in
∑ nmnm.mc
1910, this clifftop museum has
Monaco Grand Prix, one of the major Two spectacular villas house this an aquarium filled with rare
attractions of Monte-Carlo museum charting the cultural, marine plants and animals, a
historical and artistic heritage of collection of shells, coral and
+ Palais Princier the Principality. The Villa Sauber, pearls, and a life-sized model
Pl du Palais. Tel 00 377 93 25 18 31. a fine example of belle époqueépoqueé of a giant squid. Marine explorer
Open Apr–Oct: daily. & architecture, hosts entertain- Jacques Cousteau was director
Monaco’s seat of government, ment exhibits. Villa Paloma, here for 30 years until 1988. The
this castle-palace is protected by with its beautiful Italian garden, roof terrace offers superb views.
cannons donated by Louis XIV, shows modern and contemp-
and sentries who change daily orary art, architecture and design. Y Jardin Exotique
at 11:55am. The interior features 62 blvd du Jardin Exotique. Tel 00 377
priceless furniture and frescoes. R Cathédrale 93 15 29 80. Open daily. Closed 19
Ave St-Martin. Tel 00 377 93 30 87 70. Nov, 25 Dec. & = 7 restricted.
E Museum of Vieux Monaco Open daily. 7 ∑ jardin-exotique.mc
2 rue Emile de Loth. Tel 00 377 93 The 12th-century church of A vast array of magnificent tropical
50 57 28. Open Jun–Sep: Wed–Fri. St-Nicolas was replaced by this and sub-tropical plants grow
The museum houses a range 19th-century Neo-Romanesque here. The adjoining Grotte de
of exhibits such as paintings, building in La Turbie stone. Its l’Observatoire, is where prehis-
ceramics, furniture and costumes, old altarpiece, by Louis Bréa, toric animals lived 200,000 years
demonstrating the heritage of is by the ambulatory, with its ago. The Musée d’Anthropologie
Monaco. An initiative taken by tombs of princes and bishops. Préhistorique, accessible via
the representatives of the old The much-mourned Princess the gardens, displays prehistoric
Monégasque families to preserve Grace is buried here. tools, figurines and bones.
their national identity, the place
allows visitors to catch a glimpse
of daily life in the old days.
P Casino
Pl du Casino. Tel 00 377 98 06 21 75.
Open from 2pm daily. & 7
∑ casino-montecarlo.com
Renovated in 1878 by Charles
Garnier (see p55), the casino sits
on a terrace with superb views
of Monaco. Its interior is still
decorated in belle époqueépoqueé style.
Roulette is played in the opulent
Salle Médecin, blackjack in The casino’s magnificent Salle Médecin
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp198–9 and pp208–11