As it is the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, I thought I would re-post this thread I did on Monaco some time ago.
This blog is about everything decadent (as the tag-line for our company is “Decadence for Divas”) and what more decadent a place than Monaco.
If you are from the USA you have Vegas. But if like me you are from Europe, then we have to settle for this little principality.
I have been to Monaco a few times, but the thing that strikes me is just how over-crowded and built up it is.
Here are some more facts I’ve gathered about the “playground for the rich and famous” :-
*Monaco is only about the size of Hyde Park (London), which is only about 350 acres. Now you get a feel for just how small this principality is.
*70% of people rent their homes in Monaco, including one of their richest residents Sir Phillip Green (owner of TopShop).
*the average rent for a “normal” apartment in Monaco starts at 25,000 GBP/ $40,000 or 30,000 Euros PER MONTH!
*A 4 bedroom duplex, facing the harbour will set you back 60M Pounds to buy. That works out to about 30,000 GBP/squared metre!
* 1.5 Million GBP will buy you 47 squared metre; basically a shoe box with no garden, or no pool. The most basic accommodation you can imagine.
*There are more millionaires per squared metre than anywhere else in the world.
There are approximately 2,000 Millionaires and 50 Billionaires currently living in Monaco.
*There is NO crime, and the papparazzi are banned from the principality.
*Every car license plate is scanned and recorded as it enters Monaco.
*The streets are scrubbed clean every morning, and there is no graffiti anywhere
*40,000 workers from France cross the border everyday to work.
*Monaco is 6X the size of the Vatican
*It is the most densely populated independent country (as you can see from the photos)
*The Gran Prix started in Monaco in 1929,and is now broadcast to 100M people. It is now deemed the most glamorous Gran Prix in the world.
*Lets not forget the principle reason people move to Monaco; it is a tax haven.
* Jack Nicholson called Monaco “Alcatraz for the rich!”
So there you have it, some trivia about one of the most glamorous places in Europe.
If you could, would you want to live there in a shoe box simply because your postcode was Monaco? I’m really not sure I would. I think I would prefer to live just across the border in France and get more “bang for my buck!”
I would love to hear your views, and if Monaco is on your list of “Places to see before I die!”
I've always wanted to visit Monaco! Just to see it. Just to be there for a brief get away. Thank you for sharing this post! I enjoyed it immensely.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to visit Monaco, but I certainly wouldn't want to live there. I don't necessarily have modest means, but I would be a poverty-stricken church mouse compared to the other residents. I wouldn't want to live someplace wehre I couldn't enjoy the city as a normal resident.
ReplyDeleteBut VISITING is something different!
Thank you Jenni and Rebekah.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you Rebekah-a wonderful place to visit, but quite superficial and unreal to live there (or perhaps it's sour grapes!)
I loathe Monaco. Apart from one street ir's just a vista of ugly concrete high rises, there are so many beautiful little villages nearby which knock its socks off.
ReplyDeleteIt's just a tax haven trading on a once glamourous name.
The first time I visited I was slack jawed, thinking this is it, this is what all the fuss is about? Let's get out of here!
Gosh, I would love to see Monaco. Good or bad, it's a place I'd love to see at least once! It is definitely on my list of to-do's! (ps ... anyplace on the water holds a certain "must-see" for me!!! ;) xoxo)
ReplyDeleteSandy and Tabitha
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comments (sorry for the delay in responding, but blogger was misbehavin'!!)
@Tabitha-I totally agree with you about the gorgeous villages when you just cross the border. It's certainly not the place I would choose to live if I was a millionaire ;-)
@Sandy-I do understand the fascination with the place. I was the same when I first went. When I returned ( a little older and wiser) I was actually a little disappointed. But worth visiting once (maybe on your way to visiting me in Spain ;-)
I think Monaco is really fun to see and to visit. We stay just down the coast every summer but always go each year to visit Monaco for the day - last summer we went several times, they have amazing fireworks in the summer, best fireworks I've ever seen!!
ReplyDeleteI think you have to take it for what it is and just appreciate that. It is built up and can be busy...it's full of tourists, some of whom are a little glitzy, shall we say.....but it's also fun! I love seeing the super-yachts in the harbour and the fabulous cars outside the Hotel de Paris. It is fascinating. And the cathedral and the Palace are beautiful...as is the Oceanarium, my children loved that!
I love to go for the day but am always glad to return home at night :)