Bonjour,

Monte Carlo is one of Monaco’s ten wards. Monte Carlo means “Mount Charles” since it’s located on a prominent escarpment. Based on the size of Monaco at about three quarters of a square mile, all ten wards are crammed together, so you really can’t distinguish them. They are all part of a very small and crowded city-state. Monaco and Monte Carlo must be a very safe place because policemen were everywhere. In the past times, Monaco was a tax haven. But today, it’s money comes from Finance (we were told).

1. Monte Carlo is in this photo. Up above the harbor, you can see the twin towers on the Monte Carlo Casino.

2. Here’s the front of the Monte Carlo Casino. We went inside but it was ten dollars to get into the actual casino. But our son told me that ten bucks only gets you into a display area casino. I went to the door and he was right. He found out that you had to put down $1,000 Euros to get into the ‘real casino’ – the one that you see in the movies. Needless to say, I didn’t even give them the ten bucks. But it is a very striking building both inside and out.

3. This is just to the left of the prior photo. The casino is in back. Many of the people eating along the street appeared to be in the ‘high roller’ category.

4. This is just to the right of the casino. This is the Hotel de Paris, established 1864. We decided to have a look inside, but the three guys in the lower left corner decided that we didn’t deserve to see the inside. It didn’t bother me much but it lowered my opinion of Monaco.

5. This is the Monte Carlo Casino again. It has a big lawn area in front with lots of flowers and art. For a crowded area, this section of Monte Carlo had lots of plants and grass.

Voila,

Bill