In 2010 we spent 5 weeks travelling to Italy, Monaco, France,
Germany and Switzerland by train.
If you aren't familiar with riding trains in Europe, check
out Using Eurail.
Monte Carlo, Monaco
It takes 3 trains, including one reservation, to get from Monterosso to Monaco, the stops being Genoa and Ventimiglia.
The last section of open seating took us to our personal travel disaster in Monte Carlo. This town too was over run, this
time by the time-trials for the Grand Prix. First it was difficult to exit the train, as there were throngs of people waiting to
board the train. They rushed 5 deep from across the entire platform. As I tried to step out onto the platform, the flood blasted
me backward. Those behind me shouted and pushed me out the door through the massive surge. When we tried to exit the
station, the exit was blocked with chain link fence. An attendant finally explained in French that we would need to go to the
end of the platform, turn left, take a tunnel that led to a side street and then climb the hill if I wanted to get to the aquarium at the
Musee Oceanagraphique, (which Jacques Cousteau was
once director of). Basically, the cab or bus ride normally taken would need to be made on foot today. My travel companions
will never forgive me. We had to ask directions twice more along the way and climbed a hill with numerous steps with our
luggage. Along the way I got pics of the race trials, the Palace, the statue of Grimaldi, the
Cathedrale de Monaco and finally the aquarium. If
we had arrived any other day, we could have taken the Azur Express Tourist
Train to easily see all the sites in a very short period of time.
Monaco Cathedral
Seating for the Grand Prix of Monaco
The aquarium was a disappointment. It wasn’t nearly as nice as some other aquariums, such as
the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta or the Maui Ocean Center. It was a
small aquarium that took up the lower two floors of the building. The third floor was a strange museum with some old relics from d
iving, bones of whales structured to complete skeletons, fossils, wooden boat models and various sea creatures preserved in
formaldehyde. The top floor had some views of the city and the ocean, which was probably the best part. All in all, a disappointment.
Not a great experience and some very unhappy travelers, who were developing calluses from pulling their bags. We found a free bus
down the hill, but had to walk through town and then walked on the closed freeway that led to the train station. We got seating on the
section to Nice and when we got there our hotel was visible
from the station, so the angst over finding it disappeared immediately.
