Is Monaco Bougie? Yes, Yes it Is

Monaco!

“Can you get me a chip from Casino Royale?” were my dad’s famous last words before we embarked on our journey to France. “Just one?” I asked before hanging up.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll give you a dollar…and 35 cents.”

Apparently, my dad has the same humor I do, as he had also asked for a kilt and a bagpipe when we went to Scotland. I once asked my grandma to buy me a ball-in-a-cup from Mexico.

“A what?” she asked.

“A ball in a cup. You know, a ball on a string attached to a cup. You catch the ball on the string with the cup, dump it out and catch it again.”

“It’s a what now?”

The good news is I got my ball in a cup. The bad news: my dad never did get his casino chip. His request is not necessarily uncommon. Monaco seems to have a stereotype (for lack of a better word) of being “bougie” (pronounced “boo-zhee,” a pejorative of “bourgeois”). People tend to visit because it’s clean, hilly and pinky-in-the-air, nose-turned-up fancy.

No wonder my dad wanted a casino chip. In his eyes, Casino Royale is the be-all end-all of casinos; surely more fancy than casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.

There’s that Mediterranean!

I would agree with this. Casino Royale—and Monaco—is generally very good-looking. Buildings are clean and kept looking new. Shopping is out of this world high-end. Expenses are, well, expensive, including but not limited to restaurants.

Casino Royale is so fancy that they know that no fancy person would shoot craps before 5:00 pm, hence the reason why my dad never got his casino chip.

That being said, Monaco is easy to cover in just a few hours. Every place in Monaco does have a fantastic view of the Mediterranean Sea. Like:

Casino de Monte Carlo Casino Royale

 

Prince’s Palace of Monaco Monaco’s Prince’s Palace. So Pretty

The palace sits atop a hill next to the Oceonographic Museum. It has a tumultuous history of invasion (which is surprising because it’s on a hill, aka: a natural lookout). It’s also a very pretty, somewhat modern-looking palace.

 

The Oceonographic Museum These guys were hilarious Hey, bro

The museum is quite a sight to behold. On the basement floor, there is an aquarium of live jellyfish, sharks, stingrays and other sea animals. On the top floors, there’s the stuffed and skeleton versions of all the cute little sea critters from the basement. Taxidermied animals are never cute. It’s a fairly extensive museum that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea.

 

Jardin Exotique de Monaco A cave in the jardin Miniature Monaco

Founded by Prince Albert I, the garden has a lot of cacti, succulents and a cave. The cave tour is fun and there are no practically no creepy-crawlers inside.

That’s Monaco in a nutshell, a gorgeous principality that’s worth a half-day visit.

Have a coveted view somewhere in the world? Let us know!

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