ONE PERFECT DAY Monaco Monaco is a magnet for the rich and famous, a dazzling collage of yachts and cruisers in Port Hercules, fast cars, S and hotel porters weighed down by designer shopping bags. ge ma y i WORDS SUsan SKELLY tt hy: gehy: rap og T ho P Once labelled “less a real country than a glorified safe deposit box”, the tax haven of Monaco stands tall in glitz, glam and high-density living. Drop in via cruise ship, helicopter (seven minutes from Nice), or via curvaceous mountain roads. Monaco is tiny, about 2sq km, although desperately trying to grow. A 6ha waterfront commercial/residential reclamation development at Larvotto is in the pipeline. Each May, the throaty grunt of F1 engines is background music to both day and nightlife as the principality becomes a Grand Prix racetrack. Summer has a full program of festivals, alfresco dining and open-air cinema. However, the glue that holds the place together is the Grimaldi legend. Princess Grace, the Hollywood star who married Prince Rainier III in 1956 and died tragically in 1982, has goddess status. The streets are named for Grace and her family, and a revamped rose garden in her name will flourish again this year. Port Hercules, Monaco (7am, left); Princess 07:00 08:00 Grace of Monaco Stroll Route de la Piscine by the Join the early risers at the local market, (above) sparkling, choked marina and watch Le Marche de la Condamine, in the Place the deckhands cleaning up after a d’Armes at the foot of the Rock, or night on yachts the size of three-storey Monaco-Ville, the old part of town. Find apartments while the populace sleeps in abundance: fruit and vegetables, off its hangovers. This is my-boat-is- flowers, fresh fish, souvenirs, breakfast, bigger-than-your-boat territory. pastries and, of course, coffee. 106 QANTAS JANUARY 2014 JANUARy 2014 QANTAS 107 Clockwise elegant, full-length portrait by Mohamed with one wing of state apartments open menu lists Monegasque specialties. this way, the italian Riviera that way – Clockwise from top left: Drisi; family photos; trinkets such as a to the public (€8 entry). The Palais is a henri geraci’s dishes are as pretty before exploring the terraces. There’s a from above left: rs Le Vistamar e Jardin Exotique 09:00 Connemara marble casket given to the sumptuous history lesson – Louis XV and creative as they are colourful: a limestone cave at the base of the cliff 17:00 (8.30pm); Princess rn (2pm); La o Monaco and irish literature are entwined Grace Irish Library princess on an official visit to ireland in furniture, 15th-century frescoes, C Japanese take on foie gras, and sorbets that can be explored with guides. Montgolfière HER: Shop like a millionaire. The /4 in an unassuming library, opened in 1984 (two images, 9am); 1961 (many newspaper clippings on that); Florentine cabinetry, damask and R of paprika, tomato and strawberry. if it’s 18 (12.30pm); streets around the hôtel de Paris o L Mirror Gallery in ; parked scooters y and built upon a 500-book collection and books inscribed by her uncle, the US silk brocade wall finishes, marble, gold rs booked out, try the more casual drop-in are luxury label overload – Lanvin, ta e Prince’s Palace purchased in the 1970s by Princess grace (11am); Le Marche actor and playwright george Kelly. leaf, chinoiserie vases, Venetian glass W eateries in the cobblestone laneways. givenchy, hermès, Chanel, Louis o ard P de la Condamine h from the estate of irish diplomat Count What’s cool is its time-warp nerdiness: chandeliers and paintings of grimaldi C Vuitton, Valentino, Dior. Less credit-card i R 15:00 (8am) ard : gerald edward o’Kelly (no relation), a words, leather bindings, history and ancestors and other nobility. Prince h Pay a little more for the garden ticket heartburn is Le Metropole Monte-Carlo, rs C i e R nod to her irish (via US) roots. Located in heritage, far removed from the spray Rainier III is in the throne room on T and you have entry to Le Nouveau a mall beneath the Metropole hotel, hy: hy: oo Monaco-Ville (9 Rue Princesse Marie-de- tans, stilettos and high gloss of modern canvas with his celebrated princess and sc Musée National de Monaco’s Villa open on Sundays in July and August ; rap 14:00 Lorraine, 9350 1225, www.pgil.mc), it Monaco. open Monday to Friday from children Albert, Caroline and Stephanie S Take the no.2 bus from its terminus near Paloma, a three-level modern art gallery, when nearly everything else is closed. ge og T houses personal effects of the late 9am to 4.30pm. grimaldi, all chocolate-box cherubic. ma the Princess grace irish Library to the which is an easy walk down the hill A special destination nearby is Paris 8 ho P St Nicholas Cathedral next door y i princess, just about every book ever tt other end of the route: the exotic (56 Boulevard du Jardin exotique, haute Parfumerie (5 Avenue Princesse e 18 R È : ge printed about her, and an extraordinary provides a rich soundtrack of bells. i garden atop Monaco (62 Boulevard du 9898 1962). Coming up is Richard Alice, 9797 1884) for temptations in N lf collection of irish literature, from history e Jardin exotique, 9315 2980), a confluence Artschwager! (February 20-June 22) premium niche perfume. go ard to literary criticism, poetry to politics. nt of magnificent vista, breeze and botany. with more than 145 works spanning HIM: Walk or take the no.5 or 6 bus ; g o S 11:00 i M A sewing basket belonging to grace head up the hill (bus no.1 or 2) to the rb This hanging garden of prickly cacti and six decades – sculptures, paintings, to the Fontvieille to see the private la o C Kelly’s mother is there, complete with Prince’s Palace atop the Rock. Built in & fleshy succulents – punctuated by drawings, photos and prints – from an collection of Prince Rainier III’s antique T y: y: 12:30 e R the unpicked name tags of grace and the 12th century as a genoese fortress, Popular with locals, La Montgolfière 18 e purple bougainvillea and yellow artist associated with pop, minimalism cars: there are 100 of them on show all her sisters Peggy and Lizanne; pristine it’s home to his Serene highness Prince (16 Rue Basse, 9798 6159) is a pint-sized mark marigolds – opened in 1933 after 20 and conceptual art. Stroll along to the including lust-after motors from g R y, y, examples of floral bed linen that grace Albert II and his wife Charlene (a South restaurant – it seats 18 – in the old town o years of cultivation. Allow 10 minutes to Anthropology Museum for art more Maserati, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, rr i brar i L designed for the US label Springmaid; an African Sydney 2000 olympic swimmer), near the palace. A blackboard lunch M soak up the spectacular view – France ancient and desiccated. Peugeot and Rolls-Royce. 108 QANTAS JANUARY 2014 JANUARy 2014 QANTAS 109 word up WHITE TRUFFLES IN WINTER NM Kelby (WW Norton) The cook, the beef, his wife and the lovers… the town’s just a bit player in this fictional evocation of Auguste escoffier’s life, loves and langoustines. Buddha-Bar green curry – but the decor is a (8.30pm, above mélange of old european gothic, gilded and right); 19:00 Rolls-Royce Belle Époque and eastern eclecticism. Monte-Carlo SBM, which owns streets (top right) Despite a size that caters to big tables the cream of property in Monaco, for families, special-occasion groups, including the Casino, celebrated its and enclaves of pre-dinner crowds, LOSER TAKES ALL 150th anniversary last year by making 150 Buddha-Bar has an ambient intimacy. Graham Greene (Penguin) grand cru wines – mostly from Bordeaux There are stairs; Jimmy Choo wearers Two lovers at odds over – available by the glass across 20 of its beware! Le Vistamar (9806 9898) at the only-too-magnetic venues. one of the cosiest places to the hermitage is front-row alfresco Monte Carlo gaming tables. experience them is the elegant Crystal Mediterranean. yes, it’s got the luxury Bar & Terrace in the hermitage hotel views, but it’s also got chef Laurent (Square Beaumarchais, 9806 4000). it’s André and sommelier Franck Damatte rs e not every day you get to sample a 2004 – the perfect gourmet storm. Their W o P Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux truffle and lobster degustation menu (Margaux), a 1998 Château Pavie Decesse with matched wines is pure indulgence. ard h C i (Saint-Émilion) or a 2000 Les Forts de R : N Latour (Pauillac). The initiative is ig S anticipated to be ongoing this year, bar - exploring other wine regions. A h 23:00 ONCE UPON A TIME: BEHIND Pop your head into the Casino de THE FAIRYTALE OF PRINCESS budd ; Monte-Carlo (you can hardly come S GRACE AND PRINCE RAINIER ge J Randy Taraborrelli (Warner Books) here without visiting its landmark – ma for the architecture, of course) and y i A pacey, racy behind-the-scenes 20:30 tt look at the royal courtship, outstanding dining includes the cosy, then seek a nightcap at the Bar buzzy Buddha-Bar and the more formal, Américain in the hôtel de Paris or hy: gehy: marriage, frictions, fictions and wow-factor Le Vistamar. Not only is the one of the many small hot spots. rap fiery families – a deconstruction og food at Buddha-Bar (Place du Casino, T of the fairytale that has become For airfares and holiday packages ho 9806 1919) a Pacific Rim fusion – lobster P the lifeblood of Monaco.