To the Grand Prix in Monaco (Royal Clipper Cruise Part 1)

In the evening, the sails were set in Cannes with the song 'Conquest of Paradise' and our ship sailed towards Monaco.

The next morning, we were able to go ashore there, but it took a while with the tender boat, as we had anchored quite far outside.

Many cruise ships and yachts were anchored in front of Monaco or used tenders to go ashore, as it was the Sunday of the Formula 1 race.

One of us had already gotten a ticket beforehand and immediately made his way to the racetrack.

Here, all dangerous objects were collected during the security checks. In Monaco, this also includes things that are considered harmless elsewhere: here, there seems to be a special danger from bottle caps. Although you could bring water bottles, you had to unscrew the cap and dispose of it.

The race turned out to be rather predictable and unfortunately did not create much excitement. Some seat neighbors even left before the end - which is strange considering the ticket price of several hundred euros...

The other person was less interested in cars driving in circles and wanted to explore the city instead. However, this is not such a good idea when a Formula 1 race is taking place in Monaco.

The streets were not only full of stands and people, but also blocked off around the race track for everyone without a ticket.

The first information at the tourist information center was that the casino was not accessible, but the gardens in front were. However, on site I unfortunately found that everything was fenced off and due to the grandstands and fences, there was no nice view at all.

So I continued walking towards the 'Jardin exotique'. Monaco is built on hills, so I had to walk uphill, although I could occasionally take a public elevator for that.

From above, however, I had a nice view of the city and the old harbor.

First, I wanted to take the bus from there to the old town, but since I would have had to wait for a while, I decided to continue on foot.

In principle, the distance was not far - unfortunately, there were those hills again. Because of the differences in height, I ended up walking back and forth until I finally reached the last uphill stretch to the Palais Princier.

I walked around the old town a bit and past the huge Oceanographic Museum.

The viewpoints overlooking the old harbor were accessible. The ones on the other side, facing the city, were either blocked with huge panels or fenced off, so you could only enter the area with a view of the Formula 1 track with a ticket.

The organizers obviously wanted to make sure that no one could take a look at the track without paying. Some people still tried to see or take pictures through small gaps in the metal panels that obstructed the view. I managed to take a photo through one of them, but I couldn't see anything.

In the Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate, I came across an excited Italian tour group who loudly observed the graves of Princess Grace of Monaco, who died in 1982, and her late husband Prince Rainier III.

Then I made my way back to the pier to start the rocking journey back to the ship.