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Mantecaos Citron

 

Today we had a fun and tiring day adventuring through Monaco and Menton!

We took the train from Nice to the country of Monaco in the morning. Monaco is an independent city-state that is surrounded on three sides by France! They have their own laws and a monarchy as well. You could tell that we were in a different country right when we stepped off the train. Everything looked very clean, very new, and very nice.

The whole country has a very luxurious vibe to it. Almost all the shops are expensive luxury brands, the food in restaurants and cafés is exorbitantly expensive, and all the beauty dings are beautifully decorated with details. 

Walking through Monaco

We started our 3-hour trip in Monaco by a visit to the Monte-Carlo Casino. Monte-Carlo is one of the 9 districts of Monaco and is certainly the most famous. The casino actually inspired the first James Bond book and the Bond movie “Goldeneye” was filmed here.

Casino Monte Carlo

Inside the casino
Walking through the country, Liam was having an absolute blast following the famous Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 racetrack. This track runs through most of the country and along its harbour… and when there’s no fast cars on it, the track is just a regular road!
The fairmont hairpin - the worlds most famous bend

The race tunnel

Fast car on the racetrack

At the finish line
In Monaco, we also walked up to the Prince’s Palace, a fortress built in 1191! Currently, the palace is home to the Prince of Monaco, whose family (the Grimaldis) have rule Monaco for over 700 years. At noon, you can watch the changing of the palace guard, which was quite cool, especially since we didn’t get to see this in London.


Monaco also has stunning views and a very lovely old town.
Looking out along the coast

Beautiful marina

Monaco streets

The cathedral

Statue of Princess Grace
After Monaco, we hopped on the train for 12 more minutes before getting to Menton, France. This picturesque little town has a funny claim to fame: Lemons! Once a year they hold a huge lemon festival, and during the rest of the year there are many lemon themed treats and art around. 

So obviously, one of the first things we had to do was try a lemon cookie. There were many options and we chose a lemon mantecaos. This treat tasted like a very dense, very moist, very lemony short bread cookie… absolutely delicious!

Lemon mantecaos

We also sampled some lemon liqueur, or Limoncello, some lemon honeys, candied lemons, and of course we had to buy some lemonade. 

The old town of Menton is small, but with many beautiful alleys to explore. There are lovely beaches, beautiful Mediterranean views, stunning stairs, and if you look really far into the distance, you might just be able to see Italy. 

Walking through Menton streets

Famous Menton stairs 

Views from the stairs 

View of Menton from the pier 

Looking out to Italy 


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