Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The Word for Today is “Opulence”

A highlight for many on the Penn State trip was the visit to Monaco, home of the House of Grimaldi royal family, lots of extremely wealthy people, and the legendary casino at Monte Carlo.

From our hotel in Nice, Monaco is about an hour’s bus ride along a mountainous coastal road that offers an impressive view of the Mediterranean below -- though not one that’s recommended for those with a fear of heights. The road was known as the Via Julia Augusta in ancient Roman times, and today it goes through such villages as Eze (pronounced “ess”) and La Turbie; the latter has a Roman monument called the Trophée des Alpes, or Trophy of the Alps, which was built in 6 or 7 A.D. to commemorate Augustus Caesar’s conquest of the Alps.

Monaco is its own country, or, more correctly, a principality -- a sovereign state ruled by a prince. Those who follow current events (and the tabloids) know all about Prince Albert and his often-in-the-news sisters, Caroline and Stephanie. On the bus ride we learned more about the history of the monarchy in Monaco: how in 1297, armed men disguised as monks (led by Francesco Grimaldi) conquered the country; how the Grimaldi family has ruled ever since; how Albert I (1848-1922) built an oceanographic museum and brought the Grand Prix race to Monaco; how Rainier became prince in 1949 at the age of 26; how Rainier married Philadelphia-born actress Grace Kelly in 1956; how Princess Grace was killed in a car accident in 1982 on one of the coastal roads above Monaco; and how their son, Albert I, doesn’t have a legitimate heir to the throne, because his only son was born out of wedlock to an Air France flight attendant.

We learned that the residents of Monaco -- called Monegasque -- are plenty wealthy, and on top of that they don’t pay income tax. The famous casino, which was built in 1863, doesn’t bring in much money for the principality, either -- casino revenues account for only 5 percent of Monaco’s income. What does generate revenue is the Value-Added Tax, which you pay on everything from postcards to real estate -- a whopping 19.6 percent.

We Penn Staters did our part to help the local economy, paying 10 Euros each (about $17 U.S.) to get into the casino and then, once inside, pouring some more Euros into the slot machines. The most successful of our group was Janice Meyer, who won a whopping six Euros. Nobody else won a thing. I bought 10 Euros’ worth of slot-machine tokens and lost them all -- and it didn’t take long.

Incidentally, for you blackjack fans, the cheapest blackjack table at Monte Carlo is 25 Euros per game. The most expensive is 10,000 Euros!

Our stop in Monaco also included a visit to the Jardin Exotique (exotic garden), a stop at the Prince’s Palace, which was built in the 12th century as a fortress, and -- because we were only about five miles from the Italian border -- a pasta lunch.

Next it was off to another ostentatious site, the Rothschild villa and gardens along the coast. This would be our last official excursion of the trip, and Ingrid, our guide, said, “We saved the best for last.” The official name of the place is a mouthful: Jardin de la Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild. The mansion and gardens belonged to the heiress Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild (1864-1934); the house has dozens of rooms, all lavishly decorated, and the grounds feature nine different gardens, ranging from a Spanish garden to a rose garden to a Japanese garden. Sculptures, fountains, and a waterfall also provide plenty of photo ops.

The town in which the Rothschild villa is located is called St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. “Cap” means “cape,” and Cap-Ferrat is a peninsula in the Mediterranean. The real estate here is quite desirable: Ingrid said that Bill Gates has a home here, as do several members of the Rolling Stones. None of them invited us over for drinks.

Our next day is devoted to exploring Nice on our own, and then we head home. I’ll send one more posting to wrap things up.

Photos


The Principality of Monaco is squeezed onto a hillside where the Alps meet the Mediterranean. It’s surrounded by France on all sides.


Monaco takes up an area no bigger than New York's Central Park, yet has 32,000 residents. Most are extremely wealthy -- and, by law, pay no income tax.


Penn Staters Donna and Bob Nicely enjoy a lovely view of Monaco from an overlook near the Prince’s Palace.


A luxury villa once belonging to the heiress Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild is now a prime tourist attraction along the Mediterranean, between Nice, France, and the Principality of Monaco.


Penn Staters Bill and Dot Kracht in the Rose Garden, one of nine different gardens at the Ephrussi de Rothschild villa and gardens in France.


Jackie and Jerry Grossman from the Penn State contingent at the Ephrussi de Rothschild villa and gardens.

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