Text/Xiong Zongrong
Shortly after leaving Pisa, the car was on the highway to Nice. This area is mountainous, and the mountains are full of clouds and mist, and the rain is thick. On the distant mountains covered by clouds and fog, ancient castles loomed, which looked mysterious and ancient.
This is the southern foothills of the Alps, the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The road winds and curves around the coast of the Gulf of Genoa in a large arc. Driving on this road, look to the right, you can appreciate the dangers and wonders of the Alps, and to the left, you can enjoy the vastness and magnificence of the Mediterranean Sea. However, the road passes through too many tunnels. There are more than 300 tunnels in the whole process, and the longest tunnel is five or six kilometers long, which is the most expensive highway in Europe.
At 4 p.m., as the car was about to leave the Italian border and enter the southeastern French coastal city of Nice, we saw a beautiful city hanging from the coast, the Principality of Monaco.
Principality of Monaco on the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea
There are many small countries in Europe. If the Vatican is the smallest country within a city in Europe, Monaco is the second country in addition.
Located on the Ligurian coast on the border between France and Italy, Monaco is a country built on the cliffs of the Alps jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea. The entire country is only 1.95 square kilometers, 33,000 people. The country's terrain is narrow and long, with a narrowest point of only 200 meters. It hangs diagonally from east to west on the coast of the mountain.
The Principality of Monaco, backed by the Alps
Although small, Monaco is one of the most beautiful and richest countries in the world. On one side is the steep and majestic cliffs of the Alps, with eagles hovering under the blue sky and white clouds on top of the cliffs; on the other side is the majestic Ligurian gulf of the Mediterranean Sea, with seagulls flying on the pure blue sea. The sumptuous villas scattered among the sea-facing cliffs, the oldest castle on the cliffs and the tall, majestic and splendid churches, form a strange and beautiful scenery of the city.
The Principality of Monaco, backed by the Alps
Between the cliffs and the limited gaps of various buildings, there are all kinds of plants and flowers that can only survive in the marine tropics. The long coconut trees are fruitful, the tall oil palm trees sway in the wind, the green leaves and red dry rouge coconuts are graceful, the prickly cactus trees are varied, and the small lawns with stitches are green. Standing on the high ground in the city, looking out at the blue sea, bathed in the gentle sea breeze, people, as if they have walked into a paradise, come to the wonderland of the world, and melt into the natural picture.
Relax in a miniature square on the coast of the Principality of Monaco
Due to Monaco's pleasant climate and picturesque scenery, it is recognized as a paradise for tourists. Every year from July to September, tourists from all over the world flock to the world. Tourism revenue became one of Monaco's largest sources of income.
Monaco is also a famous casino city in Europe, and Monte Carlo is the most famous casino in the world. Gambling has flooded the country, and even eating a meal, drinking a drink, and buying a commodity has the potential to win the lottery. Because the newspapers carry information about various gambling, the city's newspaper industry is particularly developed, with a circulation of 1 million newspapers in a small town of more than 30,000 people!
Monaco is also a well-known tax-exempt country in Europe, where all wages and income of citizens staying in this country are exempt from taxation. Therefore, Monaco has attracted countless giants, movie stars, singers and stars from all over the world. The city's land and housing prices are more expensive than the land prices in Manhattan, New York. If you can't live on land, you live on the sea. The bay is full of wealthy white private yachts, each priced several times more than a building on land! The arrival of the rich developed Monaco's financial industry. Monaco's banks are known worldwide for their creditworthiness and secrecy.
Our cars spiraled down from the heights of the city, like descending stairs in a building, down layer after floor, all the way down to the seaside park by the sea. Don't look at the small city, but because all its roads are one-way streets, although cars are one after another, there is no traffic jam.
Black sculpture in the Principality of Monaco
We walked around the country for a week, enjoyed the strange style and beautiful scenery of the country on this coastal cliff, and then went to the Monte Carlo Club to "dash" for a while, and then the sky gradually darkened.
Monaco is such a small country that there is not a Chinese restaurant in the whole country. We had to take a car and run to the next door in nice city, France, to find a Chinese restaurant and solve the dinner problem for the day. Then we braved the heavy rain back to Monaco and found the small hotel we had stayed in that night in the glorious lights of the seaside downtown area. The same night, eating in one country and living in another, in retrospect, is a bit of a fun one!