I was recently in the South of France for a work and added an extra day to my trip to go check out the wealthy principality of Monaco. Home of the Monaco Grand Prix, this sovereign mini-state has the highest number of millionaires and billionaires per capita in the world and levies no income tax on its citizens, which results in the perfect circumstances to see exotic cars everywhere you look. In fact, the residents are so wealthy they aren’t even allowed in the local casinos for fear they will gamble away their large inheritances, so what better way to spend your money than on a car?
I stayed at the Fairmont Monte Carlo which is part of the F1 course where the famous hairpin turn is. The hotel is also one of the fanciest hotels in the city, so the valet parking is one of the best spots for car spotting. If you’re not familiar with the F1 course, check out this video to see one of the most technical and harrowing tracks on the F1 circuit that goes right through the heart of this wealthy city, and they specifically call out where the Fairmont hairpin turn is so you can get an idea.
As an Audi lover, it was also neat to see forbidden fruit we don’t have here in the US, like the RS4 Avant, RS6 Avant, and even the RS3 sportback. Along with this were plenty of Bentleys, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche, and countless more. I found myself constantly muttering under my breath in disbelief after each exotic drove by like it was no big deal – the exotic cars really are as common as the economy cars.
I missed a lot of good pictures either due to not being ready or not having my camera on me, yet still managed to grab a ton of good ones. There also happened to be some kind of rally going on the first day I was there, which made for some cool (yet somewhat blurry) photos.
You can check out my Flickr at the bottom of this post for a full gallery of my ~24 hours in Monaco, but I highlighted some of my favorite in this post. Enjoy, and be sure to check out Monte Carlo sometime if you ever get the chance!
Full Flickr gallery:
