From the Cathedral it is a short walk to the Palace Square where we can buy our tickets to enter the Prince’s Palace. But first we want to explore the outside with the cannons formerly protecting it and the guards standing right in front of it still protecting it, at least in principle.
And then it is time to enter the Palace and right after the entrance we have our first surprise, a beautiful cavern with stalactites right inside the Prince’s Palace. It is so unexpected that we look for quite some time trying the undertand if it is natural or artificial and decide it must be natural.
We enter via an impressive corridor with a beautifully painting ceiling and follow the audio guide to the first room to explore.
The rooms are richly and beautifully appointed with some period furniture and lots of paintings. Quite a few of those are of former princes and princesses but we enjoy the ones that depict cities and landscapes in the area.
We move from room to room listening to our audio guide which sometimes is interesting and sometimes is quite boring especially when describing the tableau of royalty.
The details on the ceiling and walls are quite special and we focus on that and on the changes in wardrobe from epoch to epoch in the paintings. We still don’t know who half of the people are but we enjoy the stories of fighting and how Monaco first increased its holdings and then started to decrease steadily.
There is also a weapons room and we pass through a few other beautiful rooms, sleeping rooms and sitting rooms both being quite special.
Of course the royal bedroom is the most special with lots of detail and following a red pattern. Nearby is a weird exhibit with two heads which we assume are Prince Rainier and Princess Grace made out of precious stones? Not sure really.
And then we have the throne room, actually the throne is a bit small and disappointing compared to other thrones we have seen.
Another section holds paintings both more recent of the royal family with a focus on the famous Princess Grace and paintings of Monaco painters including a scary one, for us, of a huge dark man in the middle of the jungle. Maybe?
You can also explore the library, quite a few books on two stories, not sure if this is the private library or if there is a separate one that the Princes use. It would be quite a bother to get here while everyone is visiting :).
We can also see, but not enter, the private chapel and then it is time to return back to the entrance passing again the interior courtyard which seems to be arranged for a concert or speech. Outside it is time to decide on our next step and we decide to head towards the Monaco Museum of Stamps first.
