47 - Monaco, Mirage and Reality ... and Grace Kelly

THE METROPOLE,  THE HOTEL DE PARIS  and THE HERMITAGE: Monte Carlo

Lobby of the Hotel Metropole, September 2013

     I have never been a big fan of the Principality of Monaco, that little kingdom just a few miles from Nice which was put on the map for most Americans by the actress Grace Kelly almost 60 years ago.

Monaco is to my eyes one of the great myths.   I think to most Americans it is perceived as a rather undefined, romantic, glittering jewel somewhere in the Mediterranean.  In reality, it is a bit of all the aforementioned, but also an inordinate amount of high rise buildings squeezed into less than one square mile.  Everything seems unreasonably expensive, and nothing any prettier than the rest of the French Riviera.  Its charm depends pretty much on exactly where you find yourself and how much money you wish to spend for the privilege of being there.

Vintage photo of overgrown Monaco (Google)

Still, for a hotel buff like myself, Monte Carlo (Monaco's only city) does have some world renowned luxury hostelries.   I've never stayed at any, but I have done my share of strolling through the lobbies of the Hotel de Paris (generally thought to be the snazziest, though the day I last walked through, it had the ambiance of a crowded train station), the Hermitage and the Metropole.   Each of these top three have award-winning restaurants.

Plenty of Ferrari at Hotel de Paris

  The Louis XIV restaurant at the Hotel de Paris is the most famous and has garnered the top accolade of three stars from the French bible of gastronomy, the Michelin Guide.   It is also the most expensive, and is in fact so far out of the ballpark by my standards that I have never been tempted to make the sacrifice.

We intended to celebrate at the Hermitage's restaurant, Le Vistamar, on my last birthday, and  had reserved a beautiful table on their terrace overlooking the port.   When time came to order, however, we were peremptorily informed that due to some unconvincing circumstances, the prix-fixe menu had been canceled.   So exit the Pleasants-Paladinis.   We will never know what we missed.

A stroll through the Hermitage

We did lunch recently at the Metropole's starred restaurant; it was delicious as well as elegant, and the special midday menu was, in fact, wonderful value for money.

  A tuna and eggplant terrine to start a memorable lunch

 at Joel Robuchon's restaurant in the Metropole Hotel

Whenever I partake of an exquisite meal, it inevitably puts me into a kind of glowing mood.  In the case of Monaco, it allows me a certain indulgence.  Let's just say that after a supremely satisfying gastronomic tour de force at the Metropole, with its perfect service, refined decor and view of the Mediterranean Sea, I tend to recognize a bit more charm in this tiniest of all countries.

* * * * * *

When the late Prince Rainier announced his intention to wed Grace Kelly in 1955, most Americans had never heard of Monaco.   I once read a survey in, I think, Time Magazine in which over 50 percent of those questioned thought Rainier was the king of Morocco, and few of the remaining polled actually knew on which continent Monaco was located. 

The wedding 1956 (photo AP)

I remember the year of the royal wedding (which created probably the first international press frenzy of the TV age) as television and written press from all over the world pushed and shoved their way into the miniature kingdom to record the event.   Make no mistake about it, they were not so very interested in Prince Rainier or his stern-looking family.  The excitement was all about the arrival of Grace Kelly, who was already internationally known as Hollywood's most beautiful, most talented, most regal.

As she began to find her footing within the complex world of the palace and establish herself in Monaco, some of the American press tended to make fun of what it perceived as the parvenu  princess' increasingly British accent and  grand manners.

For the French press, however, she could do no wrong.  They pretty much gave her credit for putting the class back into the Grimaldi royal family.  At the time of her arrival, Monte Carlo was very much on the skids.   Unsavory international elements had increasing control of the city-nation's financial institutions and tourism was in a downhill spiral.  French President Charles de Gaulle was growing impatient with the country's lax immigration controls and money laundering scandals.  He was seriously threatening to revoke the country's independence, and there were even hints of deploying the army.

It was a surprise my first trip to the south of France to discover that Monaco was not an island, but just a natural extension of the French hexagon in every way other than its charter of independence.

Its sovereignty has depended for the last hundred years or so on relatively short-term agreements with France allowing it certain advantages (such as the all important no-taxation treaty), while assuring various privileges including French military protection.

De Galle had a conflictual relationship with the personality-challenged Rainier.  Many historians feel that the French president's contact with the personable Grace was fundamental in defrosting tensions between  the two governments.  The former actress's arrival, because of her international popularity and her talent as a good-will ambassador, coincided with an important increase in American and British tourism which helped save her adopted country from bankruptcy.

Revered by her Mediterranean countrymen, both in Monaco and France, for her beauty and her charm, as well as some legendary kindnesses, Grace's 1982 death following an automobile accident at the relatively young age of 52 assured her enduring legend and guaranteed her popularity in Monaco for generations to follow.

Mystery lady checking out the Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo

SIDEBAR:  More about Grace

Pre-Monaco Grace (photo Life Magazine)

I had a client-friend in the 1970's, whom I originally knew in North Carolina, and after retirement he was appointed director of the American School in Paris.  Princess Grace was on the school's board and she had been instrumental in raising considerable funds.

Bill swore by her, and he said everyone on the board had pretty much fallen in love with her.  He said she repeatedly reminded board members to call her by her first name, and took obvious pleasure in going around the corner to the neighborhood cafe on Avenue Bosquet with the others after each meeting.

* * * * * *

Vintage Baker poster

  When Josephine Baker (the black singer originally from St. Louis who became a music hall superstar in France) fell on hard times in her declining years, she turned to her friend Grace who installed her and her large family of adopted children in a comfortable property in the South of France.

The day of Baker's death, the week of a triumphant comeback on the Paris stage, Grace had spent most of the afternoon visiting with her compatriot in her dressing room at the Bobino Music-hall. 

 * * * * * *

Beseeched by Alfred Hitchcock to star in the film "Marnie" in the early 1960's, Grace first thought it possible.  Rainier was not in agreement,  but she stood her ground and officially announced her desire to return to Hollywood for one film, adding that all compensation would be donated to Monegasque charities.

Alas, there was a loud public outcry in the tiny constitutional monarchy.  An official survey revealed an overwhelming majority of Monaco citizens were vehemently against her return to acting, however briefly.

It was reported to have broken her heart, but Grace accepted the inevitable and renounced a screen comeback.  For the rest of her life, the popular princess confined her artistic endeavors to poetry readings and pressed flower arranging.  

With Hitchcock on the set of "To Catch A Thief"

 

Your input is welcomed:  hotel-musings@hotmail.fr

 [Photos are mine, unless otherwise credited]

CROSS REFERENCING … a look at other postings

Grace Kelly was also mentioned in musing No. 35, "Hollywood on the Hudson" and musing No. 20 "Decaffeinated coffee ... in Hungarian?"  (to access, click on titles) .