As anyone who read my last blog post, ‘Monaco: License to Shoot’, will know, obtaining the correct permits can be an onerous task for a photographer in Monaco. I wrote that post with feeling, having been right in the midst of planning a two day travel and food photography extravaganza there. Happily, my permit irritation has now faded, and I can share the results of the shoot itself. Photographing for ‘36 Hours in…‘, a regular New York Times travel feature (you can read about another one in my blog post ‘Marseille? Done’), requires almost total immersion in a place to illustrate the article, which is a whistle-stop guide for discerning weekend visitors.
Cacti, stalactites and a wedding
I photographed 3 museums, 3 restaurants, the royal palace and a cactus wonderland. I traipsed down countless steps into the bowels of the earth to admire stalactites. I hiked in South of France summer heat along a coastal footpath that winds its way around rocks and beaches on the shoreline of neighbouring Cap d’Ail. Back in town, I got tangled in a throng of cameras at Monaco Cathedral while taking a picture of tourists who were photographing wedding guests who were photographing the just-married couple who were being photographed by their photographer on the cathedral steps.
You are being watched
The permits I had sweated blood to obtain were not gained in vain. On the first morning, I photographed the Royal Palace. It was still early; road sweepers were lingering over double expressos and the café‘s barman was welcoming customers with a broad smiling “bonjour“. I guessed that the onslaught of the day’s crowds of tourists later on would quickly flatten the tone of the greeting.
Secondhand clothes
The article’s premise is that you can have a good time in Monaco without having to re-mortgage your house to finance the stay. Despite discovering one or two promising restaurants that I didn’t know about before and would consider returning to without getting a bank loan in advance, I remain mostly skeptical about Monaco’s affordability. Initially excited to read of the existence of a vintage clothes shop, I soon realised that even a bashed-around secondhand Chanel handbag (“édition spéciale, very rare, very precious!“) could cost €4000. I doubt that even the well-stocked champagne fridge by the till would be enough to soothe my nerves after an impulse buy.
Grace Kelly’s socks
You never know quite what to expect in Monaco.