Does anywhere in Europe celebrate Christmas more gloriously than Monaco? Not if the Mairie and its elected councillors have anything to do with it. Recently they have turned on the lights so that 190 motifs and designs now blaze and sparkle on Monaco’s streets together with 577 lighted decorations adorning the lamp-posts overhead. One listens to people commenting that the decorations are amongst the best they have ever seen. Monaco is the showplace of the world and the international visitors that gather and gaze with amazement are proof of it. And for Monaco’s residents it puts joy into their hearts and a spring in their steps as they browse the shops and galleries and gather in the restaurants who all add their own unique decorations to make Monaco a dazzling painting.
The children will take heart in seeing Father Christmas in his traditional place in front of the beautiful Church at Saint Charles – and while we pay homage to tradition, we also welcome creative new additions to the spectacle like the huge lighted ceiling above Place du Canton and the marvellous toy figures that will delight the children every time they pass Place des Moulins. All this is triggered by the Mairie ceremoniously turning on a switch which has lit the giant Christmas tree in Place d’Armes.
Add to all this Christmas tunes starting to tinkle and real Christmas trees all around in the streets and gardens and it is difficult not to feel as if you are in a fairly tale, a fairy tale with Rolls Royces, Lamborghinis and Porsches. Monaco at Christmas – all the Christmas spirit and decorations of the best of winter resorts and also blessed by many days of sunny weather. Mediterranean and joyful during the day and a glittering fairyland by night. So with Father Christmas now visibly in residence at Saint Charles, we and all the children eagerly await our visits to Santa’s Workshop on Quai Albert I which will soon open its doors to us. Be there to see on December 6th.
