Anyone who is a car enthusiast, and even some who are not, have heard of the legendary Monaco Grand Prix. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious races in the world, where Formula 1 cars drive through the narrow streets of Monaco surrounded by celebrities, yachts and glamour. Some say you can find Tony Stark and Elon Musk having a cocktail at this race. I had been a fan since I was a child in Mexico, and in 2019 I got to be there. 

The One Way Ticket to Monaco

In 2019 I had quit my job of 4 years to go travel through Europe. To keep my trip cheap and interesting I used Workaway, which also let me stay where I wanted to stay for longer. Well, I wanted to spend time in the South of France and I managed to secure a Workaway just outside of Monaco for two weeks. Here, I, along with eight other people, helped a lady to build rental cabins on her property overlooking the Mediterranean. It was as magical as it sounds. 

Before I left though, I talked with my friend, Erica. I told her I would be going to Europe and I gave her a rough plan of my trip. She had already spent time abroad living in Italy and she wanted to go back to Europe, so we made plans to meet in France. We decided that we would go to Paris after my time in Monaco. But, then Erica had an idea. Since she has an affinity for cars, and since the dates were not set in stone, she asked “What if we go to the Monaco Formula 1 race?” 

To me this was a wild idea. I never even considered that the Monaco race was available to mere peasants. But we were already going to be there, so we might as well try. Well, what do you know?! There were tickets for General Admission available for the day of the race, and they were attainable for mere peasants. So we got them about three months in advance. Now all we had to do was wait for that momentous day. 

My Time In The Côte d’Azur

Aside from the race, I really didn’t know much about Monaco. I knew it was one of the gems hidden in the Côte d’Azur, and I’ve always associated the South of France with all of those cool movies with spies and modern royalty. When my Workaway host went to pick me up from the train station and we were driving through the narrow roads up the hill I got to see the majestic Monaco skyline.

It was so impressive to see the giant skyscrapers jutting out of the coast and the cliffs. It looked like a different world. It looked like it wasn’t real. I couldn’t believe I was there. Suddenly, I was a character in one of those movies. 

I got to my Workaway half way through May. The weather at night was chilly and a bit humid, but the days were perfect. The house where I lived was settled on the cliffside above Monaco and was part of a town called Roquebrune Cap Martin. We were surrounded by trees and brush and off in the horizon below us was the Mediterranean Sea. Every morning we would wake up, have breakfast and work from 8am until 1pm. But then, we were free to do what we wanted. So all of us would go down the hill to hang out at one of the beachside towns. 

Visiting Monaco The First Time

Erica got to France two or three days after I got there. For some reason I hadn’t had a chance to go to Monaco by myself, so after we got her settled at her Airbnb in the town of Menton we decided to go check out Monaco together. We took the train from Roquebrunne Cap Martin one stop down to the Monaco-Monte Carlo station, which is in a tunnel inside the cliffs. Everything inside the station was covered in red and white marble tile. The exit to the station required us to walk through other tunnels that took us out in front of the Sainte Devote corner, right in the middle of town. 

I remember it was really busy. Even though it’s only a country of around 38,000 inhabitants, it felt like a big city. Traffic, lots of motorcycles and people going to and fro, tall buildings all crammed together, and always the vibe that something was going on. Everywhere there were lots of advertisements for events. Apparently, the week before we were there had been the Monaco Formula-E Grand Prix. Of course, the next big event was the Formula 1 race. 

There was electricity in the air. The first impression was definitely not the leisurely vibe that I had gotten from the movies, and it wasn’t supposed to be. They say that on the weekend of the Formula 1 race the population of Monaco can reach over 200,000 people. It’s an event that is a staple on the esoteric Billionaire’s Calendar, and we were witnessing the build up.  

A Lap Of The Monaco Race Track

When we were there, one of the guys doing Workaway with me, named Timu, joined us. He was an 18 year old white South African with a beard and long blond hair. He looked like a not-yet-ripe version of the Big Lebowski, and he even talked like him. Except, Timu also liked cars and Formula 1. So Timu reminded us that we could take a lap of the entire Monaco F1 racetrack. None of us had ever been to Monaco before, so this seemed like the perfect way to explore the city.  

The whole track is only just over 2 miles long. We started, right from where we walked out of the train station, at the Sainte Devote corner. This also happens to be the first corner of the race track. All we had to do was follow the track up the hill, towards the casino. Timu, Erica, and I were walking on the sidewalk past all the ornate buildings of warm stone and chatting about anything and everything. I noticed that I was panting, and I realized just how freaking steep and narrow this track is. 

average of 150 miles an hour up 

During race day, the Formula 1 cars reach an average of 150 miles an hour up that hill. They do this in just about a quarter of a mile, and then they do a super sharp left turn past the casino square. Then go down steeply down the Avenue des Spélugues towards the Fairmont Hairpin, which is the tightest and, therefore, slowest corner in the entire Formula 1 calendar. It was a bit bizarre to see something I’d only seen on television and YouTube in real life. Timu and I were familiar with the corners, even though we’d never been there before.

It was also strange because the race track is a public road. We were there on a weekday and there was normal traffic of Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, Vespas and Citroëns all going back and forth. There were also lots of cyclist and foot walkers like us. The side walks were flanked by the famous tall guardrails and chainlink fences. The roads also have permanent red and white kerbs, which are normally only found at a proper race track. So cool! 

The Yachts of Anonymous Billionaires

As we were doing our lap of the track we eventually got to the part around the Olympic pool facing the iconic Port Hercule. Suddenly we were among the big yachts. This is where the race cars drive past some of the coolest yachts on the planet with people partying on them. This is where it becomes very clear that Monaco is a very very rich place. 

The wealth of Monaco is definitely explicit. However, there are ways that Monaco can flex its wealth in a manner that no other city or country in the world can. 

I noticed this in the days leading up to the race. Since I was staying high up on the cliffs every day I got a view of the bay below. When first I got there, there was only one yacht parked down there. It was relatively small, in the sense that it didn’t have a helipad, but big enough to live in it.  

As the Monaco Grand Prix approached, though, this changed. About a week before the race there were only two or three big boats parked. But the week of the race the really big boats showed up. Boats so big that they had to park away from the port. These boats had helipads on them. They were multiple stories high. There were oil rigs and cruise ships parked next to them, and these yachts were able to keep up with them. Every morning a new set would appear until eventually there were about 40 big boats out on the water. 

These boats were big enough for them to be seen from about 3 miles away, but none were so impressive as the absolutely titanic A Sail Yacht. This boat was so big that it looked like a sky scraper had fallen into the ocean and it was floating on its side. The shape of the ship was so angular, and the design was so sleek that it looked like Darth Vader himself had designed it for when he was on vacation on Earth. The masts are the biggest on any ship ever, and it was indeed the biggest sailing vessel in the world. Very few places in the world can attract the kind of people that do these kinds of things with their money. 

Supercar Hunting Heaven

Anytime we went to Monaco, I was always supercar hunting. I saw a lot of Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, Aston Martins and lots of Ferrari and Porsche. But there were some outliers that were really cool, such as the Radical RXC race car that I saw. 

Another day when we were hanging out at Monaco with Timu we saw a Maserati MC12. That has been a dream car of mine for a long time. I currently have it framed above my bed. I saw it for the first time in 50 Cent’s Window Shopper in 2005 and I finally got to see it! The fact that I got to see one of only 50 cars in the world was surreal. 

I have always loved Ferrari. Michael Schumacher and the movie The Rock did a good job at selling me out on them. I realized here that I love the Ferrari Pista. That is a more attainable supercar that I hope to buy one day. I also saw a dealership that had an Enzo, an F50, and an F40 all on display. But they were elevated and behind glass. It’s totally different when I see a car trapped in a cage than when it is out in the wild. I really want to see them running. I want to see them being free!

By far the coolest thing I saw was the Ferrari 2+2 um SWB Berlinetta. It was parked outside of a boutique. I was walking one day and just saw it there perfectly finished in burgundy red paint and brown interior. I was just drawn to it. This car had the perfect proportions, and it’s one of the most iconic models Ferrari has made. I never thought I would have the chance to see something so rare. I felt like a little kid. Surely the most beautiful Ferrari I’ve ever seen.

How normal is it to see these kinds of cars in this city? Probably very normal. But they do add to the drama of the race. All these exotic cars in the roads gave me the need for speed!

Monaco, The Perfect City

I can’t really say Monaco is a normal town, given that it is the wealthiest country in the world per capita. However, it is very much like any other small town in the South of France. It has the narrow and curvy streets, the colorful old buildings, the beautiful bushes and gardens everywhere and the incredible views of the cliffs matching the incredible views of the sea. 

We went there many times, sometimes to go shopping or to eat at a restaurant and once even for a soccer game. We found ourselves just walking through the streets enjoying the city. Everything was always bathed in pink and orange and warm light. In spite of the hustle and bustle building up to the race, it also had the charm of a small town. If we wandered into the right corner of the city we would find peace and quiet, especially at night. 

There were lots of advertisements for Charles Leclerc, including his face featured on the cover of Forbes Monaco. He is, after all, the hometown hero. A kid who made it big and was the wunderkind for Ferrari. At the time he was in his second year with Ferrari and kicking his 4-time world champion teammate, Sebastian Vettel’s butt. Everyone was ecstatic to see him in action. The lingering question was of course, can the home hero win the Monaco Grand Prix?

Monaco is indeed a place for people to go show off, but it’s also a place for people to go become better. It’s a place that favors winners and one that encourages people to become winners. Monaco felt very much like the main character in a spy movie. Busy, yes. Capable, yes. And also relaxed. Smooth and comfortable, yet ready for action. I couldn’t help but join in on the excitement to one of the coolest events I had yet witness. 

• P.S. This is the first part of a two part story. Hang on for me to tell you how it all turned out! 

• P.P.S. Charles Leclerc is still my favorite Formula One driver. If you know anybody who can get me in touch with him or who can introduce me to him, let them know that I would love to meet him. I just think he’s such a cool guy. 

I hope this story is encouraging to you. If you know somebody that you think this might be encouraging to as well, go ahead and share it with them!