Lunch and Tennis in Monte Carlo by Tim Ghazzawi:
It was a Wednesday. Noon-time. A breeze had caught, but the sun was shining. And the woman was barely clothed. She glided from one end of her pool to the other and symmetrical rings of water spread outward from her body, until they cascaded over the pool’s blue-tiled sides.
I saw her from the railway, from the tracks, behind the fencing and shrubbery. We weren’t that far away from her, my friends and I, though it was evident we were worlds apart. As we walked to the entrance of the Monte-Carlo Masters tennis tournament, I thought to myself about who she might be and then, by extension, who I might be in this place that did not seem real.
Famous for its Grand Prix raceway, lavish hotels, and James Bond film-featured casino, Monte Carlo is a tax haven Mediterranean paradise for people who have more money than they know what to do with. The city also hosts a premier tennis tournament every spring, the setting of which is an opulent color explosion. The crushed red-brick clay of the country club’s tennis courts is harsh and bold in the bright sun. It stains the whites of every player’s shoes, socks, shorts, and shirts. It is inescapable. The crystalline blue sea, dotted with white yacht sails borders the event to one side. Winding rocky green hilltops dotted with the white facades of villas and apartment buildings border the other.
We could not afford to stay in Monte Carlo. Instead we shared a room at a hostel in Nice. Our first night there a fight broke out between two drunk men each convinced that the other was sleeping in the wrong bed. In the mornings and evenings we took the train to and from the tournament and had tickets for two days.
Our first day on-site we spent observing and relishing in the luxuriousness of the experience we found ourselves a part of, all without every really fitting in. Most attendees wore chic summer-ready suits and dresses. They drank champagne. Smoked. And donned passes around their necks that gave them special access to exclusive areas at the venue. The tournament even had a pool. We could see it from atop one of the stadium’s upper bleachers, beneath us, through the scaffolding, almost intentionally hidden. It was surrounded by white-clothed tables and the patrons who dined at its adjacent sushi restaurant.
Afterward we went grocery shopping and purchased pre-made sandwiches from a local market near our hostel. We also bought chips, fruit, and bottled water. The next morning we brown-bagged and re-boarded the train for Monte Carlo.
I did not see the woman that second morning. But I also don’t remember looking for her. Perhaps I was more focused on what I was carrying, worried that our lunches would be turned away at the security gate. They weren’t. So as we sat atop Court Rainer III, named after Monaco’s former Prince, and looked out at the sea to our right, the hills to our left, and the champagne-drinking, pool-side patrons beneath us, we were content, day-old baguettes in hand.
THE FACTS
I traveled to France with my friends Brian and Tommy in April of 2017. To get to Monaco, we took trains from Paris (Gare de Lyon) to Nice (Nice Ville) to Monte Carlo. The purpose of our trip was tennis-centric but our itinerary still allowed for lots of city-walking and sightseeing opportunities.
3 Rue Spitalieri
Nice, 06000, France
nice-les-camelias@hifrance.org
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Though we brown-bagged, the tournament does list these options for on-site dining. I didn’t eat there but everyone’s meals looked tasty.
In Nice, there are lots of mini-marts and larger grocery stores for you to do your own brown-bagging. I also remember eating really good falafel.
- A new train stop is “created” specifically during the Monte-Carlo Masters. Check times at the train station in Nice or online. It’s an easy 20 minute train ride between the two cities that costs about 5 euros.
- Tickets to the Monte-Carlo Masters were simple to purchase online but should be done so in advance, as the tournament is a premier event on the tennis calendar. Our “cheap” mid-week seats cost us 65 euros each.
- If you’re a tennis super-fan, take some time to roam the grounds. The site is compact and you’re able to rub shoulders with many of the pros as they walk between stadiums, practice courts, their press conferences, and the transportation area.
If you enjoyed reading about tennis in Monte Carlo, you might also check out the following stories related to other European cities:
- “A Secret Garden: A Walk Through the Alcázar of Seville, Spain“ by Tommy Hibbs
- “The Broken Locker: A Night Out in Barcelona, Spain” by Aubrie Ford
- “Without a Tent: Camping at Wimbledon in London” by Tim Ghazzawi
