Casino Barrière Cannes Le Croisette : Jeux, spectacles

I posted some pics the other day of my 2013 trip to the Monaco GP. Someone mentioned they were interested in some practical tips for the race as they planned to tick it off their bucket list. Here are some that I wrote up a few years back.
How much will it cost me?
So, it’s not a cheap exercise – but it doesn’t have to bankrupt you unless you want it to.
Tickets are expensive (more on that later), however the rest of it really isn't too bad. You can dial it up & down as much as you want. I'll base this on the assumption that the person reading it is a normal human being, and won't be requiring helicopter transfers from Nice airport to The Fairmont Hotel. Some indicative costs below:
2/3 star hotel with sea views (staying within 15 mins train of Monaco): <€150/night 5cl beer at the track (which you can drink in the stands): €5 Ham sandwich/kebab at the track: €4 Train from Nice: €5 Two course lunch & some drinks at a half-decent restaurant in Monaco: €35pp Team hat/shirt: €30-40
Sweet. Where do I sit? Well, you need to buy grandstand tickets - there is no such thing as general admission & you cannot see the track from anywhere in Monaco except the grandstands (or secteur rocher - I'll get to that) - there's hoarding everywhere to block views.
Widely regarded as the "best" views are Stand K1 "high". This is the first stand at Tabac corner on the harbour, seated at the back of the stand (high up). It has views of Nouvelle Chicane, the run into Tabac, Tabac corner, and the entry into Swimming Pool. If you’re in the back row, you can also stand up & peer over the edge onto the main straight. The only downside is you are not quite so close to the cars. I did K1 "low" in the very front row, and while you don't quite get the panoramic views that the upper seats get, you are literally 2m from the cars as they go past at 160km/h. And if Max Chilton punts Pastor Maldonado into the wall in front of you, you get a face full of dust & a carbon fibre winglet off a Williams F1 car to keep
Anywhere in Stand K is brilliant as you have the widest views of the track, a screen, and you're right across from the boats which is a pretty iconic Monaco GP view.
Also great was Stand B - Casino Square. You are sitting directly opposite Casino Monte Carlo, again with a screen right in front of you. The cars are not as quick through here, but regardless of how many times you've seen the race on TV, it is a bizarre sight to see F1 cars going through what is usually a busy carpark. The sound here (IMO) was much louder & better too - must have been all the echoing off buildings etc.
The best way is to jump on YouTube and look for views from various stands - you'll get a good idea pretty quickly (in French the word for grandstand is ‘tribune’ – so search “Monaco grand prix tribune k” for example). I would definitely recommend stand K & B (in that order) - maybe do a mix i.e. stand B on Saturday, Stand K on Sunday. I’m sure the other stands are fine, however I have no experience with them so can’t say.
Note: when you buy Saturday & Sunday tickets, you get tickets for Thursday Free Practice included for no cost.
Budget up to €700pp for tickets if doing a full weekend.
Book directly through the Automobile Club Monaco website (www.acm.mc) - it is a horrible website, the ticketing UX sucks balls, and it only seems to work on Internet Explorer but persevere. They will send your tickets via registered post to your address & mine came in about Jan/Feb (ahead of the May race).
Hmm....not sure I can justify spending $1k pp on tickets.
No problem, there is another option. Secteur Rocher is a rocky hill near La Rascasse, and you can buy tickets to that for about €70 I think. There is no allocated seating so it's first in best dressed (meaning you'll need to get there early), however it has great (albeit a bit distant) views of the track and excellent views of the pits.
How do I get around while I’m there?
To get to Monaco, take the train. It costs €5 each way, trains leave every 15mins or so, and it only takes 10-15mins. The last train leaves Monaco at around 11.30pm.
It’s then only a short (but steep) walk from the train station to the grandstands, and everything’s clearly signed. The little ticket machines at the station are super easy to use too.
The roads are pretty diabolical on this weekend (the Cannes Film Festival is usually on around the same time 30mins up the road so you have all these people there at once) so buses are out, and a cab between Nice & Monaco apparently costs €250 each way on race weekend. If you have a bigger budget, helicopter transfers are easy to come across & aren’t as expensive as you might think (probably comparable to a cab).
Once you’re in Monaco, just walk everywhere. It’s tiny. The great thing is you can watch quali in the stands, then walk a few hundred metres to a myriad of half-decent (and sensibly priced) restaurants to have lunch/drinks while you wait for the next session to start.
Where do I stay?
If you have the budget, stay in Monaco if you can. While getting around is super easy, it would have been easier to just wander back to the room at the end of each day. I wouldn’t pay €500 a night or anything, but if you can get something for, say €200-250 I’d do it. That might be a bit optimistic though.
Otherwise, the obvious answer is Nice, but to be honest I (personally) would prefer to stay in a smaller town. I stayed in Villefranche-sur-Mer, but you could try Eze, Cap Ferrat or Bealieu-sur-Mer. They’re just a bit quieteprettier than Nice. Villefrance was nice & relaxed – plenty of places to eat & drink but no hustle & bussle. It was good to leave hectic/noisy Monaco behind at the end of each day and just chill in a nice quiet little town. Pretty much just look at the map & pick a town that looks nice. As mentioned, landing a sea-view room during GP weekend for under €150 is achievable (in any of the towns a few minutes outside Monte Carlo).
What else is there to do there?
Shitloads. The track opens to the public after each session (around 6pm) and then opens to traffic at 7pm. The restaurant La Rascasse turns into this massive party that spills out on to the road/track…DJs, drinks, the whole box & dice. Hundreds & hundreds of people there.
All the restaurants and bars are packed & have plenty on. There’s stuff going on in the street (merchandise, Lotus had a stand where you could drive their sim, live music in the street), beers everywhere. Lots to see.
You can go up to Casino Square, which can only be described as a circus on Saturday night. I’m not kidding, it is wall to wall rich kids posing in supercars. You are standing there watching a 20yr old kid rolling past the casino in an orange Aventador (on Kuwaiti plates…meaning he has shipped it over from Kuwait for the weekend), just wondering to yourself “who are these people?!” Young girls driving McLarens, Veyrons, SLRs, an Aston One77, Ferraris, you name it. You know the most recent Batmobile? That was there. As was a RR Phantom painted in camo green. It’s mental.
You can take a walk along the yachts & be surprised at how depressing the yacht parties look. It’s basically a bunch of rich dudes with Russian hookers all looking bored with each other, or some Poms who all bought tickets to the same VIP yacht package awkwardly trying to have a good time but failing.
You probably can’t go to any of the nice restaurants or bars. They are generally private events for special people only…I watched people getting turned away from Buddha Bar while playboys and socialites breezed in. Gotta be a part of the club. 
Is everyone there millionaires?
Nope. The crowd were mostly just genuine F1 fans from all over the world. LOTS of Aussies. My missus was a bit worried about what to wear thinking everyone was gonna be dressed up…nope.
All the billionaires are segregated in their viewing terraces or yachts.
You can generally tell who the special people are – they are always tanned, have perfect teeth. The men wear Hublot Big Bangs/AP Royal Oak Offshores, and the smoking hot women are dressed head to toe in Chanel. They are all a bunch of wankers to be honest, the whole “look at how rich I am” thing is amusing for about 10 minutes and then it becomes sad.
Monaco is a procession why would I want to go there herpa derpity derp it's the worst race on the calendar
Oh shut up, who cares. It’s an utterly brilliant spectacle & the atmosphere is amazing. You see the cars hammering around the track, and then when you’re walking the circuit 2hrs later & you cannot believe that they actually allow this race to happen. Like cigarettes or the IOMTT road race, if the Monaco Grand Prix was invented today you would be laughed out of the room for suggesting it. It is an absolutely absurd event that should be celebrated for existing in 2018.
Any other tips?
Yeah, after the race, head down to the paddock area near the pit entry/La Rascasse. They open it up to the public around 5.30/6pm. You will be able to walk into the paddock area. You’ll see drivers, team bosses, celebrities, media, etc. I said a quick hello to Michael Douglas, Christian Horner, Adrian Newey, Esteban Gutierrez, Sergio Perez. Saw DC, EJ, Brundle & co filming their post-race shows. And shook Mark Webber’s hand & congratulated him on his podium.
If you've ever said to yourself you'll go to the race "one day", you absolutely must do it.