The Rebirth of Monte Carlo, one of the most luxurious vacations spots on earth:
Aristotle Onassis, the oil-shipping tycoon, often took vacation trips to Monte Carlo in the 1950s while living in Southern France, and the “celebrity spotters” and reporters took notice. Undoubtedly he recalled the glittering city on the rock, from the day when he first saw it from the railing of the crowded ship that took him to Buenos Aires. But Monte Carlo in the early 1950s was a rather dull place, a shadow of its former legendary self. Gone were the times of Diaghilev, Pavlova, and Nijinsky. And the empire of the Prince of Monaco himself was in decline. Aristotle’s mind began to calculate a way to resurrect his business, and soon he figured out that if he invested $30 million in a new port to accommodate ocean liners, the town of Monte Carlo could attract at least 2000 visitors per day. He also felt that an office in Monte Carlo could be much better for his employees than the cramped and inadequate workspace in Paris. The Societe des Bains de Mer or SBM, controlled most of the real estate in Monaco. Thanks to his investments and plans, the city gradually regained its status as a fashionable destination, and the Onassis family became the hottest daily subject for all the European tabloids. Early in life he had fantasized about owning his own private island. He realized his dream in 1963, when he purchased Scorpios, a lush 500-acre tract. The island hideaway in the shape of a Scorpion was covered with cypress, olive, fig, walnut and almond trees, and helped him to easily forget about his previous life in Monaco, although the way he improved Monaco has helped it create memories for visitors to that elegant city for decades ever since.