I envy you. One year I will have to go...always wanted to. Where did you stay?
We stayed in Nice, just a little further around the coast- only 15mins by train- and I reckon half of the crowd had the same idea. As we strolled up to the station on Saturday morning the queue was already 4 deep and weaving all around the front of the station!
It was fantastic walking down the streets from the station and hearing the cars around the town during the free practice. I could be wrong but I'm almost certain that its impossible to see the track from anywhere without a ticket (unless your in one of the surrounding hotels), we think you even needed a ticket to be on the hill!
As soon as the race ended we watched a few of the teams' truck filter down and then went for a drink in the side streets and shortly after they opened parts of the circuit to traffic so we had a wonder around.
With it being a Bank Holiday here on Monday, we stayed until late Monday night so we were able to got back and walk a complete lap of the course during the day.
All in all it was a fantastic experience and I'd recommend it to anyone!!