A new milestone in the conservation of biodiversity in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean region was reached in Monaco on July 5, highlighting the Principality’s leadership.
The objective of the second edition of the workshop “Antarctica and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020”, opened by Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Director-General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, was to develop a series of concrete measures to improve the protection and conservation of biodiversity in the region.
Experts also sought to identify and define a set of indicators that could assist the countries involved in implementing conservation measures in Antarctica to assess the effectiveness and success of these action plans.
The first edition of the workshop, held in Monaco in 2015, showed that globally the state of biodiversity in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean was similar and not better than that of the rest of the world. However, the experts stressed that “… despite this rather pessimistic assessment, there are many possibilities for positive action to improve the situation in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean”.
In the Global Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, as defined in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the actions identified in Monaco during this second “Monaco Assessment” will help to establish conservation and effective implementation of biodiversity on a global scale.
Professor Denis Allemand, Scientific Director of the Scientific Centre of Monaco, closed the event by concluding: “The actions and indicators identified during this second workshop will improve the situation in the region substantially and should be welcomed very favourably by all those with an interest.”
He added: “I can assure you that the Monaco Scientific Centre and the Monaco government will continue to support the conservation of Antarctic biodiversity and to promote basic scientific research to define and support these action plans.”
Ramblings of an international Luxury Market Expert
Anyone who has followed my luxury media work as “The Luxury Guru”, even for a short period of time, knows that I love the South of France. This is certainly not unique, as there is probably no place on earth like the Côte d’Azur for its natural beauty and quality lifestyle that has long lured the jet set crowd.
The one complaint that I hear year after year from the Ultra High Net Worth is that there has been a dearth of quality yoga in the South of France and, indeed, in France in general. However, over the last two years this has really begun to change. Many of my UHNW followers who have homes along the Riviera, or stay in 5-star hotels for 2 months each summer, or live off their super yachts, have travelled with yoga instructors, because they just can’t go all summer without regular practice. Yoga is a lifestyle.
I love yoga and even went through teacher training myself in NYC just to get a more comprehensive understanding of the practice. Nothing has contributed more to my personal health and life balance, because it addresses all aspects of the individual.
New York City established itself as the global center for superior quality yoga teachers in the west.
So, when I heard of LuxYoga, owned and operated by a NYC yoga instructor with great credentials, located in a villa in the South of France overlooking the Mediterranean, serving French cuisine (no twigs and barks like some yoga retreats) it more than sparked my interest.
LuxYoga is owned by yogi Ben Sears, who runs retreats in France five months out of the year, teaches yoga seminars around the world for another three months, and is based in SoHo, New York the rest of the years. Ben has taught for over a dozen years and studied primarily with yoga pioneer Ana Forrest. He also practises the Bikram Method, Dharma Mittra, Katonah Yoga, with forays into personal training, Ayurveda, anatomy and Thai massage
LuxYoga’s philosophy is rooted in yoga as therapy for the body, and for the mind via the body. Our Vinyasa practice retains the crucial element of stillness often missing in typical flow classes. Our Hot Yoga retreats break down all of the nuances of the Bikram method, and our Movement and Vinyasa retreats blend a traditionally oriented yoga practice with dance and martial arts inspired classes that build coordination, range of motion and are simply a lot of fun. On a retreat, 4 days are spent in yoga immersion and 2 days offer a morning class and afternoon excursion to local spots.
Guest instructor Isaac Pena
LuxYoga has some very respected guest yoga instructors. One is a personal favourite of mine, Isaac Pena (based in NY) who taught me during my yoga teacher training course. Here is what Isaac had to say about LuxYoga. “I’ve gotten many invites around the world to do workshops and retreats. For years, I liked staying anchored to New York. My idea was, eventually everyone comes here, I’ll just wait.
“Anyway, Ben Sears started taking my class several years ago and he had such an intelligent and warm energy. Eventually he asked me if I would come on board to LUX, and at that point in our friendship I was ready to support him in just about any endeavor. We have become like brothers and I love and look forward to my annual visits to the Villa.”
Ben Spears on LuxYoga inspiration
Ben Spears
When I asked Ben what inspired him to create this lovely combination of a luxury yoga retreat, he replied, “I saw a total void in both the spa world and the yoga world. People have limited time and I feel that they deserve the opportunity to have both a memorable vacation and a transformative yoga immersion in one place, in one week.”
He added, “Yoga retreats often lack the luxury vacation element, despite their best efforts, and spas and hotels are impersonal and the programs lack focus. A guest might have a great week taking twenty different classes but ultimately ends up back home with no direction. I wanted to create an experience where part of the learning is cultural in that the experience itself imparts the importance of creating beautiful moments in the midst of a healthy life.
“And from the yoga side, I believe too in the practice to offer some kind of watered-down, waste of time practice, so the LuxYoga experience also honors the dedication and precision needed for effective yoga practice. LuxYoga is a great conduit to a serious practice for people who also want a luxury vacation experience, and it’s an eye-opener for people who are not familiar with luxury services but come to us for the yoga curriculum.”
Michelin chef new to LuxYoga This summer, LuxYoga is featuring a new Michelin star chef. Born on a farm in Finland, Chef Jouni, received the great honour of a French Michelin star in 2006. A true renaissance man, he is as comfortable hunting and fishing as he is preparing a multi-course tasting for the most selective food critics. Jouni makes delicious food that respects the LuxYoga farm-to-table ethos of healthy meets yummy.
Breakfast is a wholesome buffet of light and nutritious items that prepares students for the morning class: green smoothie, chia seed pudding, eggs and local pastries for those who wish to indulge. Lunch is a Provencal buffet feast that strikes the perfect balance between healthy and sumptuous. Dinner, after our hors d’oeuvres, is a three-course, plated meal with many of our trademark specialties prepared with final table-side touches.
Wholesome foods served at the at LuxYoga common table
All dietary requirements are noted in advance as our chefs shop locally and daily. Meals are taken together at a communal table. Each evening is an incredible, casual chic, classic Rivera dinner party at a table overlooking the coastline while the sun sets. Our guests enjoy beautiful cuisine, local wines and each other. As the students spent more time together, common ground increases and the meals become more convivial. Some like to linger around the table later into the evening, while others put a premium on sleep. This is the luxury experience of being a guest at a fine home.
LuxYoga Villa
The Lux Villa is a 3-floor, 10,000 square foot private luxury home with all the services of a boutique hotel. Views over the foothills of Provence stretch from the Bay of Nice to the bay of Cannes and beyond. Transfers are provided from Nice airport, a half-hour ride away.
The master suite is on a private floor with two terraces, and a huge soaking tub. Floor to ceiling shutters open with the touch of a bedside button. On the main bedroom floor, we have two one-room suites, one with a Provencal theme and one with a Japanese theme. All the furniture and artwork in the villa comes from a personal family collection. Many pieces are antique and each room is unique. The price is all inclusive (except massages and spa treatments) and the price is dependent on which room you book.
LuxYoga Villa is great for individuals, couples, or to rent out entirely for a family, friends or even a small corporate getaway. Visit the website for more information on the all-inclusive yoga immersion retreat, in the south of France, in a luxury villa, and gourmet meals worthy of my jet set followers.
UPCOMING RETREATS July 21-27, 2017: Practice Grace, Receive Gratitude – Vinyasa Yoga without the Rush with Erica Mather & Benjamin Sears (limited spaces available).
August 1-7, 2017: Vinyasa Yoga & Mindful Movement with Tatiana DePillo, Benjamin Sears & special guest Jaya Ramaprasad (limited spaces available).
August 11-15: Private Retreat (LUX Bespoke)
December 27-January 2, 2018: New Year’s at the Villa. Details to be released soon.
Lorre White is an international luxury market expert and luxury media personality “The Luxury Guru”, Owner of White Light Consulting, Luxury Marketing for elite brands (Lorre@WhiteLightConsulting.net).
Her website www.LuxGuru.Typepad.com for UHNW, is
ranked #3 Globally for all Luxury Blogs in Brand Passion Report for Global Luxury Brands and #1 of the luxury blogs that reach the luxury consumer.
Usain Bolt celebrating at the 2013 London Anniversary Games.Photo: J. Brichto
Usain Bolt will be back in Monaco at the Louis II stadium on July 21, competing in the IAAF Diamond League meeting, the landmark annual athletics event. His appearance in the Principality is part of his farewell world tour.
The fastest man in the world holds eight Olympic titles and 11 World titles, and will be running his favourite distance, the 100 metres, in Monaco next month. The occasion also marks the 30th anniversary of the Herculis EBS meetings.
When Bolt was last at Stade Louis, in 2011, he won the 100 metres in 9.88 seconds.
The Herculis EBS meeting is the final IAAF Diamond League fixture before the IAAF World Championships London 2017, which will be Bolt’s last major championship appearance.
Moretti Fine Art will be collaborating with Dickinson, the fine art dealers, to present “A Summer in Monaco: From Impressionism to Modern Art” at the newly-opened Moretti Gallery Monaco.
The exhibition will be on view from July 17 through September 1 in Monte-Carlo, and Dickinson will showcase examples by some of the most well known names in Impressionist and Modern art.
In the former category, Gustave Caillebotte’s “Voiliers sur la Seine à Argenteuil”, executed in 1886, honours the artist’s passion for yachting. His prize-winning white sailboat, irreverently named Cul-Blanc, would be right at home along the shores of Monte Carlo.
Among other Impressionist highlights on display will be Eugène Boudin’s beach view of Trouville (1884); two oil portraits of young women by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, as well as the artist’s tender pastel portrait of his son Jean, with his nanny Gabrielle and a friend; and two quintessential views by Camille Pissarro: “Ruisseau dans la campagne”, executed in Pontoise in 1872 during one of Pissarro’s most innovative early phases, and “Le Jardin de l’hôtel de Berneval, soleil”, a sunny plein-air garden view painted toward the end of his life in 1900.
Dating from just a couple years later is Edvard Munch’s “Blonde and Dark-Haired Nudes” (1902-03); the complementary duo of models were particular favourites of the artist, featuring in several contemporary works.
Dickinson will feature other examples by the most celebrated names in Modern Art, foremost among them a long-time resident of the Côte d’Azur: Pablo Picasso. “Jeune Garçon nu à Cheval”, an iconic and extremely rare Rose Period painting executed in 1906, is one of only two studies in oil for Picasso’s unrealised group composition L’Abreuvoir (The Watering Place), and the only one remaining in private hands. Fellow Cubist Juan Gris is represented by a 1916 “Nature Morte”, painted at the height of Gris’s engagement with Synthetic and Confetti Cubism and previously owned by eminent dealer Léonce Rosenberg.
Moretti Fine Art is at 27 avenue de la Costa. Admission is free.
Rosemont International has drawn residents’ attention to Monaco’s Law n° 1.448, which was voted into force on June 28.
The scope of this law and its consequences on inbound investment in Monaco and for all Monaco residents are very wide. It is recommended to all Monaco residents that they review their estate planning taking into account these new rules, especially regarding the use of foreign trusts or the so called Monaco 214 trust, Rosemont said.
The law establishes that a single succession law should apply to the entire succession regardless of the nature of the assets and their situation.
The conflict of law rules specify that the succession is governed by the law of the state in which the deceased had their domicile at the time of death (art56). It is important to note that these same criteria were adopted in the European Succession Regulation, also known as Brussels IV, which harmonises certain conflict of law issues. So Monaco will apply the same rules as the EU member states, which have adopted Brussels IV.
The deceased may choose the law applicable to their succession. This choice is limited to the law of a state of which the deceased has the nationality at the time of the choice (art57).
This professio juris is a real innovation in Monaco. It will be necessary to consider case by case whether the professio juris will be recognised by other states that could be involved in the settlement of the succession; for example the state where the estate would be opened or the states where a property will be located.
In terms of succession, article 6.4 specifies that Monegasque courts are competent regardless of the domicile of the defendant when the succession is opened in the Principality or when the succession includes immovable property located in Monaco.
It is important to have an international approach of these issues taking into account new conflict of law rules and the ones existing in other jurisdictions that could be involved, Rosemont said.
In its report on Monaco published on Thursday, July 13, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body (GRECO) concludes that although the management of anti-corruption policies has continued to evolve in the right direction in recent years and anti-corruption mechanisms have gradually been strengthened, there is still progress to be made.
The report, having been authorised by Monaco for publication, states: “In the case of members of parliament, there is no code of conduct governing the acceptance of gifts and other benefits, occasional conflicts of interest or relations with lobbies. GRECO also calls for members of parliament to be required to make periodical declarations of interests and for effective supervisory machinery to be established.”
The published document also claims “the transparency of parliamentary work and consultations needs to be improved”.
GRECO said that “there is no record of criminal or disciplinary proceedings relating to the integrity of a parliamentarian, which may be as much due to the absence of intrinsic problems as to the absence of specific rules and mechanisms designed to preserve the integrity of national elected representatives.”
As regards judges and prosecutors, Monaco makes significant use of French officials, GRECO noted. This element of outside involvement moderates the possible consequences of close social relations, according to the GRECO report.
A team of evaluators had visited Monaco in November, 2016, to meet, among others, parliamentarians and magistrates.
Subsequently, a Monegasque delegation visited Strasbourg in order to be able to answer questions from the members of the GRECO Committee – meeting in plenary session – and to provide all relevant information.
Implementation of the 16 recommendations made to Monaco will be assessed by GRECO in the first half of 2019 under its specific monitoring procedures.
Lorre White is an international luxury market expert and luxury media personality “The Luxury Guru”, Owner of White Light Consulting, Luxury Marketing for elite brands (Lorre@WhiteLightConsulting.net). 
In its report on Monaco published on Thursday, July 13, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body (GRECO) concludes that although the management of anti-corruption policies has continued to evolve in the right direction in recent years and anti-corruption mechanisms have gradually been strengthened, there is still progress to be made.