As part of the evaluation of the anti-spillage procedures used by the Bouygues Travaux Publics company, an anti-pollution drill was held in the sea extension works area on Friday morning, April 6.
The exercise scenario was an accidental spill of hydraulic oil at sea near the Grimaldi Forum.
The adverse weather conditions required the protection of the two coves of the Larvotto beaches by means of floating dams. The purpose was to preserve the beach area as provided for by the “PolMar” plan.
On the instruction of the Directorate of Maritime Affairs (Technical Adviser on Pollution at Sea), the two dams stored at the end of the large dyke were towed on site and deployed by the Division de la Marine, Maritime and Airport Police, and the Monaco Fire Brigade Company.
Also participating in this exercise was the Port Operating Company of Monaco and Bouygues Travaux Publics.
More than 80 actors in management and ocean protection – governmental decision-makers, institutional organisations, scientists, members of the private and public sectors – have been meeting at the ninth edition of the Monaco Blue Initiative, organised in partnership with the University of Edinburgh on April 8 and 9.
Members of the Monaco Blue Initiative want to lay the foundation for a new model of development for the oceans and for a blue planet; a form of development which promotes new activities and new services, while at the same time leaving room for nature, letting the marine ecosystems function normally and acknowledging the inestimable services they are already rendering.
The initiative of the Marine Protected Areas is central to this. On the programme, three sessions of exchange and debate on the Blue Economy in the Northern Seas, the Marine Protected Areas and Climate Change, and Aquaculture and the Marine Protected Areas.
Participants in the Monaco Blue Initiative will discuss the present state of protection of the open sea and its biodiversity, and the consequences of the International Marine Protected Areas Congress in Chile.
In 2017 major initiatives were taken in favour of the oceans, such as the commitments made at the UN Conference in Support of the Implementation of SDG14 in New York, and at the Our Ocean congress in Malta, the opening of formal negotiations for a new international treaty on the open sea on the horizon in 2020 and the protection of the Ross Sea.
These results are the fruits of global awareness brought about by the mobilisation of the energies of all the actors, among them the Monaco Blue Initiative.
Launched in 2010 on the initiative of Prince Albert, the Monaco Blue Initiative is a platform for discussion that seeks to create synergies between socio-economic development and the protection of marine ecosystems.
The Monaco Blue Initiative, co-organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the Oceanographic Institute, Fondation Albert I, Prince de Monaco,
Monaco Disease Power President Muriel Natali-Laure with HSH Prince Albert
As every year, the association Monaco Disease Power holds a charity event, which takes place this year on April 12 at the Yacht Club of Monaco.
Under the presidency of Prince Albert, this gala brings together many personalities from the Principality, the main supporters of the association, as well as families concerned by disability issues.
The organisers say: “After celebrating our 10th anniversary last June, more than ever, we need you to see the many projects undertaken by the association for the benefit of children with autism, disability or mental illness.”
Among these projects, the extension of the Maison d’Amélie at Annot, a place of life and respite for children and their families, will double its reception capacity as well as see the creation of additional clusters of activities, including a therapeutic basin, an activity room and a multipurpose room. This will bring new programmes to life, including medical conferences on various issues related to autism and mental disabilities, and the creation of a training centre for staff specialising in the care of people with autism.
“It is only thanks to donations that we have been able to carry out many achievements for more than ten years, it is thanks to you that we will continue our activities.”
April is Autism Awareness Month, and this year Monaco Disease Power will be a partner of the “1000 km for Autism”, a tandem bike event that starts from 2 impasse de la Fontaine in Monaco on Sunday, April 29 and ends in Le Touquet on May 12.
On Sunday, April 15, the association Children & Future together with the M.A.D centre is organising the 10th No Finish Line Danse, a growing dance competition at the Rainier III Auditorium. This is a tribute to dance in all its artistic expressions – jazz, hip-hop, classical dance, and contemporary.
NFL Dance is above all an exhibition to fund actions for disadvantaged and sick children, the entirety of entries being donated to the Children & Future.
A fully-fledged Monegasque event since 2009, this year NFL Danse will host 10 competing schools, all styles of dance and levels, and 25 different choreographies. Schools will come from the Var, Gard, and the Côte d’Azur. The competition aims to present the choreographic work of dance schools without imposing a theme or an outfit. The goal is to discover the talent of the 313 dancers and their bodily expression on stage.
The event begins at 5 pm. At 8:30 pm, prizes, including the 2018 NFL Grand Prix Dance, will be awarded by a jury made up of professionals, the President of the Children & Future association and the Director of National Education, Youth and Sports.
NFL Danse is the second major annual event organised by Children & Future, after the No Finish Line, which took place in November in Monaco with more than 14,000 participants in 2017.
In a spirit of friendly but professional competition, NFL Dance invites the public to discover the work of hundreds of dancers who have come to compete for the trophies and thus allow other less fortunate children, to recover their health, to continue their studies or to find a smile.
Tickets (general seating) at the door: €15 adults and €10 children under-10, or from FNAC-Carrefour-Géant-U-Intermarché stores. For more, see www.nfldanse.com
Following last year’s success, Stars’n’Bars is holding another wellbeing day on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
For its next free EcoHub event on Sunday, April 8, the eco-active restaurant has called on TCM specialists in Monaco and its surroundings to share all their knowledge from 1 pm to 6 pm.
According to the principles of TCM, a poor circulation of energy can cause an imbalance in the body. Topics such as acupuncture, iridology, tao, and Chinese dietotherapy will be discussed to meet the natural needs of our body.
This is another must-attend event for those wishing to discover or deepen their knowledge through mini-conferences and meetings with: Dr Danièle Massobrio Macchi (“Self-realisation and health optimisation through energy”, 1 pm); Christiane Brych (“The eye messages the 3 bodies”, 2 pm), Franck Pasquon (“Understanding Chinese medicine when you are Western: The challenge of a lifetime”, 2 pm), Fanny Rigaud (“The Chinese diet – how to treat yourself with good food”, 4 pm); and Louisa Mercier (“From fear to love”, 5 pm).
There will also be stands to visit during the afternoon. Two English speakers, Susanne Batstone (Bach Flowers and Chinese Medicine) and acupuncturist Heather Lounsbury, as well as French-speaking Anne Caravel (healing with essential oils) and Christiane Bach and Les Oligo elements will be on hand to answer to discuss TCM.
The family-friendly event will be held in French and entry is free.
Last month’s EcoHub event was an afternoon of family-friendly workshops, games and exhibitions on how Monaco residents can reduce their carbon footprints, held in partnership with the Mission for Energy Transition (MTE) in charge of the National Pact for Energy Transition.
A £50,000 contract like Marco’s comes around only a couple of times a year.
A recent widower in his late fifties, Marco lives between Trieste, Monaco, Cap Ferrat, and Houston – a complicated geography for a client but nothing our agency’s expertise can’t handle.
Marco’s two children are in their early twenties, and loved their American mother dearly. He asked us to search for an elegant lady with a well-established career, who travelled for work or pleasure, and/or owned her own business. Also, as he didn’t wish to have more children or further upset his own, he wanted to meet an age-appropriate woman also in her 50s.
Cross-cultural, smart, and cosmopolitan were the qualities of potential partners, which we found easily in our database.
I had matched Marco with six international dates (of the ten in his contract). The profiles included a tech entrepreneur who travelled regularly from Sophia Antipolis, France, to the US; a pharmaceutical heiress whose interests were complementary to Marco’s Italian-Austrian fortunes inherited from his grandparent’s biopharmaceutical business; and a Nigella Lawson-type gourmet expert, who ran a cooking school in London and a summer school in Valbonne, France.
Yet six months into his contract, Marco began feeling restless. Since we provide 24-hour phone access with a £50,000 contract, he began calling me in the middle of the night, trying to take control of the search with additional suggestions for partners. Furthermore, the minimum age had dropped to 45 when Marco celebrated his 60th birthday with a party for a hundred friends at his home in St-Jean-Cap-Farrat at the end of summer.
By November, Marco summoned me to St Moritz to look at more profiles. As per protocol, I suggested no more than three. He refused my advice. I was searching my database for a woman I’d met named Eva when I mistakenly clicked on another Eva’s file.
“Wait, who is that?” Marco inquired looking at the screen.
“Oh no, she’s not right for you,” I replied, but Marco had seen Eva’s picture and declared: “I want her, and I want her now!”
All the psychology and training that goes into matching would indicate these two profiles had very little in common. Eva, 38, was not interested in having children and her stunning looks were enough to keep her self-obsessed. And even though she comes from a wealthy Monaco-based Danish family, she was self-sufficient: she earned a law degree to keep her father happy, but did not feel the need to practice law.
I got hold of Eva and she agreed to meet Marco … the following month. Waiting was not something you want to ask a man like Marco to do. “Tell her that I will send my plane to Nice airport for her to board at any time the next day,” was his answer.
Eva was not easily persuaded, though. Marco relented and said she could bring her miniature pooch. Sneezing at the thought, he grumbled that she better be worth the effort.
She arrived in St Moritz, swishing down the private jet’s stairs in leather, fur and enormous sunglasses. She looked every inch as good in person as she did in photos. Eva looked Marco, who met her at the airport, up and down haughtily and kissed the air next to the sides of his head while exaggeratedly bending down from her mountainously inappropriate heels.
They had a quick glass of Meursault at Badrutt’s Palace and he then showed Eva to her suite as she was tired. She remained in her room for the next three days.
When she finally asked to see a doctor, a French-German silver fox melodramatically announced to Marco after the consultation, “Mademoiselle has had, ah, a recent augmentation – how you say, ‘boob job’. She was told she should not travel, but apparently you insisted, so she blames you for not feeling very well. In truth there is nothing wrong with her but the lady is, er, a little spoiled and would like to go home now.”
The moral of the story? Let your Matchmaker keep abreast of your potential partners. Tee hee.
Barbara Brudenell-Bruce is a matchmaker with London’s exclusive matchmaking agency, Vida, and her network boasts an impressive list of entrepreneurs, celebrities and aristocrats. She lives between Monaco and London. Article first published April 6, 2018.
