The Red and Whites came from behind to score a 3-3 draw against top-of-the-league Paris Saint Germain at the Parc des Princes on Sunday.
More than 700 fans made the trip to Paris to watch AS Monaco play the top team in Ligue 1, and they certainly were given bang for their bucks.
New head coach, Robert Moreno, chose to use the same starting line-up as in the match played against Reims the previous week, but things fell apart quickly. Almost as soon as the game started, PSG’s Brazilian superstar Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, known commonly as Neymar, scored the first goal.
But Monaco was unruffled and four minutes later, Gelson Martins evened up the score, followed in the 13thminute by a magnificent goal by Wissam Ben Yedder. Neymar came back with a free kick, which was close but no cigar, in the 15th minute as Lecomte made a beautiful save.
Neymar made his second, and rather unfortunate (for Monaco) goal in the 24th minute of play when a shot was deflected off Fode Ballo-Touré, giving PSG the point.
It was Neymar’s night and in the 42nd minute, he converted a penalty shot into a goal, putting Paris back in the lead before halftime.
The second half was a lot of back and forth, but no conversions. Monaco fans were holding their breath as shots were made on Lecomte, who held up well under the pressure.
Just past the hour mark, Coach Moreno shook things up a bit and took Cesc Fabregas out, replacing him with Islam Slimani, which turned out to be a clever bit of coaching. Slimani was able to sneak the ball in past Paris goalkeeper Keylor Navas, tying up the match… but only momentarily.
The goal was put under review, as it was called offside and after a few nail-biting minutes, it wasn’t clear whether it would stand or not. In the end, it was ruled that Slimani had been played on by Marquinhos, and the goal stood.
With 20 minutes left of regulation play, it was still anyone’s game. The Red and White’s defence went on the attack and kept the game even. There were two scary moments in overtime play when Mbappé and Cavani almost slipped goals in past Lecomte, but he held firm and the game ended in a solid draw.
Monaco has a chance to revisit PSG on Wednesday as the teams play a make-up game from December, only this time they will have the home court advantage.
Monaco Life speaks to Artcurial Monaco Director Louise Gréther about the upcoming winter auctions at the Hermitage Hotel, her favourite pieces set to go under the hammer, and jewellery trends for 2020.
This week, Artcurial Monaco returns to the Hermitage Hotel for its winter auctions, after a three-year stint at the Yacht Club of Monaco, featuring an estimated €3 million worth of jewels.
Louise Gréther Monaco Life: Can you tell us what we can expect this week at the Hermitage Hotel?
We have two watch auctions, the men’s at 6pm on Tuesday 14th and a wonderful collection of ladies’ watches on Thursday 16th at 2pm. The director of our watch department created this new sale called Le Temp est Féminin, which has been a fabulous success and features some amazing watches including Piaget, which is always extremely popular. There is a watch by Graff that Gerald Genta designed. Evelyn Genta, the Ambassador for Monaco in London and the wife of Mr. Genta, collaborated on this piece.
There are watches for all budgets, from a Piaget for €1,000 to a Patek Philippe circa 1959 estimated to be worth €250,000. Patek Philippe
There is also a large collection of pocket watches, which do extremely well.
On Wednesday 15th there is a jewellery auction at 2pm and 6pm, and once again there will be many wonderful pieces. My favourite is a broach by Réne Boivin called Ombelle. It actually trembles and is estimated at between €30,000 and €35,000, but I think it will go for much higher than that. There are all sorts of easy to wear pieces, for both day and night, something for everyone I would say. Who normally comes to these auctions?
Many people are locals from the area, we have regulars in the trade who fly down for the auction, and we have a significant number of people on the phone during the auction. This year, we have had a lot of interest from Chinese buyers, so we have a Chinese colleague in Paris who comes down for the week. Broach by Réne Boivin, ‘Ombelle’.
Russians are also increasing the habit of buying at auction. In the beginning, they didn’t understand the auction process because it doesn’t exist there, my Russian friends tell me, so they were a little suspicious at first. But now we have a lot of loyal Russian clients who are very keen. What impact do you see at auction when there is political unease, like there is currently?
Not so much on the buyer’s side, but sellers might want to wait if they don’t think the market is right. I have never seen any hesitation with the buyers, they have the money. They can spend €20,000 on a Hermes bag regardless of the global situation or what time of year it is. In fact, a lot of people ask us why we hold our auction in January after Christmas. It actually makes no difference whatsoever to the final results. Who are the sellers?
A lot of people are selling because they simply can’t wear their jewels anymore. People of a certain age, in particular, say to me: “My grandchildren don’t want to wear these beautiful jewels because they are frightened that they are going to be burgled, or that they are too ostentatious.” It is all about the minimalist look these days isn’t it? Wealthy people are walking around in trainers, not dangling in Hermes bags and fabulous watches. Hermès Kelly Sellier 32 bag Can you predict any trends for 2020?
There will always be demand for signed pieces – Cartier, Van Cleef, particularly the older models and unique vintage pieces; designers like Poiray, who has gone up in the world and is very sought after. Hermes bags continue to do well, but the smaller models are more popular now. With regards to watches – Piaget, Patek Philippe and Rolex will always hold their value. Where have the pieces at auction this week come from?
This is the culmination of months of hard work, meeting with different sellers. We try very hard not to accept any items that have come through traders, but rather individuals through all of our European offices: Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Munich, Tel Aviv, and regional offices in France. What are you particularly excited about this week?
We have a lovely collection from Italian actress Ornella Muti, who has consigned a part of her collection.
And I have two lovely clients from Monaco who are selling some wonderful pieces, so I really hope they do well. It is a personal connection for me, I like to see how the jewel goes from one person to another. Normally, the seller never knows who the buyer is unless they’re sitting in the auction room, which does happen sometimes. Jewels are very personal, they are often handed down through generations, and each carries a wonderful history.
The Monaco Economic Board (MEB) made its first foray into Portugal last week, looking to sign on potential business partners and investors.
The Embassy of Monaco in Portugal and PwC Portugal teamed up on 8th January to gather together top business leaders from Monaco, Portugal and South America, primarily Brazil, at the Blue Economy Conference in Lisbon.
The MEB was able to present the Principality’s many assets and advantages to a large crowd of entrepreneurs and decision makers from family offices to highlight why Monaco is the place to be. MEB member Pieter Abts shared his success story of setting up a family business in the Principality nearly a decade ago, encouraging others to follow suit.
This initial contact has opened the doors for successive meetings, ideally cementing new relationships and creating new opportunities for Monaco businesses in Portugal, as well as opening doors for business to come to the Principality from there.
This is the first trip they have organised since their success in South Korea in December.
Construction work this week at the Jardin Exotique site will see the closure of one of the main outbound roads in Monaco.
The government announced that due to works on the main road at the entrance to the Exotic Garden, traffic will be prohibited, in the outgoing direction, between Avenue Hector Otto and the intersection with the Albert II tunnel from Monday 13th January to Thursday 23rd January, between the hours of 10pm and 6am.
Traffic will be authorised in the direction returning to Monaco.
Both directions of traffic will also be prohibited on Boulevard du Jardin Exotique between the Albert II tunnel and the intersection with Avenue Hector Otto for three nights from Tuesday 28th January to Friday 31st January from 10pm to 6am.
The private-public building operation at Jardin Exotique will include 50 residential dwellings and a public car park of 1,820 spaces on 15 levels, and around 5,000 m² of office space.
Monaco’s National Council President Stéphane Valeri has had his first meeting of the year with the press and took the opportunity to review the successes of 2019 and to present upcoming plans for 2020.
At the top of the agenda for both years was the question of housing. 2019 saw the National Housing Plan enacted, which has paved the way for new construction to ease the strain and provide reasonable accommodation for all.
In terms of societal progress, he cited 2019 as a pivotal year for a great number of advancements such as the decriminalisation of abortion for women, maternity leave extension, the recognition of common law relationships within the context of the law and civil solidarity contracts, and the passing of more options for the digital transition.
Mr Valeri also discussed quality of life issues, particularly pertaining to the survey given last year, which obtained exceptional response rates, and promised continued vigilance with regard to the implementation of promises made by the government.
Looking ahead to 2020, the council will revisit the Public Service Statute which was started at the beginning of the last decade, but had trouble being realised. He also mentioned the Night Work Bill, but made a point to clarify the bill in its current state will be heavily amended before it comes to fruition.
Elected officials and the Ministry of State are in accord with regard to the state budget. Both sides would like more transparency and the ability to see where the state’s monies are destined to be allocated.
Businesses will see the opening of Monaco Boost, a business centre owned by the state which will be available to house new companies in need of space as well as accommodating Monaco Tech startups who have had trouble finding adequate space, thus preventing them from going elsewhere to operate and keeping business within the Principality. Additionally, to further entice businesses, there will be an elimination of rent surcharges for those who choose to use state facilities as their home bases.
The President of the National Council also hopes to see the completion of the controversial new law extending the duration of time couples must be married before acquiring nationality, as well as making more headway for women’s rights. To this end, Monaco’s new Association for Aid to Victims of Criminal Offenses was inaugurated last Thursday as a place where where women who have suffered violence can go for protection under the law.
Finally, he confirmed continued commitment toward the energy transition pact.
In his closing words, Mr Valeri reiterated the “peaceful and constructive relationship between the government and the National Council”, and concluded by saying, “My wish is that we have entered a new era and that this institutional relationship is lasting.”
The next public meeting of the Municipal Council will be held on Tuesday 14th January at 6pm at the Mairie in the Council Chamber and will be paying tribute to Max Brousse and Michelle Sangiorgio. It will be drafting modifications to the planning files and will discuss the demolition of buildings located at 1 Boulevard Prince Rainier II, numbers 2,4 and 6 Rue Plati and the commencement of a new real estate venture called ‘Grand Ida’.
As several French cities, most notably Rennes, adopt bans on greenhouse gas emitting patio heaters, Monaco has been called upon to take a stand.
Since 1st January, terrace heaters are prohibited on the Breton capital’s bar and restaurant terraces. Smaller French towns scattered around the country have similar bans in effect, whilst Paris, Bordeaux, Grenoble and Angers are seriously considering following suit.
In Monaco, no “official position” has been declared, and according to the Mairie there is currently no town planning directive to activate one. Therefore, it is up to each individual restauranteur to make the call.
Café de Paris, for example, has reduced the number of heaters from 12 to four, and even those remaining are used sparingly. It should be noted that Café de Paris is on the fast track to earning the prestigious Green Globe certification, a first for a European restaurant, so clearly environmental awareness is high on their agenda.
But others complain it would take an undue bite out of their profits if they were forced to ban the heaters. Many patrons who come out to enjoy drinks or a meal after dark choose their spot specifically because there are warm outdoor options, and many smaller restaurant owners fear a ban would destroy their advantages and thus, their livelihood. They also complain that the cost of the heaters, as well as the high cost of gas tanks and maintenance, would be money down the drain they can ill afford waste.
Alternatives to the heaters range from harkening back to the old days, when people who chose to bear the not so cold winter climes in the region by eating al fresco were offered shawls or blankets to keep cosy. A more modern choice, and perhaps one that would satisfy all, is the use of low polluting fuels such as biopropane, which is carbon neutral and could reduce carbon emissions by 10 tonnes per year.
Biopropane is made from raw vegetable matter and recycled oils and reduces emissions by around 80%. This is great, but fears are that it will lead to an exploitation in other areas since the crops needed to produce biopropane could put undo stress on other aspects of the environment.
For now, there is no one solution and debate is sure to carry on. Monaco sits on the fence, but in the face of an extremely environmentally active Prince and government, a decision will surely be made soon.
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