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Month: February 2022

Wine tasting around the world at the Metropole Hotel

by: Stephanie Horsman
22/02/2022
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The sommeliers from the Metropole Hotel are sharing their passion for viniculture and revealing secret treasures in a new series of wine tasting events this year.

From the beginning of March until the end of September, the Metropole Hotel’s wine experts will immerse those interested in wines in an oenological world, giving them insight and information on some of their favourite vintages and practices.

This is no simple wine tasting course, though. The sommeliers will explain the basics of wine making techniques, advice on what to choose, as well as the best part – the tastings.

The experience includes a dinner in the Lobby Bar restaurant with a selection of starters and dishes whipped up by Chef Christophe Cussac, all with pairings to accent the flavours.

Restaurant at the Métropole Hôtel, by B.Touillon

The first trip is into the world of Chardonnays on 2nd and 3rd March. This drinkable varietal is the most cultivated white wine grape in the world.

Trip number two delves in the moodier world of the Pinot Noir. On 6th and 7th April, guests will discover this subtle red, capable of evoking great emotion in both maker and imbiber.

On 1st and 2nd June, visitors will get their fizz on with a selection of sparkling wines from around the globe. Think effervescent for this event, where taste buds delight in a bubbly jubilee. The night includes French sparkling wines, as well as notable bubbles from other countries.

The fourth and final trip is on 21st and 22nd September. As the weather starts to turn cooler, the Metropole will give visitors a lesson on the best of port wines. They will pull out examples of each style, including tawny, ruby and white, and talk about the Douro Valley region of Portugal where these exceptional vintages are produced.  

The cost per person is €190 and space is available by reservation only.

 

 

 

The Animals exhibition highlights Monaco artists

by: Stephanie Horsman
22/02/2022

A new exhibition of contemporary art called The Animals is on at La Vitrine Contemporaine de Monaco celebrating creations of our four-legged friends made by local artists, past and present. 

Tying in with the Nice Carnival’s 2022 Animal King theme, La Vitrine Contemporaine de Monaco is presenting a purr-fect mix of historic and new pieces from an array of talent featuring animals as their theme.

The gallery, founded by artist Zoe Skoropadenko in 2009, was opened initially to showcase her own works, but has grown to become a place for emerging Monaco-based artists to share their works, as well as one where pieces from the past are brought back to life. For The Animals, she will display drawings of animals from the Zoological Garden in Monaco.

In addition to her work, the exhibit will feature pieces by Gerard Pettiti, known as the Bernard Buffet of Monaco, whose dark, strong works have made him a distinctive player in the local art scene. His diptych featuring bears is a beautiful departure from his usual favourite subject, birds.

Ceramic anemone by Agnes Roux will also be on display. Roux’s passion for nature is shown in all her pieces which are inspired from everyday trips around the Principality to the beach, parks, and of life under the sea.

Self-taught guest artist Bernard Vitour once trained as butcher. This occupation didn’t stick, but the experience gave him an ability to craft beautiful clay sculptures featuring animals, which were made jointly with Zoe Skoropadenko.

Made famous by his Fractals oil paintings, artist Clem Chambers has contributed a sketch of small animals from the Monaco Zoo.

Also exhibiting is Dale Dorosh, a French-Canadian ceramist living in Vallauris. Founder of AIR Vallauris, he started working with clay at university. His path then led him to become a professional fencer where he was a member of the Monegasque sabre fencing team. A competition in Vallauris turned his head and he then turned to pottery making. He will be exhibiting a piece entitled ‘Fellow’ at the show.

Pieces from the past will also be showcased, including works from ceramic studio Les Argounautes founded in the 1950’s by Isabelle Ferlay and Frederique Bourget. A horse figurine will be on display from their collection.

One of the oldest pieces in the show will be a tiny ceramic frog made by Delphin Massier from the early 1800s. This will be joined by a ceramic owl made by Monegasque Alberto Diato, who was a friend and contemporary of Picasso and Gilbert Portanier.

Finally, a fish vase from the 1950’s will be part of the series, made in the Cerart factory. Founded in 1934 by Charles Durante, the factory churned out flowers and other plants subjects, but also developed a marine theme later on, which is where the vase depicting Monaco undersea life is from.

The exhibition runs from 20th February to 1st April. Admission is free. For more information, visit the website at www.themeloy.art.

 

 

 

Princess Grace Library to welcome Irish author Neal Doherty

by: Stephanie Horsman
22/02/2022

The Princess Grace Irish Library will host author Neal Doherty on Thursday 24th February, who will present a talk on the statues and sculptures of Dublin.

Born and educated in Dublin, Neal Doherty’s first career was with Nestlé, where he managed its chilled food business in Ireland. On retiring, a second career beckoned as a historian and tourist guide. He now works as a freelance guide in French and English for private clients. His tours in the west of Ireland include a visit to the birthplace of Princess Grace’s paternal grandfather near Newport in Co. Mayo.

Neal has appeared on the TV programme Nationwide and written ‘The Complete Guide to the Streets of Dublin’ and ‘The Complete Guide to the Statues and Sculptures of Dublin’.

He will give a multimedia presentation at the Princess Grace Irish Library on the Statues and Sculptures of Dublin, and pose three questions: Do you know what piece of music is featured on the statue of Daniel O’Connell? Do you know which Dublin statue has a hat and a cat as symbols of freedom? Do you know where the statues of The Ten Virgins are located on O’Connell Street?

These questions and many more will be answered in the one hour presentation.

Admission is 10€, the talk starts at 7pm.

 

SEE ALSO:

James Joyce takes centre stage at Irish Library

 

 

Photo of the Molly Malone Statue, Dublin, Ireland, by Mark Lawson on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

Diesel cars outdone by hybrids in EU

by: Stephanie Horsman
21/02/2022
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For the first time in history, self-charging hybrid vehicles, those that run on a combination of battery power and an internal combustion engine, have outsold diesel cars in Europe by a slim margin.

There were 48 more hybrids sold than diesels in 2021, say the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, who also reported that one in 11 cars sold were battery-electric, equalling just under 880,000 vehicles.

The self-charging models are run with a battery charged by the car’s engine. In general, they only can go a limited distance using battery power alone before needing to switch to the internal combustion engine to function.

Plug-in hybrids are the other choice. These vehicles are run mostly by an external battery charger, such as the power from a charging station or a special plug run from a person’s home, and are seen as more environmentally friendly. Both models are backed up by a traditional engine.

Last year, 1,901,239 self-charging hybrids were registered in the European Union. This is a marked leap from the 1.1 million registered the previous year.

Diesel registrations, conversely, have dropped significantly since the 2015 Dieselgate scandal, when Volkswagen was found guilty of intentionally programming emissions controls only during the testing phases, whilst in the real world they were emitting 40 times more nitrogen gas, falling by a full one-third from 2.77 million to 1,901,191 in a year.

Government subsidies connected to the purchase of low or no emission vehicles tripled the sales of plug-in and battery-electric cars in 2020 to over a million, split nearly evenly between the two.

Plug-in hybrids are considered by carmakers as the technology leading consumers to all-electric versions. Their eco-friendliness has been questioned by environmentalists, though, as studies have revealed drivers rely more heavily on the internal combustion engine than the battery, thus pushing up the cars’ emission rates.

Last year, sales of battery-electric vehicles grew by 63.1% to more than 878,500 cars, and the plug-in models sold 867,100 with a sales growth of 70.7%, according to the data.

Despite the positive outlook on the transition to cleaner models of cars, petrol remains the most common type of car driven, but with significantly lower numbers. Last year, 40% of new registrations were petrol, down 48% on 2020.

 

 

 

RXR win Extreme E season opener in Saudi desert

by: Luke Entwistle
21/02/2022
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Rosberg X Racing (RXR) came out victorious in the first round of the new Extreme E season on Sunday in Neom, Saudi Arabia, following a dramatic red-flag incident on the desert circuit.

The RXR car, driven by Swedes Johan Kristoffersson and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinksy, scarcely even made it through to the final itself. Kristoffersson created what seemed to be an unassailable gap in his stint of the semi-final race, but an error from Ahlin-Kottulinsky in the second-half of the race relegated them to last place.

Despite fighting her way back into contention, RXR couldn’t regain any places, recent Monte-Carlo Rally winner Sébastien Loeb taking the flag for Lewis Hamilton’s X44 team. RXR were thankful for a 10-second time-penalty for the XITE team, which promoted them into second-place and ensured their participation in the final on Sunday.

Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (SWE) / Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing. 

RXR made the most of their lifeline. However, the race was far from straight-forward, a red-flag on the first lap turning it into a single-lap sprint. Tanner Foust in the McLaren car came out uninjured despite the heavy crash, poor visibility and an increasingly rutted track contributing to his retirement.

RXR had sustained heavy damage in the incident, and were thankful for the red-flag, which allowed for repairs. The gaps between the cars were retained in a unique, staggered restart to the race.

Kristoffersson wasted no time chasing down the leaders. His deployment of the hyper-drive saw him breeze past Cristina Gutierrez, before an audacious late move on X44’s Laia Sanz at the penultimate corner ensured victory.

Catie Munnings (GBR) / Timmy Hansen (SWE), Genesys Andretti United Extreme E Emma Gilmour (NZL) / Tanner Foust (USA), McLaren Extreme E Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (SWE) / Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing Molly Taylor (AUS) / Kevin Hansen (SWE), JBXE Tamara Molinaro (ITA) / Oliver Bennett (GBR), Xite Energy Racing. 

Last year’s champions couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. Kristoffersson may have a new team-mate in Ahlin-Kottulinsky, but the result was ultimately the same.

Kristoffersson, Desert X-Prix winner, highlighted the difficulty of the desert conditions in Neom, saying, “It was a bit tricky. The track rutted up quite deep, and neither me nor Mikaela have a lot of experience in the desert. We worked to adapt and it was a good weekend.”

Ahlin-Kottulinsky, in her RXR debut, was delighted to take home the win, adding, “This is my first win so of course it feels really great, and even better to do it having just entered the team.”

Fans of the electric rally series have a long wait before the next instalment of the revolutionary series. The next round, the Island X-Prix, will take place in Sardinia in early May.

 

 

Photo sources: Extreme E Media Centre

 

 

 

Road resurfacing set to begin for GPs

by: Cassandra Tanti
21/02/2022
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The annual resurfacing of the Grand Prix circuit will take place from 28th February to 16th March this year. Here are the traffic disruptions you can expect during the works.

With the fast approaching Monaco e-Prix on 30th April, the Monaco Historic Grand Prix on 13th to 15th May, and the Monaco Grand Prix from 26th to 29th May, the government on Monday announced details of the road preparation operation on part of the circuit and other affected areas of the Principality.

This year, the operation will be carried out on the stand area of Quai Albert Ier, rue Grimaldi, Ostend Avenue, Boulevard Albert I, Avenue des Spéluges, (Fairmont pin), Louis II tunnel, Route de la Piscine (Darse Nord), La Rascasse and Noghès bends, Rue Bel Respiro and Rue Bellevue.

The repair operations will be carried out in two phases. The first involves the planing of the upper part of the pavement to a depth of 5cm, followed by the laying of asphalt and a reconstitution of the pavement.

The equipment needed for the work will be stored on the Louis Chiron bend, and the relevant parking lots will be closed from 22nd February.

The works will take place at night in an effort to reduce the impact on traffic. Bus diversions will be in place from 8am to 6pm in the affected sectors. Residents will receive more information about the works in the post.

While frustrating at the time, the regular asphalting for the Grand Prix does provide Monaco and residents with well maintained, International Automobile Federation-worthy roads.

 

 

Photo by Michael Alesi, Government Communication Department