People in France will no longer be asked to show a Covid-19 vaccine passport to access venues from 14th March, as the country gradually eases Covid health protocols amid signs the virus is receding in France.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex told TF1 television on Thursday that “the health situation is improving,” and as a result, face masks will also no longer be needed indoors from 14th March, with the exception of public transport.
The vaccine pass will remain mandatory to access elderly home care centres, Castex added.
“Extensive” flight network this summer at Riviera airport
Nice Côte d’Azur airport has announced a return to near normality in terms of the number of flights available this summer season, with hundreds of destinations back on offer including eight long-haul flights.
The pandemic wrought havoc on the travel industry and for the past two years, the public has been subjected to “bummer summers” with few or no travel options and a raft of conflicting rules that made the idea of getting on an airplane a singularly unpleasant experience.
Happily, those days are coming to an end. As of Sunday 27th March, the official start of the summer season, Nice Côte d’Azur will be returning to pre-pandemic conditions, offering 106 destinations to 41 countries by 52 airlines.
Long haul flights are part of this return to normal and passengers will once again be able to fly to Montreal on Air Canada and Air Transat, to New York’s JFK on Delta, to Newark on La Compagnie, and United for North American offerings. Additionally, Emirates will be flying direct to Dubai and, for the first time, there will be a new route to Bahrain on Kuwait Airlines.
Closer to home, there will be a total of 18 destinations in France, 31 in greater Europe, and three in the Maghreb.
Five new airlines are coming to Nice airport, including Condor with flights to Dusseldorf and Frankfurt, Icelandair to Reykjavik, Fly One to Chisinau, United Airlines, going to New York, and Gulf Air.
New destinations include Bahrain, Heraklion, Cluj, Reykjavik, Southampton, Tirana and Valencia.
“Despite the restrictions linked to the geopolitical situation, the strength of the summer programme at Nice Côte d’Azur airport marks a new step towards a return to normality, which is both necessary and important to enable our region to re-establish an indispensable and sustainable economic and cultural activity,” said Franck Goldnadel, Chairman of the Board of Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur.
The draw for Monaco’s Davis Cup play-off match against Morocco, which begins on Friday at the Monte-Carlo Country Club, took place on Thursday, with a prestigious September fixture on the line.
Monaco’s number one, Lucas Catarina will face Adam Moundir in the opening fixture of the event, which will span two days at the Monte-Carlo Country Club (MCCC) in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Catarina, ranked 393rd in the world, does not feel the pressure of being first out on court. He told the assembled media, “I am proud to play for the team. Playing first or second doesn’t really make a difference, we’ll all do the maximum to win our matches.”
Valentin Vacherot was nominated as Monaco’s number 2 at the press conference, and as such will face Morocco’s number 1, Elliot Benchetrit, on Friday. He sought to point out the importance of playing on home soil. “Clearly, for us, playing in Monaco is an advantage. We would have given everything, if it had been played down in Morocco, but playing in front of our supporters means a bit more to us. It’s been a few years since Monaco have played at home. We are very happy to be here.”
The match was initially scheduled to be played in Morocco, but the current epidemiological situation forced a change in venue for the tie. The winner will go on to play in Group 2 in September, potentially entailing a larger, more prestigious opponent.
Monaco’s captain Guillaume Couillard is aware of the challenge that awaits his side. “The closer the tournament gets, the more concentrated we are. We feel ready for this meeting. We know the opponent we are facing, so we know what to expect.”
There is nonetheless a feeling of confidence within the team that they can get the job done. Monaco’s Hugo Nys, ranked number 51 in the world, in particular, exuded confidence ahead of his doubles match when he said, “We are unbeaten, we are favourites on paper. We’re going to prepare, and the objective is to bring home the point. We are very motivated, very confident.”
In what is at times described as the “World Cup of tennis”, the Davis Cup, which dates back to 1900, is now returning to Monaco’s shores with high expectations for some great tennis over the next couple of days. A Monegasque victory in front of the packed grandstands of the MCCC would be a perfect way to cap its return.
The draw in full:
Day 1, singles match 1 – Lucas Catarina (MON) v Adam Moundir (MOR)
Day 1, singles match 2 – Valentin Vacherot (MON) v Elliot Benchetrit (MOR)
Day 2, doubles match – Hugo Nys (MON) & Romain Arneodo (MON) v Lamine Ouahab (MOR) & Elliot Benchetrit (MOR)
Day 2, match 1 – Lucas Catarina (MON) v Elliot Benchetrit (MOR)
Day 2, match 2 – Valentin Vacherot (MON) v Adam Moundir (MOR)
The region is set for fresh snowfall, as plunging temperatures and snow showers are due to hit many resorts this weekend.
Isola 2000 – There are currently 23 ski slopes and 17 ski lifts open at Isola. Visitors can expect there to be between 95 and 80 cm of snow, whilst this will be topped up with more fresh snow throughout the weekend, with snow forecast on Saturday and Sunday. Fog is forecast on Friday and also on Sunday afternoon. Skiers will have to wrap up with highs of just 4°C and lows of -10°C. The col de la Bonette and la Lombarde roads are closed until the end of the winter season.
Auron – There are currently 23 ski slopes and 14 ski lifts open at the resort, with between 85-75 cm of standing snow, and similarly to many other resorts in the region, fresh snowfall is expected throughout the weekend. Friday will be largely sunny, whilst there will be sunny intervals between the snow showers on Sunday. The incoming snow will entail a drop in temperatures with highs of 5°C and lows of -3°C. In terms of access, Route de la Tinée, Route de la Bonette, Piste de la Moustière, Piste de Demandols all remain closed.
Les Deux Alpes – There is a huge choice of runs at the resort with 79 ski slopes and 37 ski lifts currently open. There is 65cm of soft standing snow. The resort isn’t expecting any snow over the weekend, but will nonetheless experience the same low temperatures that will be felt across the region with lows of -8°C and highs of 3°C. It will be a largely cloudy weekend with fog on Saturday and sunny intervals on Friday.
La Colmiane – There are 13 ski slopes and five ski lifts open at the resort, with between 75 and 45 cm of standing snow. More snow is expected with snowfall potentially beginning on Friday night and continuing throughout Saturday, with snow showers on Sunday. Temperatures will be considerably lower than previous weekends with highs of 3°C and lows of -4°C. Like last week, there will be a torch-lot ski descent at the resort on Friday followed by a firework display. The resort also hosts a market on Saturdays, and will continue to do so until the end of March.
Greolieres les Neiges – There are four ski lifts open, as well as 30km of open runs. There is between 30 and 40 cm of soft standing snow at the resort, following a light 3 cm dusting on Monday. There could be yet more snow, as showers are forecast on Saturday, whilst the rest of the weekend will see sunny intervals. Relative to neighbouring resorts, Greolieres will be sunnier and much milder with highs of 8°C and lows of -4°C. The resort isn’t reporting any road closures.
Limone Piemonte – The Italian resort is reporting 15 open runs and 11 ski-lifts, while snow levels vary from 45 cm to 10 cm. There will be heavy snowfall over the weekend, especially on Saturday. There will be lows of -3°C, highs of 6°C. Passage through the Roya valley currently isn’t possible due to the collapsed bridge at Tende. Drivers must instead pass through Ventimiglia and the journey from Monaco is currently approximately three hours.
Valberg – There are 24 ski slopes and 13 ski lifts open. The resort currently has between 80 and 60 cm of standing snow, following the snowfall on Valentine’s Day. There will be sunny intervals on Friday and Sunday, whilst snow is expected on Saturday. It is expected to be very mild with highs of 3°C and lows of -2°C. There will be two separate firework displays over the weekend, one on Friday and one on Sunday.
Note: Snow tyres must be worn on the roads up to the ski resorts.
A new bus line is now in service for the Plati district, giving residents an easy, environmentally friendly way to get around.
The Compagnie des Autobus de Monaco (CAM) put the new number 7 bus service in operation on 28thFebruary.
The minibus is 100% electric and has a capacity of 22 seats. It departs from the Place d’Armes-Charles III terminus and has three stops in the Plati district – Plati, Biovès and Crovetto, as well as a fourth stop on avenue Prince Pierre (Honoré II). It then returns to the Place d’Armes-Charles III terminus.
Line 7 is active every 20 minutes from 8am to 7pm on weekdays, and from 8:40am to 12:40pm, and from 3:20pm to 6:20pm on weekends and public holidays. It can be accessed with a CAM pass or the Monapass, the Principality’s all-in-one mobility application.
For the moment, this is an experiment for which the Prince’s Government and the CAM will carry out a complete assessment during the summer of 2022.
On the brink of reaching a second consecutive Coupe de France final, Monaco came unstuck at the Beaujoire Stadium on Wednesday as Nantes advanced at their expense in cruel fashion (4-2 on penalties).
A semi-final defeat, when a place in the final is within grasping distance is always a tough blow to take, no more so than when the result is decided by penalties. As a disheartened Philippe Clement pointed out post-match, “Penalties are still a bit of a lottery.”
What preceded the ultimately unsuccessful shoot-out “lottery”, was a tight contest over which Clement’s Monaco could, and often did, exert their control. The smoke from the pre-kick-off pyrotechnic display had barely dissipated when Nantes conjured up the first chance of the fixture, the ball barely visible to the naked eye as Djibril Sidibe made a crucial block.
Monaco took the lead soon after, Guillermo Maripan expertly glancing a Vanderson free-kick past Remy Descamps in the Nantes goal, sending the 300 travelling Monaco fans into raptures. The Chilean defender would quickly turn from hero to zero, as his error allowed parity to be restored.
A slack pass from the defender allowed Nantes to break with pace and numbers, and Sidibe, in a desperate attempt to prevent the decisive pass, inadvertently diverted the ball past Alexander Nubel and into his own goal.
Both sides had chances to go ahead before the break, the best chances for Monaco falling to Gelson Martins and Youssouf Fofana, whilst Ludovic Blas almost netted for Nantes on the stroke of half-time.
The electric atmosphere in the stands continued to seep onto the pitch, as the second-half was once again played at a high-tempo. Samuel Moutoussamy looked to have shattered the dreams of the Monaco fans late-on as he bundled home a penalty-box scramble.
Monaco were given a lifeline just seconds later. The returning Myron Boadu, on as a substitute, converted another sumptuous Vanderson delivery to level the scores once more.
Neither side could break the deadlock in the closing stages (2-2), and so OGC Nice’s opponent in the final was to be decided by spot-kicks. Things couldn’t have begun any worse for Monaco, the normally reliable Wissam Ben Yedder missed the opening penalty. Randal Kolo Muani converted for Nantes’ to give the home-side an immediate advantage.
Nubel struggled to get anywhere near any of Nantes’ penalties, and Aurelien Tchouameni’s miss gave Monaco a mountain to climb, with Nantes then needing to miss both of their remaining penalties. Moses Simon made no mistake with the decisive penalty, and the tie settled, the Beaujoire was then engulfed by a mass pitch-invasion amidst jubilant scenes.
Monaco have an important month ahead, with two legs of a Europa League tie against Braga, and a handful of matches against rivals for the European places. That is what hung most heavily on the mind of Clement post-match.
“Luck wasn’t on our side. We are still in two competitions. We are very ambitious, we want to turn our luck around. On Sunday, I want to see players start like they did today (Wednesday).”
Clement often likes to stress that no match is “decisive”, but as Monaco reach a critical juncture in their season, each match now carries heightened importance, beginning with Marseille at the Orange Velodrome on Sunday.
All the headlines and highlights from Monaco, direct to you every morning
