As is already the case for Nice, Aix-en-Provence, Cassis and Marseille, homeowners in a number of French Riviera towns now have to register their short-term rental properties with their local mairie or town hall if they want to continue welcoming guests via Airbnb.
“Hosts in these communes will no longer be able to list their properties on the Airbnb site unless they display their registration number obtained from the mairie in their advert,” explains Zakary Garaudet from the French branch of Airbnb communications. “Property owners can apply in just a few simple steps, free of charge, on the municipality’s website.”
In total, 11 towns have joined the ranks of 130 other French destinations subject to the obligatory registration system. New for the Alpes-Maritimes are Menton, Roquebrune-Cap Martin and Saint Paul de Vence. In the Var: Bandol, Le Castellet, Roquebrune sur Argens and Saint Cyr sur Mer. In the Bouches du Rhône: Istres, Martigues, Port Saint Louis du Rhône and Saint Cannat.
The registration process will apply to those wishing to rent out their primary residence as well as second homeowners. Hosts renting out a room or a portion of their property are unaffected.
The change will allow authorities to better manage the number of short-term rentals, an issue in a number of French Riviera towns where there is a shortage of long-term properties available on the market, and ensure all relevant legislation is being abided by. There is currently a limit of 120 days per calendar year for rentals of primary residences while second homeowners must apply for a ‘change of use’ authorisation from their town hall in order to legally rent out the property.
Airbnb has also created an online tool that allows towns to monitor rentals and capitalise on tourism in their local area, with particular attention paid to economic activity and visitor trends.
Formula E has confirmed that the Monaco E-Prix will take place on 6th May 2023. It will be the third consecutive year that the electric single-seater series has visited the Principality.
Initially, an event that was held every two years in Monaco, the E-Prix has held a more regular position in the Principality’s hectic May schedule in recent years. Held for the first time in 2015, the following two editions took place two years apart, but since 2021, it has become a yearly event.
Hoping to register a maiden win at their home Grand Prix will be the Monaco Sports Group (MSG). Formerly ROKiT Venturi Racing, the Monégasque manufacturer have teamed up with Maserati this season, and will therefore have two home races: one in Monaco and the other in Rome.
“As a team, obviously Monaco is always a highlight of the calendar for us and, with Maserati’s home race in Rome, we now have two home race weekends to look forward to,” said MSG’s James Rossiter, who has replaced Jérôme d’Ambrosio as team principal during the off-season.
The season will get underway in Mexico on 14th January, before heading for a double-header at the UNESCO World Heritage site in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. The grid will then head to two new locations in February, first heading to Hyderabad in India, before taking to the streets of Cape Town. The inaugural Sao Paulo E-Prix will then take place in late March. In April comes Berlin, which will be swiftly followed by Monaco on 6th May.
The season will conclude with a double-header in London on the 29th and 30th of July. Heading into the new season, MSG will be hoping to win their first constructors title after finishing as vice-champions last year.
Photo source: Monaco Sports Group
Prolongation of drought measures across the French Riviera
Fears over the continued drought in the south of France have prompted authorities to extend water-saving measures for households and businesses in the Côte d’Azur.
Rainfall has consistently fallen well below the average over the last 12 months to a deficit of as much as 60% in some parts of the French Riviera. September continued the worrying trend, with 42% less precipitation than is typically expected. According to Météo France, the month of October has been considerably warmer than usual and the higher temperatures are expected to last until at least the end of the month.
In a bid to maintain reserves, water restrictions have been extended to 15th November for the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var. Some localities in the Var, notably along the Durance, Huveaune and Arc rivers, will be subject to the restrictions until 1st December.
If the situation fails to improve, the respective prefectures have warned that the drought measures could be maintained beyond the current dates.
The Rossano Ferretti salon is a new beauty destination in Monaco featuring a plethora of deluxe treatments and the signature “invisible haircut”, exclusively available at Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo at the Hôtel Hermitage.
After Paris, Bali, Southern California and New York came Monaco… And that’s just in the past 12 months.
The Principality has joined a prestigious list of 20 locations across the world to now boast a Rossano Ferretti salon.
It started among the commercial centres of the nearby Hôtel de Paris, also owned by SBM, but it is here at the wellness centre of the Thermes Marins in the Hôtel Hermitage where the Monaco resident of five years envisaged his salon.
“It is all about wellness at the end of the day,” Rossano reveals as we chat in one of the spa rooms, its emblematic half-moon window entrapping the expansive sea view beyond. It is the same view that impresses clients in the hair salon next door. “My hair cut, hair product line, the way we treat hair, the shampoo massage… Everything leans towards healthy. And the team I am working with here is really fantastic: Vanessa, Louis and all the stylists are great people. We have the same vision.”
Clients are unlikely to get an appointment with the world-renowned hair master himself. Nowadays, Rossano reserves his cutting time for VIP media events such as this, or for travelling the world to train stylists in his defining “method”, the internationally acclaimed invisible haircut, as well as his incredible shampoo massage, the all-natural hair product line, and general philosophy of hair design.
Rossano Ferretti may be hairdresser to the stars now – think Kate Middleton, Jennifer Lawrence, Angelina Jolie and Lady Gaga – but it all began in a tiny Italian village with its 400 inhabitants, and his grandfather, a barber, who passed on his passion to Rossano’s mother, and then to Rossano himself. The first time he held a pair of hairdressing scissors, a teacher remarked: “This is incredible, how can you use scissors like this the first time you cut hair in your life?”
It was a defining moment in Rossano Ferretti’s life: the moment he realised that he had a true talent. He was 14 years old.
With this newfound confidence, Rossano went on to travel the globe, funding his “education” of different cultures and their hair types through his work in the fashion industry.
“At that time, we didn’t have Google, so I had to travel to understand. I didn’t have access to Asian hair in my tiny town of Parma, or African American, Brazilian, or Swedish hair. So, I was using my talent in the fashion industry to make the money to go around the world and get in touch with the hair. That was the incubation period of my method, which made me famous. The method is the pillar of my life in terms of hair culture.”
The Method, or Il Metodo, is a revolutionary hair cutting technique, also known as the “invisible cut”, which focusses on the natural movement of the hair.
Ferretti describes a sophisticated vertical cut that is created using scissors with horizontal teeth, developed exclusively for the Rossano Ferretti brand.
“You see, my body is cutting the hair, not my scissors. Do you see the movement?” Rossano asks me as his upper body moves in fluid, dance-like motions around my head.
“These scissors have been created as a prolongation of my hands, something that interprets my needs onto the hair. And when we cut the hair with these scissors, we really give it a much healthier effect; it is shinier, lighter, and it has body.”
The scissors cut just 18% of the hair, where ordinary scissors cut up to 60%. The impact is clear and immediate. There is no “scissor effect”; no obvious layers that most hairdressers create almost automatically without any real thought or care in the process.
Rossano explains it is a personalised cut that concentrates on the individual beauty of each person; a cut that has been adapted to the type of hair, the facial structure and the personality, without damaging the cuticle, cortex or pigment of the hair.
“If you don’t feel like a hairdresser understands you, run out of that salon!”
A visit to a Rossano Ferretti salon most notably begins with a consultation. You are asked what your likes and dislikes are, about your lifestyle and how you move; what you eat.
At first, it seems a little intrusive, even for these therapists-in-disguise. But Rossano says it’s a necessary part of the process.
“Then we can find an answer to your questions because that is the way it should be,” he says passionately. “We become the interpreter to your personal beauty. It is not about trends or my haircut; I design my haircut for you. If you don’t feel like a hairdresser understands you, run out of that salon.”
Rossano Ferretti range of hair products are available exclusively at the salon, photo courtesy Monte-Carlo SBM
Along with offering “The Method”, standout treatments at Rossano Ferretti Hairspa include premium hair services such as blow dry, Great Lengths hair extensions and colour services including highlights and colour correction, and other signature Rossano Ferretti treatments like the Moisturizing Hair Treatment.
All hair services are performed using Rossano Ferretti’s award-winning Italian collection of haircare products, which have been designed using the finest natural ingredients, formulated in Italy by a team of Italian hair artisans using expert skincare technology.
They are available to purchase exclusively at the hair salon and, encourages Rossano, should form part of anyone’s hair regime.
“People are used to their skin and make-up regimes, but not a hair regime. That is a fundamental mistake,” says the maestro. “If you are happy when you leave a hair salon, and you love how your hair feels, it doesn’t make any sense to go somewhere else to buy a product that doesn’t fit into your needs.”
So, was I impressed? I can confidently say that “The Method” is revolutionary, the head massage sublime, and the hair products incredible. It is clear why Rossano Ferretti is one of the most acclaimed names in the styling industry. Try it for yourself.
Photo above of Rossano Ferretti courtesy Monte-Carlo SBM
“Intelligent travel” and the future tourism trends in Monaco
Monaco’s annual conference on the future of luxury and business tourism revealed that sustainable tourism in no longer the domain of eco-warriors, it is important to business and luxe travellers as well.
The Future of Luxury and Business Tourism sort of says it all. This was the theme of the 2022 Conference of the Tourist and Convention Authority (DTC), which took place at the Novotel Hotel Monte-Carlo on Monday 17th October and brought together tourism professionals from across the Principality to discuss the latest in the travel and tourism sectors.
What came out of it was that, to remain competitive and in tune with current attitudes and tastes of travellers, the tourism sector must not just just be innovative but also responsible. Sustainable tourism was a prominent feature, showing a real shift in the way professionals are looking at the industry. No longer the domain of eco-warriors, it is now important to the business and luxe travellers as well, notably those 26 to 41 years old.
“We must not stop travelling, but travel intelligently,” said Panos Tzivanidis, Director of the Department of Events and Institutional Services of the International Olympic Committee.
Franck Goldnadel, President of Nice Airport, added, “There is an absolute need to transform the air transport industry to be more sustainable.”
On the innovation side, Gabriel Donida, Founder of travel agency Atelier Voyage, said, “Guests don’t just want beautiful rooms, they want experiences. In our travel agencies, millennials are pushing us to rethink our offer in order to go beyond what already exists.”
Director of Tourism and Conventions Guy Antognelli also spoke about how Monaco is bouncing back from the Covid-19 pandemic. He explained that the local tourism sector has undergone many changes and now is exploring new avenues for development and improvement in order to best meet customer demand in the Principality.
Photo credit: Michael Alesi, Monaco Government Communications Department
Dieter Friedrich: Monaco Ambassadors Club founder dies at age of 95
Dieter Friedrich, the founder and long-time president of the Monaco Ambassadors Club as well as a presenter for RMC and TMC radio, has died in the Principality at the age of 95.
It’s a story that began in 1967, when Princess Grace met and became a great supporter of Dieter Friedrich, a man who had his fingers on the pulse of Monaco’s artistic social and cultural initiatives.
Formerly a radio presenter in the United States, Germany and Great Britain, he lived in Monaco and was “keen to bring something lasting and prestigious to the Principality”.
This was the seed that spawned the Ambassadors Club in 1973; an international group of friends and colleagues who were keen to promote Monaco to like-minded people around the world.
Friedrich managed, in record time, to gather a select conglomerate of diplomats, senior officials, artists, journalists and business leaders together who went on to actively contribute to the reputation and prestige of the Principality.
Friedrich was not only the founder, but also the club’s first president. He led the club from its inception to his retirement from the post in 2003.
In addition to his active role in the Ambassadors Club, the civic-minded Friedrich was also Consul of Jamaica in the Principality for over twenty years.
Current Ambassadors Club President, Christian Moore, son of late Bond actor Roger Moore, has expressed his condolences, along with those of his administrative team and the community of members, to Friedrich’s family for their great loss.
Photo by Monaco Ambassadors Club
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