The Palace Square was filled with excited children on Sunday 7th May for the changing of the guard, Relève de la Garde, at exactly 11.55am.
The Louis Carlésimo association, which helps sick children and their families manage their fight against disease through entertainment, came with around 140 young people to enjoy an importantmoment in the daily lives of the Carabiniers of Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Another association, Les Képis Pascalunes, which helps the orphans and widows of the French National Gendarmerie, was also present. Throughout the weekend, the association received in Fréjus, then in Monaco, nearly a hundred children aged six to 14-years-old as part of the solidarity project ‘Du Bleu Dans Les Yeux’.
Afterwards, there was time for a chat between the little visitors and the Carabiniers as well as a photo session in front of the Prince’s Palace.
The countdown is on for the world’s most luxurious supercar show, Top Marques Monaco, which is this year shooting for the stars with some exciting new reveals.
There is just under a month until the 18th edition of Top Marques Monaco, the world’s most luxurious supercar show, but excitement is already mounting.
While tourists in the Casino Square on Tuesday were treated to a snippet of what’s to be on show in June at the Grimaldi Forum, the press and guests gathered inside the Casino de Monte-Carlo to hear what’s on this year’s agenda.
It was confirmed that the 2023 edition of Top Marques Monaco will be amongst the most thrilling to date, with exceptionally rare hypercars and classic cars on show, as well as the worldwide launch of an electric rover heading for the Moon.
Top Marques returns to Monaco from 7th to 11th June with an extraordinary line-up of the world’s most iconic supercars from yesterday, today and tomorrow – for sale and ready to drive home.
It will feature six world-first reveals, test drives of the finest machines and more than 100 exhibits from the world’s most luxurious brands.
World launches
Top Marques is synonymous with exciting world-first unveilings, and this year the show will see the launch of the nanoFlowcell, the first 100% electric, no battery roadster.
There will also be two Ford Broncos straight from Florida, the first public showing of Venturi’s Flex lunar rover that will be launched into space onboard SpaceX in 2026, and the IR8 Tribute supercar by Dallara Stradale. The sixth and final unveiling remains ‘Top Secret’.
Among the other top brands to be featured are Porsche, Audi, Devinci, Maserati and Aston Martin.
Innovative technology will also be on show by visionaries such as Matador MH2, with their hydrogen concept car, and Nemo 2, the 100% electric submersive.
The nanoFlowcell will be unveiled at this year’s Top Marques Monaco, photo supplied
New this year: Monaco Car Auctions
The first sale organised by the newly launched Monaco Car Auctions will take place on 8th June. The auction will be exclusively dedicated to the Ferrari brand, with both cars and automobilia set to go under the hammer.
Classic cars return
After a successful inaugural edition in 2022, Boutsen Classic Cars led by Thierry Boutsen will take centre stage in the cars of yesteryear section. They will be joined by Classic 4 You, DPM Motors and a Bugatti Royale, on loan from the National Automobile Museum of Mulhouse and the Collection of Cars of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. Meanwhile, two Benetton F1 cars driven by Schumacher during his first F1 wins will be on show and for sale.
Entertainment
Ambassador GMK (Georges Maroun Kikano), France’s number one automotive influencer, revealed that a competition will be held this year, titled Car Spotters’ Awards, inviting people to submit their favourite photos and videos of cars, and a lotto in which the winners will receive a pair of limited edition Nike shoes. There will also be Lego workshops for the kids to create their favourite cars, and a design competition for young car designers.
Security and safety a top priority
It was also mentioned during Tuesday’s press conference that Monaco’s Public Security will be out in force to ensure speed limits and respectable behaviour are adhered to. On the spot fines of €300 will be issued for those who fail to comply, and cars will be impounded for five days.
Tickets for Top Marques Monaco
Day passes for Thursday 8th and Friday 9th June are priced at 80€. Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th June are 40€. VIP passes are 150€. Tickets are on sale at ww.topmarquesmonaco.com.
For the second year running, AS Monaco Women have fallen agonisingly short of promotion from the R1, in a season marred by off-the-pitch difficulties.
Les Monégasques strolled to a 5-0 victory against SC Mouans Sartoux in their final home match of the season at the Stade du Prince Héréditaire Jacques. Incidentally, it was the first time that AS Monaco Women had played at the pitch that they called home last season, with the club this season forced to play their home matches many kilometres away in Blausasc. The difficulty in procuring a pitch is just many difficulties encountered by the club this season.
On the pitch, promotion has escaped Monaco by the narrowest of margins. The club’s season will end in Toulon this coming weekend, but there will be nothing to play for. Les Monégasques have largely been in a league of their own this season, just like last season, but once again, promotion to the old D2, now D3, will cruelly evade them.
Photo of the AS Monaco Women 2022/23 squad by Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life
Last year, they came up against Toulouse in the play-off final, and only narrowly lost. This year, a structural change within the league meant that the first-place side would earn automatic promotion, but unfortunately, Monaco weren’t alone in being a cut above the rest. AS Cannes Football have also outclassed many of their opponents, notably Monaco, edging a narrow 3-2 victory earlier in the season, a result which would ultimately prove decisive.
“A season full of emotions and plot twists”
With their season’s objectives beyond them, coach Laurent Banide departed in March, with Tony Ribeiro taking charge in the interim, but it is uncertain whether he will remain in charge beyond the end of the current campaign. Whoever takes charge will be faced with the same objective as in the previous three seasons, as club President André-Pierre Couffet told Monaco Life.
“Our objective for the past two/three years has been the same: to earn promotion. We’ll go again next year, and we’ll take steps forward slowly but surely. This season, we haven’t been able to bring together the right ingredients to go up. I think that Cannes were at the same level as us. There was nothing in it, and last year we were better than everyone,” he said.
Photo of André-Pierre Couffet by Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life
Whilst, bar the hiccup against Cannes, results have been consistent on the pitch, matters off-the-pitch have been much more uncertain with the club encountering issues with the investors, which still need to be resolved.
“The season has been a bit chaotic regarding investors that came in and gave us their support, upon which we constructed our team, then there was a sort of discord, meaning that they left in February, which left us, financially and within a sporting context too, in a bit of a tight spot. Happily, the team came back together, and today is proof of that, with lots of emotions,” Couffet told Monaco Life.
The club’s Sporting Director Thomas Martini added, “It has been a season full of emotions and full of plot twists as well, very atypical, with a team that finishes second, but so close to the first place. We were only three points away, so it’s frustrating, but we’re not going to look at the past. We finished well, and there is a cup final as well. We’re already preparing for next season with the desire to earn that promotion.”
Integration into the AS Monaco family?
Things will be different next season. In the wake of Monaco’s 5-0 victory on Sunday, there were scenes of jubilation in the dressing room; despite the difficulties, morale within the squad clearly remains high. But not all of them will be there next season.
André-Pierre Couffet, joined by Monaco Deputy Mayor Jacques Pastor by Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life
All of the Monaco Women’s teams from U6-U18 level were present, and integrating some of those youth players is a possibility in the off-season. “The project is a youthful one,” Martini tells Monaco Life.
The same applies to the AS Monaco professional men’s side. The AS Monaco Women’s side isn’t part of the same organisation, but that isn’t for lack of desire on the part of the Women’s team.
“Joining the AS Monaco family? On our side, we would like to. I’m favourable to it because in order to grow, it has to be done. We have the structure, and there isn’t anything to construct, just to be taken under their wing and help us financially,” said Couffet.
Photo by Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life
Regardless of an eventual integration into the AS Monaco structure, the Women’s side will be working towards ensuring off-the-pitch stability for the upcoming campaign, which they hope will finally propel them towards that much-deserved promotion. In the meantime, there is still the opportunity for silverware with a cup final, being held in Biot, taking place early next month. The final whistle in that match will act as a starting gun for the management at AS Monaco Women, who have the considerable task of realigning the project in the coming weeks and months.
The winners at this year’s Metaverse Entertainment World Summit included the man behind the Mythical Games, the female entrepreneur who created World of Women and a “young genius” from Nice who built the Equitier empire.
Prince Albert II, who had given the event his High Patronage, was on hand to dish out the awards on 4th May at the MEWS gala dinner. The awards honoured the “most outstanding talent, creators and companies” from the metaverse sphere, with a focus on categories such as Sports, which went to John Linden of Mythical Games x NFL Rivals, Community, won by Adelina Mettera of World of Women, and Pioneer, which went to Niçois Thomas Chenu, the chairman of Equitier.
“Creative futurist” VNCCII and Samantha Tauber won the music category for their “outstanding progress” in the music metaverse, while the Better World award went to Tate Dooley for Backyard Farming.
Michelin-starred Chef Yannick Allèno of the Hôtel Hermitage’s Pavyllon restaurant provided the gourmet element of the awards night while Les French Twins gave a “truly magical performance that captivated and left the audience completely awe-struck”, according to organisers.
Overall, the three days of workshops, conferences, discussion sessions and networking opportunities, as well as numerous fascinating exhibits and premieres, such as those by Camille Louise Jewellery, Verse Estate, Treehugger, Eyes of Fashion NFT, WizzKid Billionaire, Dworld, Marthaverse, Equitier and Orbis Holographics, were a resounding success.
“The MEWS Summit and Awards was a huge success, bringing together some of the brightest minds in the metaverse industry to share their insights and expertise,” said the organisers in a post-event communiqué. “With Web3 rapidly becoming an integral part of our digital future, events like the MEWS are essential for ensuring that innovators, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders are all working together to shape this exciting new world.”
The PokerStars European Poker Tour held at Le Sporting saw 53 events on the schedule and some of poker’s biggest names filling the tables for enormous cash prizes.
The PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) took over Le Sporting for 11 days of high stakes action between 26th April and 6th May, and now the results are in: Canada’s Mike Watson has captured his second EPT Main Event title and more than €749,000 in cash after beating out Germany’s Leonard Maue.
The field of 1,098 entrants created a prize pool in this event in excess of €5.3 million and it took six days to play out.
In other big matches, Mikita Badziakouski from Belarus nabbed the €25,000 High Rollers title after defeating Britain’s Ben Heath and has taken home a packet equaling €938,042. The 211 players in this category had built up a massive prize pot of over €5 million and the event attracted some of poker’s biggest names, including Timothy Adams, Aleksejs Ponakovs, Artur Martirosian and Justin Bonomo.
The cash awards of €1.8 million for the €3,000 NLH Mystery Bounty had 678 competitors and was whittled down in the end to a competition between France’s Jeremie Zouari and Antoine Kraous from Bulgaria. The Frenchman beat out Kraous, winning €202,000.
For serious big spenders, the €100,000 Super High Roller event, which perhaps unsurprisingly attracted only 37 participants, saw Bulgarian Alex Kulev take the top spot and win €1.03 million, beating out the €25,000 High Rollers champ Mikita Badziakouski, who still walked away with over a million.
The next EPT event will be held from 21st August to 3rd September in Barcelona.
Vocational schools in France are getting a financial boost thanks to new government cash injections that hope to raise teaching standards and lower drop-out rates.
Vocational schools in France have long been a good option for students whose tastes run to the practical and these varied institutions offer solid training and skills for jobs that may fall outside the usual high school or university curriculums.
CHANGING PERSPECTIVE
The system, often thought to be primarily for entry into “blue collar” jobs, is in fact far more sophisticated, offering 70 specific courses of study in fields such as service, catering, maintenance, construction, agriculture and accounting, to name but a few. The schools can also be a stepping stone to further education in a variety of subjects, such as business and engineering.
To inject new life into the nation’s vocational education system, President Emmanuel Macron has announced a plan based on three pillars: better support for drop-out prevention, with a goal of 100% professional integration; making vocational schools a more attractive choice for both young people and employers; and giving these institutions the means to act, to the tune of €1 billion each year, which will be invested into the system.
“Together, we have been able to succeed in learning,” said the president via Twitter. “Now, let’s collectively make vocational high schools a sector of excellence.”
NEW AMBITIONS
In order to reach this goal, the government has set out 12 measures.
Some are basic: smaller class sizes; more class choices; better teacher and headmaster/mistress training; school withdrawal prevention methods; increasing Bac +1 places from 4,500 to 20,000 by 2026; and offering internship opportunities for students in their chosen fields.
Others are a bit more creative and include: language, coding and entrepreneurship courses; offering preparation support for professional integration with external partners; creating business offices in each school; and making student’s projects more interesting and relevant by adopting new pedagogical approaches.
The task is mammoth, but the results could be equally so for the tens of thousands of young people who will be the professionals of tomorrow.
Pap Ndiaye, Minister of National Education and Youth, says, “Our collective ambition is clear: better integrate graduate students and better support those who wish to continue their studies in higher education.”
