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Month: May 2023

Monaco showcased in Times Square, New York, for ‘Like nowhere else’ campaign

by: Cassandra Tanti
02/05/2023

The best of Monaco is now on display in the heart of New York, with a new tourism campaign featuring the slogan ‘Like nowhere else!’ making its debut in Times Square.

Monaco’s Tourism Department revealed its 2023 strategy to win back tourists and return Monaco to its pre-Covid figures on 21st March, when Director Guy Antognlli unveiled the new marketing campaign to 200 guests at the Fairmont Monte-Carlo.

The ‘Like nowhere else’ slogan “symbolises the promise of an exclusive experience in the Principality of the kind that simply cannot be found anywhere else. It can be summed up in three words: Unique – Legendary – Diverse”, states the Tourism Department.

The 15-second visual campaign in Times Square is being broadcast on five giant screens. Set against a Riviera blue-backdrop, the visuals show some of Monaco’s best features – its coastline, Palace Square, Hôtel de Paris and the three Michelin-starred Le Louis XV by Alain Ducasse, the F1 Grand Prix and Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the Casino and speed boats… showing that there simply is nowhere else like Monaco.

The Tourism Department says that particular attention is being paid in this campaign to new tourist habits and modes of communication important to travellers, namely instagrammability and sustainability.

Times Square is one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annually. The campaign will run here for a year.

 

 

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Photo of Times Square by James Ting on Unsplash

Can I fill up my swimming pool during the drought?

by: Elsa Carpenter
02/05/2023
swimming pool drought

The south of France is experiencing a drought and as one of the regions with the most swimming pools in the whole country, many owners are concerned about their rights when it comes to filling and topping them up.  

Months of low rainfall over the autumn and winter led authorities in the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes to issue drought alerts in February and March respectively. The situation continued to worsen into spring, with a rainfall deficit of 76% in March compared to annual averages recorded by the Alpes-Maritimes and a drop in snowfall of roughly 60% across the region.  

Both departments have upped restrictions on water usage and a number of communes have passed into the highest levels of regulation as precipitation and groundwater reserves remain worryingly low.  

The vast majority of communes, however, remain in the “alerte” and “alerte renforcée” stages; those preceding the “crise” level of warnings that imposes the strictest restrictions. Still, this means that homeowners and renters with a private pool in their gardens are subject to legally enforceable restrictions when it comes to filling and topping up their pools.  

The difference between filling up and topping up

As it stands, the total re-filling of a swimming pool is banned unless a pool has been recently finished and this is the first time it has been filled. In this case, the works must have begun prior to the implementation of the first water restrictions earlier in the year.  

Topping up a pool – “mise à niveau” in French – is allowed for the time being.  

Should the commune pass into the crisis stage of water restrictions, this will also be banned for private pools unless they are for “collective use”.  

Fines of €1,500 could be issued by authorities if households are found to be breaking the rules.  

For the current alert status list of communes in the Alpes-Maritimes, please click here. For those in the Var, please click here.  

 

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Photo source: Dim Hou for Unsplash

Rally: A vintage race with a twist heading to Monaco

by: Luke Entwistle
02/05/2023

The Serma Devinci Rally comes to the Riviera this Sunday, with eco-friendly vintage cars making the trip from Saint Tropez to Monaco.

Devinci specialises in making aesthetically vintage cars with a twist. The cars are powered by electricity and, on Sunday 7th May, will travel the length of the French Riviera, beginning in Saint Tropez and ending in front of the Palais de Monaco.

An electric weekend of racing in Monaco

Around 15 cars, driven by influencers such as Girogio Giangiulio, Fulvio Piscitelli and Sophianna Bergonzi, will head along the coastal roads between the two jewels of the region.

Whilst Sunday’s rally cars may not reach the speeds of their single-seater electric counterparts at the Monaco ePrix, which will circulate the iconic Grand Prix circuit just 24 hours before, this vintage electrical rally will give a nostalgic nod to the past whilst simultaneously looking towards the future.

 

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Photo by Devinci

Princess Caroline visits with Monaco’s scouts and guides

by: Stephanie Horsman
02/05/2023
scouts monaco

The young scouts and guides of Monaco have received a special visit from the Honorary President of the outdoorsy association, Princess Caroline of Hanover.  

The Association of Guides and Scouts of Monaco is in good company. The scouting movement, founded in 1917 by Lord Robert Baden-Powell, today has over 50 million members in 217 countries around the globe.  

Scouts come from all walks of life, giving young people a chance to mix with others from different backgrounds, nationalities and religions. In Monaco, the scouts have been active since 1918 under the patronage of French Scouting, before becoming independent members of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement in 1990. Girl Guides came into being in 1963.  

Princess Caroline is pictured alongside some of the youngest members of the Association of Guides and Scouts of Monaco. Photo credit: Michael Alesi

The organisation has been a co-ed endeavour since 1992, a positive sign of the times and a break with the past, when boys and girls were kept apart.  

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS 

Whilst the Princess’ visit was certainly partly social, she also was there to handle affairs. She visited a selection of exhibitions and shared several activities with the members before signing the association onto the Energy Transition Pact, the national plan to lower environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions that was created in 2018 by the government.  

The day also included meetings with Marie-Hélène Gamba, the president of the association, as well as the director of the Center d’Accueil du Scoutisme, Franck Reynier. 

 

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Photo credit: Michael Alesi / Palais Princier de Monaco

Football: Monaco win the Coupe Gambardella

by: Luke Entwistle
02/05/2023
Monaco celebrate Coupe Gambardella win

AS Monaco won their fifth Coupe Gambardella with an emphatic 4-2 victory over Clermont Foot in Saturday’s final at the Stade de France. 

After successes in 1962, 1972, 2011 and 2016, the class of 2023 etched their names into the history of the club. The Monaco U18s side have had a nomadic competition this season, and haven’t played a single game at home.

The team, managed by Frédéric Barilaro and Manu Dos Santos headed up to the Stade de France in Paris as favourites, but they quickly fell behind to a goal from Robin Pages.

Under the watchful eyes of Sporting Director Paul Mitchell and General Director Ben Lambrecht, Les Monégasques drew level thanks to a finish from Mayssam Benama, before Joan Tincres gave them the lead just minutes later.

“I think the victory is thoroughly deserved.”

Benama then missed the penalty that would have handed Monaco a two-goal advantage, but that goal did come from Saïmon Bouabre early in the second half.

Colas Chastang reduced the gap before Pape Cabral killed the game off with Monaco’s fourth late in the game. The performances of some within the group, notably Ritchy Valme and Benama will do their chances of integrating into the first-team a world of good.

In the footsteps of Kylian Mbappé

After winning his second Coupe Gambardella as manager of Monaco, Barilaro praised his young side’s mentality. “I think that this victory is thoroughly deserved. For their goal, we concede from a set piece, and we’re close to conceding another straight after. The players had the mental capacity to come back into the match,” he said.

The 2016-winning side were carried by the individual talent of now-France captain Kylian Mbappé. However, the 2023 cohort have secured more of a collective victory on the turf of the Stade de France: “We can say that [it was more of a collective victory than the one in 2016], even if some players were [also] very interesting. They are still young and one must give them time to blossom,” said Barilaro.

 

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Photo by AS Monaco

French union threatens to cut power to Monaco GP and Cannes Film Festival

by: Cassandra Tanti
01/05/2023

In a direct threat to the Monaco Grand Prix and Cannes Film Festival this May, the French union CGT has threatened to shut off the power in protest against President Macron’s controversial pension reform.

After French President Emmanuel Macron’s called for “100 days of appeasement and unity”, the CGT union representing the energy sector workers has called for “100 days of anger, 100 days to win!”

In a statement, the union promised more protest action during the month of May, with electricity disruptions to major cultural and sporting events.

“The Cannes festival, the Monaco GP, Roland-Garros, the Avignon festival could end up in the dark,” says a communication by the CGT Union.

After widespread protests on Monday 1st May, the country’s labour day, the union has called for a national day of “Anger in Energy” for Wednesday 3rd May. The Cannes Film Festival is due to take place from 16th to 27th May, while the Monaco Grand Prix will be held from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th May.

“FNME- CGT, its unions, its union members, its Activists, the ‘Robin Hoods’, will continue to be the defenders of the general interest and one of the most effective tools!,” says the union.

“Our aim is to make ourselves heard locally”

Speaking to French news channel BFMTV, CGT-FMNE Federal Secretary Fabrice Coudour confirmed the plans to disrupt public events.

“We’re showing that we’re not turning the page. We’re still angry and we want to express it where it’s possible, particularly in public events,” he said.

“Our aim isn’t to stop them going ahead but rather to make ourselves heard locally and by elected politicians. We don’t doubt that even at the Cannes Film Festival or elsewhere there are personalities who share our point of view,” he added.

Last month, more than 300 leading figures from the French film and TV world signed a petition decrying the reforms.

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Photo courtesy Lion Stone Events and Ultimate Driving Tours