Redevelopment works have already begun on Avenue Hector Otto in the western reaches of the Principality of Monaco, and will continue on-and-off until the end of this year.
The first phase of a two-part project to renovate the sector between No. 23 and No. 41 of Avenue Hector Otto commenced in late June with a series of repairs and upgrades to its roads and pavements that will last until 4th August.
A second phase will take place from 18th September to 22nd December.
Upon completion, local families with young children will be able to enjoy a neighbourhood playground while the community as a whole will be able to use a newly installed underground recycling system.
Access for both pedestrians and drivers on Avenue Hector Otto will be ensured throughout the process, in order to limit any negative impacts and inconveniences to residents and workers in the area, but temporary lane closures and affiliated delays should be expected.
The deadline to complete a new property declaration for all home owners in France, including holiday homes and investment properties, has been extended, with the government acknowledging that the process has not been well followed.
France’s Director General of Public Finances Jérôme Fournel appeared recently on BFMTV to admit that his government was “probably over optimistic on the level of awareness” of the obligation to declare real estate.
With “queues of unusual magnitude” and an “explosion” in physical contacts and telephone calls felt by the country’s tax offices, Fournel described a “nightmare” for tax staff who had to deal with anxious and sometimes aggressive taxpayers as the deadline approached, initially set for 30th June. It has now been postponed by a month.
He suggested that many had left it to the last minute to make the declaration, despite a widespread communication campaign initiated at the start of the year that included media and email warnings to property owners.
Some owners say they were only made aware of the obligation in reminder emails sent in mid-June, prompting nationwide panic.
Fournel said that he is confident that by the end of July, the tax authorities will have caught up with the wave, saying that “more than 63% of declarations have already been made”.
New obligation for property owners, regardless of residence status
The French government introduced the mandatory declaration of real estate in France after it abolished housing tax (taxe d’habitation) for main residences, but not for secondary residences. Apparently, “the Directorate General of Public Finance did not have the ability to distinguish what was a main residence and a secondary residence”, as it was put by Fournel.
Those who have not completed the property form now have until 31st July to do so.
It can be completed online on the tax website.
The new property tax form applies to all French homeowners, including second-home owners, landlords, and property investors. Homeowners need to fill out the Declaration d’Occupationform found on the impots.gouv.fr website and declare who is living in the property on 1st January 2023. Separate forms must be filld out for each property owned.
The MonacoTech-backed entity ETYC – Environmental Training for Yacht Crew – has launched a crowdfunding campaign to bolster its new online platform that offers sustainable solutions to yacht crews worldwide.
Since the beginning of the year, the ETYC team has been developing a ground-breaking online project that it hopes will bring about significant changes to sustainability within the yachting industry.
“The innovative platform will provide a comprehensive solution to raising awareness and educating yacht crew on environmentally friendly practices,” says Claire Ferandier Sicard, the founder of ETYC. “Our aim is to provide crews with the tools and knowledge to enable them to reduce their impact on the environment through their day-to-day activities. Thanks to this platform, we will be able to showcase the boats that are taking action to reduce their impact, as well as inspiring those who are not doing so to do so. We no longer have a choice: we have to take concrete, significant, widespread and faster action if we want to reduce our CO2 emissions.”
The platform will unify a raft of international entities and players that already provide sustainable solutions for the yachting industry in an effort to build long-term partnerships in a very movable world.
“This crowdfunding campaign is of vital importance to bring our platform to fruition,” says Ferandier Sicard. “While there are currently solutions available that can reduce yachts’ environmental impact by over 50%, they are not universally accessible due to the constant mobility of the boats. We are committed to supporting yacht professionals in the most efficient way possible by adapting our solutions to their specific needs.”
The funds raised will go towards the completion of the project and “facilitate its widespread implementation”, she adds.
ETYC joined the MonacoTech incubator in March of this year, having already won prizes at the Start-Up Weekend and Business Competition in Monaco.
To learn more about the project and how you can contribute, please click here.
Charles Leclerc secured Ferrari’s best result of the 2023 so far on Sunday and the manufacturer’s 800th podium finish in F1 with a second place finish on Red Bull’s home track in Austria.
While the Monegasque driver was unable to beat the seemingly unstoppable force that is Max Verstappen, Leclerc just was over five seconds behind the eventual race leader, who cemented Red Bull’s 10th consecutive win. The manufacturer is now just one race win behind the all-time record of 11, which was set by McLaren in 1988.
Sunday marked Leclerc’s second podium finish of the 2023 season and Ferrari’s 800th in its F1 history. Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre
Third place went to fellow Red Bull driver Sergio Perez.
The results further down, however, were controversial. Leclerc’s team mate, Carlos Sainz, saw his fourth-place finish revised down to sixth after a series of post-race time penalties were handed to eight drivers after some 1,200 violations of track limits were flagged.
Consequently, Lando Norris rose to fourth, Fernando Alonso to fifth and George Russell to seventh from eighth; a result that saw him swap places with team mate Lewis Hamilton.
Communication blamed again for Sprint impediment
The race weekend in Austria also saw the second Sprint race in the 2023 F1 calendar.
There is a new format to the Sprint this year, with Saturday being entirely dedicated to the event. The day begins with a “shootout” qualifying round in which all 20 drivers are given 12 minutes to lay down the fastest time possible. The slowest five are then dropped out of the race. A further 10 minutes of racing then takes place before the next bottom five are dumped out of the running. The quickest 10 drivers then proceed to the final third round of qualifying and later the race.
It was in the first round of qualifying for the Sprint race that Leclerc incurred a three-point grid penalty for blocking McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri.
The event occurred as Leclerc slowed down to head into the pits, with Piastri last reported to have been six seconds behind him. The slow-moving Ferrari turned out to be right in the path of the Australian’s car and the loss of momentum cost the driver a half-second in time as well as his spot in the race. Piastri ultimately came in 17th, while Leclerc squeaked through in 15th.
Leclerc said it was lack of information that caused the problem, and that he could have reacted if he had been warned. This was echoed by officials, who argued that Ferrari “could have done better” to communicate how fast Piastri was approaching.
“Accordingly, we determine that although this was not entirely the fault of the driver, and that the team’s lack of communication was the major contributing factor, a grid position penalty must be imposed as Car 81 was ‘unnecessarily impeded’, because there is no doubt that the situation could have been avoided,” read a statement from race stewards.
Sainz came in third in the Sprint race, securing himself six points. Leclerc failed to make it to the final round, coming in 12th overall.
While Sainz earned a podium during Saturday’s Sprint race, he spent Sunday defending Leclerc’s position – and was thanked for it by his team mate. Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre
Silverstone in Leclerc’s sights
25-year-old Leclerc is already looking to the next round in Silverstone at the weekend, saying, “It’s good to be back on the podium. We maximised what we have and the upgrades we introduced this weekend worked well. The team has done an excellent job and we will keep pushing in this direction. I also want to thank Carlos as he made my life a bit easier by putting up a great defense against Checo. Now we go to Silverstone which, with Spielberg, is among my favourite circuits. Hopefully we can take advantage of the new upgrades we have on the car again and offer a bit more of a challenge to Red Bull in the next round.”
French rider Julien Epaillard, with his horse Donatello d’Auge, clinched the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix du Prince de Monaco title in Port Hercule over the weekend.
It was victory for the second time in a month for Epaillard after his earlier win at the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix du Ramatuelle Saint Tropez, which took place during the first weekend of June.
In Monaco, Epaillard and his faithful gelding Donatello d’Auge won the prestigious show jumping event with a time of 36.45 seconds.
DELIGHT AT THE WIN
In the aftermath of his success on one of the most glamourous stages of the Tour, Epaillard expressed his happiness at winning such an important event: “This Grand Prix was a big aim for me. Maybe this is the best Grand Prix I’ve ever won… So we will enjoy it! Donatello is a special horse for us; I bred him with my wife, he is now 10 years old and he has now won three or four five-star Grand Prix, so it is very nice to breed a horse like this and celebrate the win with him.”
Dutchman Harrie Smolders with Monaco N.O.P. took second place, while the third spot went to Greece’s talented young rider Ioli Mytilineou on Levis de Muze.
POPULAR EVENT
The Monaco event, under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco, has long been incredibly popular and this year’s show was no exception. In the crowds were Prince Albert, Princess Charlene, Princess Caroline of Hanover and Charlotte Casiraghi as well as VIPs such as former Formula 1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi.
This year saw 38 riders qualify for the Grand Prix du Prince de Monaco, making for a thrilling event, especially as the Uliano Vizzani-designed course was filled with challenges. In the end, only five riders made it to the jump-off.
Maikel van der Vleuten remains on top of the overall rankings, having broken the 200-mark with 203 points over the weekend. Christian Kukuk is now second place with 180.2 points and, after not qualifying for Monaco’s Grand Prix, Malin Bayard Johnsson has dropped to third with 160.14 points.
Click on the photos below to see from the Jumping International de Monte-Carlo:
24 hours of performances, workshops and parades will fill Casino Square this July as Jean-Christophe Maillot’s F(ê)aites de la Danse festival returns for a much-awaited second edition.
First held in 2017, but not repeated for nearly six years, the F(ê)aites de la Danse is to hold its second edition between 8th and 9th July. And just like it did first time round, the festival will be taking over Casino Square with a packed schedule of events that will see 250 international artists heading to the Principality.
The concept was conceived by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo’s famed choreographer and director, Jean-Christophe Maillot, who is thrilled to see his vision come to life again after a series of unfortunate events prevented the festival from picking up where it left off.
The programme has been extended this year; from one night to a full 24 hours of dance in all its forms.
Tap dancing, pole dancing, Latin American, capoeira, ballet, concerts… A fascinating combination of styles have been integrated into the programme, which can be found in its entirety here. There will also be a flashmob and the choreography is already online for those that want to get some practise in early.
A special “marathon” event, where participants will be tasked with dancing inside the Salle Garnier for 12 full hours, will be held and there’s space for 30 couples aged 18 and over. Applications should be sent here.
The whole event is free and open to the public. All you need to do is bring your dancing shoes!
Do you have an event in Monaco or the French Riviera that you would like us to include in our What’s On section and events calendar? Please email editor@monacolife.net.
Photo source: F(ê)aites de la Danse 2017
This article was originally published on 4th May 2023.
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