Prince Albert headed down the coast to Antibes this week to officially inaugurate an exciting new coastal museum, the Posidonia, founded with the support of Monaco’s Institut Océanographique.
Posidonia has been in the works for almost a decade. The theme of the museum, which includes a 10,000-litre aquarium filled with local species of marine life, is the region’s coast – above and below the waterline – so its setting on the edge of Cap d’Antibes couldn’t be more fitting.
The museum has found a home in the former military space of the Batterie du Graillon on the western side of the peninsular and a stone’s throw from the glamourous Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc.
France’s Ministry of Defense handed over the “keys” to the 2.2-hectare site, which is now part of a protected natural zone, in 2014 and it has since undergone a long period of renovation, costing some €4.2 million, to become the “Posidonia: Espace Mer & Littoral” that opened to the public in June.
This week, it was officially inaugurated with a cutting of the ribbon ceremony, and Monaco’s Prince Albert II was given that special honour.
“We need more places like this”
The Prince, a life-long champion of the oceans and their protection and conservation, wasn’t just in town to tour the new establishment, despite the cameras capturing his enthusiasm for its interesting exhibits and interactive displays.
In fact, Prince Albert was there to formalise a working and cooperative agreement between the Posidonia: Espace Mer & Littoral and the Principality’s prestigious Institut Océanographique alongside the General Director of the Monaco establishment, Robert Calcagno.
“We need more places like this,” Prince Albert told media gathered, clearly impressed with the ambitious project, “that’s why it deserves to be supported, encouraged, accompanied.”
Robert Calcagno and Jean Leonetti signing the mutual agreement between the Posidonia museum and Monaco’s Institut Océanographique. Photo via FPA2
As such, Monaco’s Oceanographic Institute, which was founded in 1906 by Prince Albert I, will share its own knowledge with those working at Posidonia in an effort to expand its century-old mission to “know, love and protect the ocean” beyond the borders of the Principality.
Jean Leonetti, the mayor of Antibes-Juan les Pins and the president of the Communauté d’Agglomération Sophia Antipolis, thanked Prince Albert for his support, saying that the project had been achieved with the help and expertise of the Monegasque institution.
Posidonia: exhibits inside, outside and underwater
More than 1,300 people, from tourists to local schoolchildren out on end-of-year trips, have already visited the museum.
What awaits those yet to try it out includes: a 10,000-litre aquarium dedicated to a range of Mediterranean species; a permanent exhibition presenting the four main habitats found in the Mediterranean basin; a virtual reality dive beneath the waves; an interactive exhibition on the military past of the Batterie du Graillon; a walking tour through the Alep pine forest that surrounds the main building; and exceptional views that reach as farwest as the Cap Camarat off Saint Tropez and as far north as the mountain peaks of the Mercantour National Park.
When and how to visit
The Posidonia is open until the start of September from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 7pm. It will close at 5pm in the remaining months of the year.
Parking is tight near the museum – there are just 30 spaces in the Graillon parking below and the area is popular with beachgoers – but the site is also accessible via the Envibus Line 2.
Entrance is €12 for adults, €6 for children and free for those under six. Families can enter for €24 and virtual reality masks, useful to fully make the most of some of the exhibits, can be rented for €3.
There is currently no dedicated website for the museum.
Make sure you’re never left out of the conversation.
Be Safe Monaco is returning this summer with a buoyed-up awareness campaign and increased free shuttle service for revellers who might have had a little too much fun on a night out.
In 2017, Camille Gottlieb, Princess Stephanie of Monaco’s daughter, suffered a personal loss when a good friend was killed after riding his scooter following an evening out. Since then, she has been a strong anti-drink driving advocate and went as far as creating a unique organisation with four friends – Charlotte Marsan, Margaux Grundstein, Andrea Puzar and Laura Dias – to try and prevent any more unnecessary loss of life.
Be Safe Monaco was the result. The association has taken on the mammoth task of informing young people and adults to the dangers of drink driving via awareness programmes, and has also set up a free summertime shuttle system for people who may have imbibed a bit too much on evenings out.
NEW PARTNERS
Last summer, Be Safe’s weekend shuttle service picked up over 200 people from Port Hercule and took them safely home to addresses around the Principality and in neighbouring French villages.
This year, with the support of Flavio Briatore’s Twiga, which is financing a driver from partner Five Star Valets, Be Safe Monaco is extending this service to seven days a week from 1am to 6am. It will run until 20th August.
An additional pick-up point has been organised in the Larvotto area, one of the busiest nightlife hotspots in Monaco, to encourage more potential drink drivers to keep off the road.
SERVICE THAT MATTERS
In addition to awareness campaigns and the shuttle service, the team is also distributing breathalysers this summers so that revellers can see for themselves where their blood alcohol level is before setting off in a car, thus preventing possible accidents.
Last weekend saw 27 people from Jimmy’z, Twiga, Sass Café and La Rascasse use the service. The coming weeks will hopefully see those numbers increase.
For two days, France’s rail operator SNCF will offer 300,000 long-distance train tickets at discounted prices of between €19 and €49. But you’ll have to be quick to nab one.
As the capped prices of the Avantage card are set to increase, the SNCF has countered the negativity with some good news for its customers: 300,000 TGV and Intercités tickets will be on sale for discounted prices this summer.
The sale of the tickets will take place on Monday 31st July and Tuesday 1st August, with destinations located throughout France.
“We want to allow those who book at the last minute to be able to travel by train,” said the General Manager of SNCF, Alain Krakovitch, to Le Parisian. “We know that not everyone can plan their holidays several months in advance and benefit from the best prices when sales open.”
First class for €1 more
According to Alain Krakovitch, the tickets will be on sale for €19, €29, €39 and €49. For €1 more, customers will be able to travel in first class – carriages which are often empty during the summer period.
Tickets are available on the SNCF Connect site on a first come, first served basis.
SNCF is not only looking to soften its reputation in the light of price hikes, but also to attract younger people who are looking for sustainable travel solutions.
Monaco Life, in partnership with the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, is proud to present a monthly series highlighting the lives and artistic work of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA’s illustrious Award winners. In this month’s exclusive interview, Princess Grace Foundation-USA’s Chief Program Officer Diana Kemppainen sits down with Princess Grace Award winner Harper Watters (Dance 2015).
Harper Watters is a First Soloist with Houston Ballet. In addition to his work as a ballet dancer, Harper has made a name for himself on social media – where the videos of him dancing in towering pink heels made him a viral sensation – and as an advocate for social change. Harper serves as a role model dedicated to empowering those in his communities to live in their authentic expression.
In conversation, Harper talks about bringing his authentic self to the art of ballet, the balance between professional dancer and social media sensation, and what celebrating PRIDE means to him this year.
You grew up in New Hampshire, tell us about your dance journey and how you come to Houston Ballet.
I grew up in New Hampshire, but I was born in Atlanta, Georgia. I was adopted at two weeks old, and both my parents were university English professors. I was very lucky; I was constantly brought to performances and immersed in media and arts at a young age. My dad taught at the University of New Hampshire and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater came to perform. That will always have a real impact on my memory, seeing that company and particularly the male dancers. I wanted to emulate that.
There was a dance studio next to where my mom got her hair done, and I would always watch the girls in the window. I knew I could be like the Ailey dancers if I danced there, and that was my first introduction to dancing. I just had a knack for it and wanted more and more. At the advice of my teachers, I joined Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts at 14, and that’s really where I got my first introduction to the professional ballet world.
On coming to Houston Ballet:
I came to Houston Ballet in the summer of 2009 for a summer intensive, and after that summer I was offered a second company contract and went on to join the company in 2011. This is my 12th season with the company, and in 2021 I was promoted to First Soloist.
On his Princess Grace Award:
In 2015 when I received the Princess Grace Award, that was a pivotal moment in my career. It unlocked a lot of confidence and reassurance to be recognised by such a prestigious organisation, and I attribute a lot of my success to the Princess Grace Foundation.
Harper Watters. Photo credit: Rob Daly
You’re a First Soloist at Houston Ballet – the first Black queer man to hold that rank at Houston Ballet. Speak a little about what that means to you and the industry at large.
It means so much. It’s something that I don’t think I initially set out to achieve. But to have that honour, especially with the legacy of Houston Ballet and Lauren Anderson [one of the first African American ballerinas to become a Principal Dancer at a major U.S. ballet company], it feels like I’m part of something really special that happens in this company. I am lucky that Lauren is here all the time, and that she’s like my ballet fairy godmother. I really stand and dance on her shoulders; the walls and barriers that she’s broken down.
I owe so much to this organisation [Houston Ballet] for giving me the space to be myself; to embrace who I am, and to support and uplift me and give me roles that allow me to grow. You know, dance can have a sort of a rigid and antiquated reputation; but to be the dancer I am, that looks like me and have Houston Ballet say, ‘We believe in you, and we want you to flourish.’ That really means a lot.
I just set out to do the best dancing that I can do, to show up every day to work really hard. And a part of that comes from being in a space that lets me do that. So, I’m really proud; I don’t take it lightly. And I still have one more rank to achieve.
Ballet, especially older classical work, has a lot of traditional gender roles and stereotypes. How do you choose to imbue those roles with your personality and artistry, and what is the conversation with the artistic leadership at Houston Ballet?
The first time I had that conversation came when I made my debut as the Prince in The Nutcracker. That was my first big role leading a ballet and I was so nervous and focussed on the double tours, the pirouettes, and all the technical aspects, but when really when I dug into it and started rehearsing it, I found that the challenge for me personally was being the prince. I thought I had to be the Disney prince that I didn’t look like or that doesn’t exist. I had to have trust and confidence in the exploration of figuring out who I am as the prince. It really comes from myself and the vulnerability and patience to trust the process, not hold back and put myself out there. And then in a weird way that made the technical aspects better.
It’s such a physical feat to do a three-act ballet, but you start realising that the step like an arabesque isn’t that arabesque that we train for years and years; the arabesque is a word, or an emotion. When you put yourself into the character and you immerse yourself into it, you start using your body and the steps to tell the story and it becomes less physical, and it has more intention behind it.
In 2015, when I applied to the Princess Grace Awards, I was filming my work sample which you have to record in one take. I was rehearsing with my director Stanton [Welch] and in the middle of rehearsing, I fell out of a turn and stopped. He turned the music off, and he looked at me, and he said, ‘You’re never going to get the perfect wave. It’s about riding the wave you’re given.’ That really shifted my perception of how I approach my dancing. I always hold on to that moment. And that was a moment that the Princess Grace Awards gave me.
Harper Watters, photo source: PGF US
What are the dream roles or choreographers you hope to work with?
When it comes to characters like Romeo, or the prince in Cinderella, those are the types of roles I want to do to shift people’s perceptions of what or how these characters look like. When I first joined Houston Ballet and was a younger dancer, I always would tell myself, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do a lead in a ballet. I just want to be a soloist.’
Ultimately, I realised that I was protecting myself and now having a taste of it [dancing lead roles], I realise that I do want those roles and I want to put my imprint on it. I’m reminded of dancers like Marcelo Gomes, James Whiteside, and people who live very authentically, but take on these roles as well. That’s really inspiring to me.
You have over 245k followers on Instagram and over 500k followers on TikTok. On both platforms you’ve gone viral a few times – the first being your walking in heels on the treadmill. What makes you embrace social media and how does it elevate your work?
I am just a pop culture, social media-obsessed person. I love media. I love fashion. I’m always curious for inspiration and new information. I primarily look at social media like Instagram and TikTok and YouTube not just for sharing what I do, but to discover what other people are doing. I find it to be an incredible resource of inspiration and as a way of self-expression.
When Instagram came around, I felt like where I was in the company, I had to turn down certain aspects of myself because that was my idea of how I could succeed to get to the top. Social media was a way for me to express myself and bring out those aspects.
On the viral heels moment:
The heels on the treadmill started with my friends in the company at the time, and I was nervous to share it. And looking back, I realise it felt so authentic and it was a tool to tap into and examine the feeling you get when you are very unapologetically yourself. Once I went viral, I leaned into the natural wave of it. I felt like a star and felt the need to continue giving this on any platform.
Harper Watters. Photo credit: Rob Daly
On being a dancer first:
I can see the case where someone would say I’m an influencer. But I value my career as a dancer. First and foremost, because I think that I would go insane if I didn’t have something to kind of offset the social media likes, followers, all those elements of it. And so, I tune into social media in a way that works in tandem with my career as a dancer. Each one relies on the other in a weird, creative way. But I will always continue to explore on those platforms.
You’ve worked with brands like Ralph Lauren, Anthropologie, and even had a salad partnership with Sweetgreen. Tell us what it’s like when you get approached by these brands and how you decide who to work with.
I started working and getting these offers on a smaller scale. As I progressed and momentum built, it was just me fielding these contracts. I had no idea about money and no idea of the value of my worth. Ralph Lauren was my first big campaign and they asked how much I wanted, I gave a number, and it was very low. That sparked a conversation about representation. I’ve found someone who has guided me to work with brands that authentically fit who I am and what I represent.
I really believe in visibility as currency. And it’s been my unofficial mission to increase visibility on what a ballet dancer looks like and can achieve. I’m not your conventional classical ballet dancer. And so, if I can increase my audience by working with brands and companies that’s a big win for me.
June was PRIDE month, and this year marks the 2nd year Monaco has officially celebrated PRIDE. What does the month mean to you?
Every year I’m asked this question, and it means something different every year. The first PRIDE I experienced was in Houston when I was 18-years-old. I thought it was a party celebration. And then over time you understand why we celebrate PRIDE, you learn about the riot, and that we stand on the backs of Black trans women and advocates who were fighting.
I recently went through being attacked online for one of my videos. And it seems like we’ve gotten to this point where simply being ourselves or doing what we love on our own is some sort of protest. So for me, PRIDE this year has to be about advocating for others – minority and disenfranchised groups – and doing it in a way that celebrates ourselves.
Who knew that being a Black, queer person and showing up in a ballet company would be an act of protest and having to take pride in that would be such a statement. This PRIDE, I’m trying to live my life to its fullest and loudest and dance the best I can onstage. That in itself is a PRIDE event.
Any final words for the Monaco community?
I’m always very grateful to be included in these stories and interviews. As I said earlier, visibility is currency and I’m so grateful whenever my work is shared via the Princess Grace Foundation. I’ve always felt so supported by the Foundation which means so much to me and I express so much gratitude.
After the pandemic left the Gare du Sud’s first relaunch in tatters, the historic establishment in Nice has reopened anew, and it’s well-worth a visit!
The Gare du Sud has been part of Nice’s history since it was first opened in 1892 as an elegantly designed neo-classical train station in the Libération neighbourhood, found just to the north of the city centre.
The station was operational until 1991. After its closure, the property remained unoccupied and unloved until 2013, when plans were put in motion to convert it into a library, with a food court selling regional delicacies, as well as the possibility of adding in a fitness centre, cultural and events space, and offices.
OPEN AND SHUT
A grand launch was held in May 2019 and was a celebrated event in the city, but disaster soon struck. The pandemic took hold not long after its opening, and along with management and air conditioning issues repeatedly cropping up, officials finally decided to shutter the premises in April 2022.
Now, just over a year later, the Gare du Sud is giving it another go, this time with a fresh approach and new management courtesy of Renato Iera’s Italian Trattoria restaurant group.
A collection of thoroughly Mediterranean bistros, bars and restaurants line the newly renovated Gare du Sud in Nice. Photo credit: Ville de Nice
The huge space is Mediterranean to the core, with an indoor-outdoor feel, lemon trees seconding as sign posts, rich colours and – perhaps most importantly – a welcoming atmosphere. Food from every corner of the Mediterranean basin fills the room with delightful aromas and taste temptations.
Additionally, the hall is also a place where exhibitions, a play area and a training school can be found, making it a real family-friendly space.
“The Méditerranéo concept, dedicated to quality Mediterranean cuisine, offers a journey around Italian, Greek, Spanish, Niçois and Lebanese gastronomy,” says the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi. “A rich offer of quality that should satisfy and make visitors travel [to see it].”
Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi meet with restaurateurs and guests in the Gare du Sud at a special early opening. Photo credit: Ville de Nice
IT’S A HIT
The official reopening on Monday 17th July saw a full house and a buzzing crowd. It is hoped and anticipated that this will continue, especially as there are only limited spaces available at the moment.
For the first few weeks, the management has decided to restrict guest numbers to 300 people per day to ensure any bugs are worked out before throwing open the doors to capacity crowds. As Gare du Sud can seat 750 indoors and another 300 outside, this seems a wise decision.
In any case, this revamped new addition will bring life to the Libération quartier and give locals and tourists a chance to travel around the Mediterranean without buying a single ticket!
Make sure you’re never left out of the conversation.
The Mairie de Monaco has put out an urgent call for life guards to work the busy summer period in Monaco.
The summer season is well underway, and local government authorities are looking to safeguard the people who are flocking to the Principality’s beaches and public swimming pools.
On Tuesday 18th July, the Mairie announced that it is recruiting eight lifeguards on fixed-term contracts until 18th November 2023.
Applicants must hold the relevant certificates.
For more information, see the Mairie de Monaco Facebook page.
