The British School of Monaco opened its early years nursery in January, and families have wasted no time. Set in a 250 square metre space at L’Escorial on avenue Hector Otto, it gives children aged three to five a full day of learning, play and rest; something that was surprisingly hard to come by in Monaco until now.
Founders Olena Prykhodko and Luke Sullivan started the school in 2022 with just seven students. Today, it has around 150 pupils across four sites, with the nursery as its latest addition.
Filling a significant gap
While full-day nurseries are standard across much of Europe, in Monaco, many only offer half a day. “What can you do in three hours? It’s impossible,” Maria Lugovoy, a parent, tells Monaco Life. The new nursery runs from 8:45am to 3:30pm, providing a full day of .
“We have 15 students today, against a total capacity of 32 places,” reveals Prykhodko. Each class has a maximum of 16 children, with an English-speaking teacher, a bilingual English-French assistant, and a French teacher who takes the children every morning.
The school follows the British curriculum, but French runs through the whole day due to the mix of families. Close to 30 nationalities are represented, mainly from English, Russian and Italian speaking backgrounds. “Most of our children come from international families who have recently arrived in Monaco,” said Prykhodko. “Many are bilingual or multilingual. Our real expertise is preparing them for that environment.”
During the school day, photo credit: Monaco Life
A school cosy by design
Inside, the classrooms are bright and softly furnished, more like a home than a school. . Each room is 45 sqm for a maximum of 16 children. Outside, two separate playgrounds of 80 and 160 sqm give the children plenty of room to run and play. For those who want to nap after lunch, the school has also built custom wooden beds.
“We really wanted the children to sleep in a very cosy place,” said Prykhodko. “Children love to sleep here. they really don’t want to wake up afterwards.”
Their daily schedule covers French, reading and writing, maths, music and outdoor play.
One of the two classrooms, photo by Monaco Life.
“It’s like one big family”
The best reviews came from the parents. Maria and Andrey Lugovoy are an Israeli family with three children at the school. Their youngest started the nursery a month ago.
“On weekends, she’s sad that she doesn’t go to school,” said Maria Lugovoy. “She tries to put her uniform on herself. In the morning, she doesn’t even want to eat breakfast, she just says: ‘Mummy, I want to go to school.'”
For the Lugovoys, it was never just about the hours. “We were looking for something more than the standard approach where the school and parents are completely separate,” said Andrey Lugovoy. “We saw an integrated approach around the child, their education, their well-being and their values. You can see it’s like one big family.”
The international curriculum matters too, for a family that may move again. “We wanted something stable, something we could apply in other places,” he said.
Body Tailor has opened in Monte-Carlo with a clear focus: delivering visible results through advanced techniques. Founded by wellness entrepreneur Gabriela Manescu, the boutique studio takes a different approach to the traditional spa experience found across Monaco.
The compact space, located near the Metropole Shopping Centre in Monte-Carlo, offers two specialised treatments. One involves a machine that will humble even the fittest athletes. The other requires a practitioner to perform precise manual work inside the mouth. Both deliver exactly what they promise.
Welcome to your new limit
The Lagree Method is not Pilates. Anyone who tells you otherwise has not tried it. Body Tailor is the first and only place in Monaco offering this particular brand of controlled suffering, and within minutes of your first session, you will understand why it has a cult following.
The Mega Pro machine looks deceptively simple. A flat carriage, some springs, a few platforms. Then you start moving, and the method reveals itself. Slow, controlled movements that target muscles you did not know existed. Your trainer adjusts resistance throughout, pushing you to the edge of muscle failure, then holding you there.
The Lagree fitness machines at Body Tailor
A one-hour session feels like a lifetime. Your muscles shake. You might swear under your breath. But the method works precisely because it is this challenging. The low-impact, high-resistance approach builds strength without destroying joints, and the constant variation means your body cannot adapt or coast.
Sessions are personal or in very small groups. Your trainer watches every movement, corrects form, increases difficulty when you are getting comfortable, and generally ensures you cannot cheat your way through. If you have been bored by your gym routine or frustrated by lack of progress, this will solve both problems immediately.
The Intra-Buccal facial
The facial that works from the inside out
The Intra-Buccal + Kobido facial requires a brief mental adjustment. Your practitioner will be working inside your mouth. Not around it, inside it. With gloves, obviously, but still. If that sentence makes you hesitate, consider this: it works.
The treatment combines three elements that sound more like a wellness world tour than a standard facial. Omorovicza products from Hungarian thermal waters prepare the skin. Kobido, a 500-year-old Japanese massage technique, works the facial muscles and fascia with rapid, rhythmic movements that bear no resemblance to the gentle dabbing of a typical spa facial. Then comes the intra-buccal work.
The internal massage reaches muscles in the lower face, jaw, and around the mouth that are essentially impossible to address from the outside. The practitioner works methodically through the inner cheeks, along the jawline from the inside, around the nasolabial folds. It feels strange for about three minutes, then you stop noticing because the release is so immediate.
The results are not subtle. During a recent 90-minute session at Body Tailor, the lifting effect was visible before I even left the studio. Hours later, the jawline was more defined, my face looked genuinely rested rather than just moisturised, and tension that had been living in my jaw for months was simply gone.
This is not a facial you book for a pleasant afternoon. You book it because you want your face to look different when you leave than when you arrived. The Kobido massage is intense, the intra-buccal work is unusual, and the entire experience is about function over comfort. It delivers.
Biologique Recherche and Omorovicza product lines are used in the Body Tailor facials
For those not ready to commit to facial massage from the inside out, Body Tailor also offers more traditional treatments using both Biologique Recherche and Omorovicza product lines. These sessions still follow the studio’s results-focused philosophy but without the intra-buccal component, making them a gentler entry point to the Body Tailor approach.
No shortcuts, no coincidence
Gabriela built Body Tailor around a simple premise: results come from consistency, not luck. The studio operates on a three-step cycle of Analysis, Adaptation, and Action, repeated monthly to keep pace with how skin and body actually change.
The skincare philosophy is refreshingly straightforward. Biologique Recherche, the French clinical line, handles problems. Concentrated, fragrance-free, effective for when skin needs correction. Omorovicza, built on Hungarian thermal water, maintains and prevents. Two different tools for two different jobs.
Body treatments include the Manuela Shala lymphatic drainage method, designed for circulation and reducing heaviness, with time built in after each session for personalised advice. The goal is for benefits to extend beyond the appointment and into daily life.
The Kobido technique
What you need to know
Body Tailor is not trying to replace your spa or your gym. It exists in a different category entirely. The studio keeps a small client base deliberately, allowing for genuine personalisation rather than assembly-line appointments.
Pricing reflects the boutique positioning and one-on-one attention. This is premium wellness for people who want measurable outcomes and are willing to pay for expertise and exclusivity. Packages offer better value for those committing to regular sessions, which is precisely the point. Sporadic visits miss the method.
Book through the website. Everything is by appointment, and the personalised nature of both the Lagree sessions and the facial treatments means availability is limited. The Intra-Buccal + Kobido facial requires extended time slots, so plan accordingly.
The verdict
Monaco has no shortage of places promising transformation. Body Tailor actually delivers it, largely because Gabriela has stripped away everything that does not directly contribute to results.
What you get is a Lagree workout that will redefine your understanding of muscle fatigue, and a facial treatment that works from angles you did not know existed. Both are uncomfortable in their own ways. Both produce visible, immediate results.
If you have been chasing results through conventional channels and coming up short, or if you are simply curious what happens when wellness stops being gentle and starts being effective, Body Tailor is worth the visit. Bring your pain tolerance and realistic expectations. Leave everything else at the door.
The Paris Opera Ballet will perform La Dame aux Camélias at Grimaldi Forum Monaco on 17th, 18th and 19th July, marking a rare opportunity to see one of the world’s leading ballet companies in the principality.
Choreographed by John Neumeier, La Dame aux Camélias is considered one of the most moving works in the classical ballet repertoire. The three performances will take place in the Salle des Princes at 7.30pm, with the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra providing live accompaniment.
Co-production
The performances are a co-production between Grimaldi Forum Monaco and Monaco Dance Forum. Each performance runs for two hours and 50 minutes, including two intervals.
Tickets start at 55 euros, with a reduced rate of 40 euros available for those under 25-years-old. Reservations can be made through the Grimaldi Forum Monaco box office on +377 99 99 30 00.
The Paris Opera Ballet, founded in 1669, is one of the oldest and most prestigious ballet companies in the world, based at the Palais Garnier in Paris.
Claude Palmero, the former administrator of Prince Albert II’s assets, published a book on Thursday titled Monaco Interdit, Main basse sur la Principauté. The 331-page book claims to detail his more than 20 years managing the Grimaldi family’s assets and the events he says led to his dismissal in June 2023.
Claude Palmero succeeded his father in the role in 2001, following numerous confidential matters for the principality. According to the book’s description, he managed the princely family’s fortune and handled sensitive affairs, while also attempting to introduce competition and transparency in real estate development projects, Monaco’s principal source of wealth.
The book’s description states that since his dismissal, Palmero has faced press articles, searches, police custody, and accusations of various thefts. It mentions espionage operations, computer break-ins, and attacks on those close to him. No fewer than 30 judicial procedures have been launched by Monaco’s justice system, according to the book, though none have resulted in convictions to date.
Book’s contents
Palmero identifies Patrice Pastor as central to what he describes as a “system of influence” that led to his removal. The former administrator claims he attempted to limit powerful interests during his tenure managing real estate development projects.
The book reveals what Palmero characterises as the intrigues of Monegasque power and compromises within the principality. According to the description, he presents his testimony on the Rock’s inner workings and princely customs.
Limited distribution
Publisher Nouveau Monde is not distributing the book in Monaco. However, it is available in neighbouring Beausoleil and Cap-d’Ail.
Palmero presents the book as an effort to restore his honour and provoke action for the general interest. He has previously taken his case to the European Court of Human Rights, challenging what he describes as violations of Monaco’s constitutional standards and the independence and impartiality of justice required by the Council of Europe.
The book’s description concludes: “This story resembles a thriller with incredible twists… but it is very much real.”
Monaco Matin reports that Palmero was charged approximately two weeks ago with violation of investigation secrecy, after investigators discovered minutes from various criminal proceedings during searches of his home and office in July 2023 following his departure from the palace.
France is considering new legislation that would explicitly ban skiing or snowboarding under the influence of alcohol or drugs, bringing the country closer to safety laws already in force in neighbouring Italy.
The draft bill would introduce two major changes to slope regulations. First, it would create a specific offence for skiing while intoxicated, currently prosecuted only under general dangerous behaviour laws. Second, it would make helmet use compulsory for all slope users.
New penalties for intoxication
The proposed law would explicitly prohibit skiing, snowboarding or sledging under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The measure would allow on-the-spot fines, introduce stronger penalties for repeat offenders, and increase sanctions if intoxication leads to serious injury or death. Ski passes could be cancelled without refund.
The legislation follows repeated concerns about alcohol-related collisions in busy resorts. France currently has no national legal requirement for adults or children to wear helmets on slopes, though helmet use is strongly recommended and many ski schools require them for children during lessons.
Italian regulations already stricter
Italy introduced major slope safety reforms in 2022, which have since been tightened. Skiing under the influence is illegal, with breath tests carried out on slopes and fines reaching several hundred euros. Ski passes may be withdrawn for violations.
Italy also requires all skiers to hold third-party liability insurance covering damage caused to others. The requirement was introduced following repeated collisions and serious accidents, including incidents involving intoxicated skiers. Resorts can request proof of insurance, with some ski passes including coverage options. Helmets are mandatory for all skiers and snowboarders.
The measures follow a winter marked by several serious avalanche incidents across the Alps.
Informa, the London-listed events group that organises Monaco Yacht Show and Top Marques Monaco, will take over organisation of the World AI Cannes Festival from 2027. The company announced it will strengthen its partnership with the City of Cannes by integrating the festival into its AI Summit Series, which runs editions in London, New York, Las Vegas, Melbourne and Singapore.
The move expands Informa’s presence across the Alpes-Maritimes, where it already organises the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The integration is expected to enhance the festival’s international reach while maintaining its local foundation.
Fifth edition opens this week
The fifth World AI Cannes Festival opens this week at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, with more than 10,000 participants, 320 speakers and 220 exhibitors expected. Since launching, the event has positioned Cannes as an emerging European centre for artificial intelligence and advanced technologies.
The Mayor of Cannes David Lisnard described the partnership as a natural progression in the city’s ambition to establish itself as a global platform for innovation and technology. “The decision to partner with Informa for the World AI Cannes Festival fully aligns with this ambition,” said the mayor in a statement. “By drawing on Informa’s expertise, the festival will strengthen its international reach, secure its long-term presence in our city and welcome the world’s AI leaders.”
The Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, said the mayor, will remain central to the festival’s growth, with local teams continuing to support development alongside Informa.
Regional AI strategy
The Alpes-Maritimes Department has pursued an AI strategy since 2017 under its Terre d’IA initiative, supporting projects in partnership with the City of Cannes, Institut EuropIA and Maison de l’IA. Officials said the partnership with Informa will provide resources to expand visibility of the region’s AI ecosystem while strengthening digital transformation efforts.
