Irish back-row player Josh Van der Flier won Rugby Player of the Year 2022 at the World Rugby Awards in Monaco while Ruahei Demant picked up the women’s award.
Stars of the game, both past and present gathered in the Salle des Étoiles on Sunday 20th November for the prestigious awards ceremony that was attended by Prince Albert II of Monaco, Princess Charlene and their daughter, Gabriella. Last year’s winner Antoine Dupont was hoping to collect the Men’s Player of the Year award for consecutive years, but it was Van der Flier who took home the trophy. The Irishman had a strong year, scoring six tries in the European Cup and two in the Six Nations.
He beat international team-mate Jonny Sexton, South African Lukhanyo An, as well as Dupont to collect the trophy for the first time in his career.
New Zealand Women’s World Cup triumph earlier this month was rewarded with two trophies on the night. Demant picked up the Best Women’s Player award while Wayne Smith, the ‘Black Ferns’ coach picked up Manager of the Year.
Italian Ange Capuozzo and New Zealand’s Ruby Tui won the Men’s and Women’s Breakthrough Player awards. Ireland’s Terry Kennedy and Australia’s Charlotte Caslick picked up the respective men’s and women’s awards for Rugby Sevens Player of the Year while Rodrigo Fernandez and Abby Dow were awarded with Best Tries of the Year – an award chosen by the voting public.
Photo by World Rugby Awards
National Day in all its glory: Monaco celebrates tradition and culture
The Principality of Monaco celebrated its Fête Nationale over the weekend with plentiful glamour and fanfare, but also the important values of authenticity, tradition and family.
It was a momentous occasion. Free from the constraints of Covid regulations for the first time in three years and with Princess Charlene at the side of her husband, Prince Albert II, after a noticeable absence due to health concerns in 2021, the Princely family of Monaco was finally able to fully share its National Day celebrations with citizens and residents of the Principality on Saturday 19th November.
No one held back in their joyous tributes to the Monaco of today and years past, from the schoolchildren bedecked head-to-toe in the classic red and white of the Monegasque flag to the citizens who lined the streets, the sublimely coordinated military parade inside and outside the Palais Princier, and the iconic royal family, which was very well-represented.
Another layer of history was added to the day with 2022 marking the centenary of the death of Prince Albert I, a shining light in the story of Monaco.
Much of the day was live streamed to a global audience, giving this year’s edition a thoroughly modern and open air.
Te Deum mass and medals ceremony
The day began with the traditional early-morning Te Deum mass at the Cathédrale de Monaco, attended by the Princely family as well as key governmental, religious and public service personnel. The procession then made its way to the palace at 11am for a medal ceremony within the confines of the Cour d’Honneur.
The Saturday medals were preceded on Friday 18th November by a ceremony led by Princess Caroline of Monaco, who handed out the prestigious Order of Cultural Merit awards at the Salon Bleu of the palace, an event held annually within the framework of the National Day celebrations. This distinguished award “rewards people who have participated, through their works or their commitment, in the development of the arts, humanities and sciences in Monaco or [those] who, even abroad, have contributed to the intellectual influence of the Principality”.
Earlier in the week, Princess Charlene herself was awarded the Vermeil medal for sport and physical education. Prince Albert presented his former Olympic swimmer wife with the medal, which acknowledges her enduring commitment to sport within the Principality.
Side-by-side on Wednesday 16th November, the Princely couple also praised the work of the Monegasque branch of the Red Cross, awarding 41 individuals with a medal to recognise their exceptional benevolent efforts in Monaco and further afield. Click on the gallery below…
An iconic moment in Monaco
Following the more private ceremony inside the palace, a military parade and a brass band circled the Place du Palais, while the Grimaldi family headed to the balcony to wave to the crowds who had congregated on the square below. The crowds were particularly delighted to see the hereditary Prince Jacques – wearing the official habit of the Carabiniers for the first time alongside the Grand-Croix de l’Ordre des Grimaldi cross – and twin sister Gabriella giggling and joking with their parents. It recreated the happy annual image of the family; an iconic moment that marks the special day. Click on the gallery below…
Full to the rafters for the Damnation of Faust
National Day came to a genteel and enlightened close with a theatrical performance at the Grimaldi Forum of the Damnation of Faust in the evening. The award-winning events space was full to the rafters with Monaco’s well-to-do and best dressed, all there by personal invitation of the Prince. The exclusive nature of the night, however, was complimented by the generous decision to live stream the performance – a revisiting of Hector Berlioz’s work by Kazuki Yamada, the Artistic and Musical Director of the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra – that allowed the whole world to join in with Monaco on its National Day. Click on the gallery below…
Photo credits: Palais Princier de Monaco
Crowds gather at Palace with Princely family to celebrate National Day
Hundreds of Monégasques crammed into the Place du Palais on Saturday to celebrate a special National Day, attended this year by Princess Charlene, in the first “normal” edition since 2019.
Following the traditional early-morning mass in the Cathédrale de Monaco, the Princely family, accompanied by governmental, religious and public service personnel, made their way to the Prince’s Palace.
Once within the confines of the iconic palace, Prince Albert II awarded medals before appearing in front of the large crowd gathered outside. Accompanied by a brass band, a military parade circled the square, whilst Prince Albert II joined Princess Charlene and his children on the balcony, recreating the iconic annual image that marks the special day.
This edition was made more special by the presence of Princess Charlene, who last year missed the celebration due to illness.
It was also the first time in three years that people gathered for the event in a non-Covid context, whilst 2022 also marks the centenary of the death of Prince Albert I.
Photo gallery by Monaco Life
Photo by Monaco Life
Ice skating rink to be replaced with The Roller Station
The blow of not having a winter ice rink at Stade Nautique has been softened by word from the government that it will be replaced by a roller-skating rink.
The government announced on Thursday that the much-loved ice rink at the Stade Nautique Rainier III will not go ahead this winter season due to the energy crisis.
However, on Friday it revealed that the swimming pool will instead be converted into a roller skating rink.
Dubbed The Roller Station, it will be open from 2nd December to 26th February and for those who don’t have their own skates, there will be rollerblades available to rent, the price of which will be covered by the entry ticket.
The Roller Station opening hours vary depending on the time period, but are generally midday to 9pm weekdays, and 10.30pm on Friday and Saturday nights.
Tickets are €5 euros with skate rental, €2 without rental and €16 for a school subscription.
The traditional ‘Ice Party’ for 12-to-17-year-old Monaco residents and schoolchildren is scheduled for 7th December.
The Mairie is also reducing energy consumption by switching off the Christmas lights throughout the city at 11pm weekdays, and 2am on the weekend. The Principality has spent years converting to energy efficient LED lights.
Photo by Susan Weber on Unsplash
Watch La Damnation de Faust live this National Day
Opera de Monte-Carlo has announced that its latest production La Damnation de Faust, being performed in the Principality this month, will be broadcast live on 19th November to celebrate National Day in Monaco.
The Damnation of Faust, created by French composer Hector Berlioz, was first performed at the Opera-Comique in Paris in 1846. The Opera de Monte-Carlo first perfomed the opera in 1893 under the production of Raoul Gunsbourg, and again in 1969.
Today, it has been recreated by Music Director Kazuki Yamada and Choreographer Eugénie Andrin, with Pene Pati singing the role of Faust and Aude Extrém as Marguerite, together with the Opera de Monte-Carlo led by Gabriel Grinda.
In this opera, demons and damned spirits greet Méphistophélès in a mysterious, infernal language and welcome Faust among them. Hell has fallen silent after Faust’s arrival — the torment he suffers is unspeakable. Marguerite is saved and welcomed into heaven.
“It is this gradual shift from a harmonious aesthetic to a supernatural strangeness that is interesting,” says Choreographer Eugénie Andrin.
The opera was performed in Monte-Carlo on 13th and 16th November 2022, and the invitation-only performance on Saturday 19th November will be broadcast live on Mezzo TV.
Next on the Opera de Monte-Carlo schedule is Lakmé, with music by Léo Delibes, on 9th and 11th December.
Here is a teaser of the Damnation of Faust by the Opera de Monte-Carlo.
To watch Saturday’s performance live, visit the website by clicking here.
The world’s most well-known luxury train service, the famed Orient Express, is making a comeback in 2024, mixing old school glamour with modern conveniences aboard the original carriages. Here’s a taster of what passengers can expect.
The Orient Express conjures up images of another era: opulently dressed ladies, civilised table service meals and perhaps, for Agatha Christie fans, stories of murder, although even that was an extremely high-class one.
The first Orient Express voyage was a trip between Paris and Istanbul in 1883. It was the height of luxury travel, and a wonderful way to make a journey by anyone’s standards. But as a taste for fast and cheap travel grew, long train journeys like the Express fell out of fashion, with the service finally ending in 2007.
Fast forward a decade and the French hospitality group Accor announced they would be taking a 50% stake in the brand and planned to restore the service, previously known as the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express, to its former glory.
A luxurious bathroom aboard the restored Orient Express
The first photos, unveiled in late October at the Orient Express Revelation exhibition in Paris, have revealed a décor that is a sublime blend of Art Deco and contemporary, with no detail overlooked.
A legend saved from the scrap heap
Modern art adorns the walls of cabins, which have been optimised to ensure maximum comfort, and there are call buttons for champagne on the bar car’s tables along with Lalique lamps and Morrison & Nelson marquetry. Many of these original features were found almost entirely intact when the train was saved from the scrap heap in 2015 by industrial history researcher Arthur Mettetal, who tracked the carriages down to a station on the Belarus-Poland border.
The old and new combination was no haphazard accident, as Sébastien Bazin, the chairman and CEO of Accor, explained to Condé Nast Traveller.
“The Orient Express is a legend that has lived on through stories, journeys and years,” said Bazin. “The nature of that legacy means that the rebirth of the brand must resonate with both its history and the present day to create something timeless.”
“The definition of luxury”
To take the project from idea to actual concept, French architect Maxime d’Angeac, known for his collaborations with several French fashion houses, was given the job of balancing the two worlds of old and new to make something truly unique.
“I had to respect two key elements in this formidable project,” he said, “extending the spirit of innovation that characterised the original train and reinventing the concept of comfort and luxury for the 21st century.”
To achieve this, d’Angeac is using some of the original elements of the first Orient Express, like the rail motif tapestry that was pioneered by Suzanne Lalique in the 1930s, which he incorporated throughout the train, as well as dark wood panelling and leather partitions. He has merged these with bright colours on the furniture to give a modern twist.
In the YouTube video above, which was put out to give excited future passengers a taste of what it will be like, d’Angeac explains his philosophy: “We are not here to be bling-bling or to be obvious. We are the definition of luxury.”
Passengers will have to wait until the restored Orient Express is fully completed and the route revealed in 2024 to travel on this legendary train.
Photo credits: Maxime d’Angeac
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