Photographers are once again being encouraged to submit their photos for the RAMOGE – Man of the Sea competition, highlighting the relationship between human activity and the Mediterranean sea, in all their positive and negative dimensions.
‘RAMOGE – Man of the Sea’ (L’Homme et la Mer) international photography competition is on now until 30th September 2022, under the auspices of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP).
This year, it features an internationally renowned jury, composed of Riccardo Busi (President of FIAP), Greg Lecoeur (Nature Photographer of the Year – National Geographic, 2016), and Sergio Pitamitz (Environmental Photojournalist of the Year – NPPA, 2016).
As part of its awareness-raising activities, the RAMOGE Agreement invites all lovers of the sea and photography to highlight in their photos the relationship between human activities and the Mediterranean in its multiple aspects.
The ‘RAMOGE – L’Homme et la Mer’ competition is divided into three categories for adults: Free theme, L’Homme et la Mer, and RAMOGE Zone, as well as a category dedicated to young people aged under 21. The competition is free and open to all.
The RAMOGE Agreement is a scientific, technical and administrative cooperation tool between the French, Monegasque and Italian governments for the protection and conservation of the marine environment in the area of sea stretching from Marseille (France) to La Spezia (Italy). Since 1976, the RAMOGE Agreement has been organising awareness-raising initiatives targeting citizens and tourists on key environmental issues concerning the Mediterranean Sea, and is the promoter of this photo contest.
Photo of 2021 3rd place winner of the the ‘Man and the Sea’ category: “Pirate Slurp” by Giannicola Marello.
From Transylvania to Iceland, Sardinia to Crete, Nice Airport welcomed a host of new airlines and new routes in July. So, where are you heading this summer?
With all the bad press surrounding air travel this summer in Europe, it’s nice to hear a bit of good news with Nice Airport adding some fantastic new flights to some very travel-worthy spots.
At the start of July, perennial low-cost favourite EasyJet added two flights a week to Alghero, Sardinia, as well as three flights per week from Nice to Brest. Both flights run out of Terminal 2, with the flight to Alghero running until 4th September and the one to Brest until 28th October. These flights feature reasonable ticket prices, even during the peak months of the summer season.
Nice Airport has added a new airline company to the line-up, as well. Amelia Airlines has been around for 40 years but this is the first time they have added a Nice flight to their itinerary. From now until 3rd September, the airline is offering a weekly flight from Nice to Brive in the enchanting southwest of France.
Meanwhile, Wizzair has added a flight to mysterious Transylvania and the vibrant city of Cluj. The Nice to Cluj flight runs two flights each week from 1st August to 28th October.
Icelandair has added a Reykjavik routing that allows passengers to visit the natural beauty and warm people of Iceland. They will be running two flights per week in July and August, taking advantage of the short summer season the island nation has to offer.
Air France has also jumped into the fray, adding a new Nice-Crete flight. Travellers will now be able to go to the most populous of the Greek Islands and enjoy the pink sand beaches and clear waters of the coast, as well as the delights of Heraklion three times a week for all of July and August.
Finally, the latest addition at Nice Airport is an Iberia flight to Valencia three times per week in the high season months of July and August. Visit all the city’s offerings, and enjoy the futuristic buildings, planetarium, oceanarium, walks, parks and beaches.
For those looking to stay closer to home, the trains of the region have 30 stops, each one as charming as the last. Take a day trip to a new beach, enjoy one of the many different village restaurants, or just wander through the streets of a town not visited before.
The options are plentiful this summer, so take advantage of the new choices, as well as enjoying the best of the established.
You don’t have to be a shoe lover to appreciate the brilliance of the Grimaldi Forum’s new summer exhibition. Every inch of the enormous space has been used to transport visitors on a fantastical journey through the mind, and extraordinarily creative career, of the world’s most famous shoe designer, Christian Louboutin.
After the first edition at the Palais de la Porte Dorée in Paris in 2020, ‘Christian Louboutin: L’Exhibition(iste), Chapter II’ opened to the public on Saturday 9th July at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco. The exhibition, redesigned by curator Olivier Gabet, Director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, is devoted to the work and imagination of Christian Louboutin, a shoe designer and key figure in the world of fashion. It is based around themes that reveal Louboutin’s eclecticism – couture, travel, the extremes of fantasy and innovation.
It is a fun and sophisticated odyssey through 30 years of prolific creativity, a journey in which emotion and expertise intermingle with his love for performance and a sense of humour.
But chapter two of this artistic venture goes one step further in Monaco. Louboutin the designer becomes Louboutin the curator as he showcases carefully selected art works and sculptures, and reveals his friendship with artists.
Room two of Christian Louboutin: L’Exhibition(iste) features huge stained glass windows designed by Louboutin, photo by Monaco Life
The journey begins in a room bathed in red, before moving onto a church-like space showcasing where it all began for Christian Louboutin. The black room, highlighted by incredible, large stained-glass windows specially designed by Louboutin, features the first shoes that he ever designed and made himself – ingenious, humorous shoes that reveal the boldness of those initial stages of his creative career, and that won clients over at Louboutin’s first boutique in Paris, from Madonna to Princess Caroline of Monaco.
In inventing the red sole, Christian Louboutin found his signature that was to be recognised the world over.
Then, from room to room, visitors are taken on an elaborate journey through the artistic mind of the designer; they are given the opportunity to witness his most iconic creations, chosen from a corpus which today constitutes thousands of designs – some one-offs, others templates for series that would continue for decades.
The ‘Theatre Room’ is a nod to Paris nightclub Le Palace, photo by Monaco Life
One room is a veritable treasure chamber, the circular space evoking a catacomb where the designer – who is still very much alive – becomes a deity, immortalised and revered, and sent to the gods surrounded by gold, silver, and his iconic creations. Is the blood splattered cavity with an apocalyptic pair of men’s golden Louboutins a clue as to how he came to his demise?
The journey moves from genius imagination to fantastical reality, where whimsical videos feature a mini-Christian Louboutin following the process of handmade shoe making, before it reaches a charming old granny’s house in a typical British street, in which the knick knacks, upon close inspection, reveal works of photographer Pierre Moliniere (1900-1976), who used to transform himself into a hypersexualised woman.
“This audacious ‘period room’ shows how much the ideas we have about shoes are shaped by projections and suggestions that are often a long way from reality, and sometimes more obvious,” we are told in one of the written guides that accompany each room.
The ‘Period Room’ is another bizarre journey into the mind of Christian Louboutin, photo by Monaco Life
The exhibition also reveals Louboutin’s love of music and dance, which he has had from an early age, being a child of the famous Paris nightclub Le Palace. A large number of pieces related to this domain have been brought together within a theatre set that has been specially created by Bhutanese artists in the grounds of the royal palace in Thimphu, including carved wooden elements that Louboutin devised in collaboration with the artisans.
The “imaginary museum” is a personal tribute to the artists and artworks that have been Christian Louboutin’s constant companions since his teenage years, serving as the inspiration for his eclecticism, from queer culture and Gandharan art, to photography and contemporary African art.
The tour ends as it began – a Pop Corridor bathed in red, a “passageway between two worlds”, where portraits of celebrities in music and cinema intertwine with magazine covers, extracts from television shows and social media posts, each serving as a reminder of how much Christian Louboutin’s work has been embraced by the talents of our time, all making his name legendary in contemporary design and fashion culture.
Christian Louboutin: L’Exhibition(iste) is open at the Grimaldi Forum until 28th August.
Click on the gallery below for more pictures of Christian Louboutin: L’Exhibition(iste)…
Photos by Cassandra Tanti, Monaco Life…
Delighted visitors to Palace get photo op with Princess
Princess Charlene gave tourists to the Palace a thrill as she stopped to chat and take photos with them on Wednesday, a lovely gesture that will create a lifetime memory for those she met.
A smiling and relaxed Princess Charlene gave visitors to the Prince’s Palace serious bang for their buck when she made an unscheduled appearance during a guided tour
The Princess is shown on photos released by the Palace’s social media pages looking her ever-chic self in a sleeveless black tunic and cream trousers. She is featured with a group of schoolchildren in one snap and with her arm around a beaming tourist in another, exuding a warmth that is indicative of her personal approach to the public.
Princess Charlene joined visitors on a tour of the Prince’s Palace on Wednesday, photo by Eric Mathon/Prince’s Palace
Not just a by-stander, Charlene joined in as these lucky visitors walked around the newly refurbished Grand Apartments with her as she pointed out points of interest. She also was happy to point out the Renaissance frescoes that have been lovingly restored over the past few years and are only this summer being unveiled to the public.
The social media post read “Yesterday afternoon, H.S.H. Princess Charlene introduced a few guests to the recently refurbished Grand Apartments of the Prince’s Palace as well as the Renaissance frescoes unveiled to the public after several years of restoration work. Princess Charlene also went to meet holidaymakers visiting the magnificent salons of the Prince’s Palace.”
The appearance is a boost for those who have missed seeing the Princess at events, and seems to show she is well on her way back to good health.
Photos: Eric Mathon / Prince’s Palace
Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp blow fans away in Monaco
Musical legend Jeff Beck and quirky actor Johnny Depp hit the stage together at the Opera de Monte-Carlo Saturday night for a sold-out one-night-only show that went on for four hours to the delight of an enthusiastic crowd.
Actor Johnny Depp, best known for taking on eccentric roles in top Hollywood films, has a not-so hidden talent. Turns out Depp, 59, is quite the musician as well. This was shown to full measure on Saturday night when he hit the stage with Jeff Beck, who regularly appears on lists as one of the greatest rock ‘n roll guitarists of all time.
Depp joined Beck on stage halfway through the 19-song set and played the Link Wray & His Ray Men classic “Rumble” before heading to the microphone to sing on the Dennis Wilson track ‘Time’, followed by the Killing Joke’s, ‘Death And Resurrection Show’. He also performed ‘This is a song for Miss Hedy Lamarr’, a tune of his own making.
The duo announced an upcoming album last month, entitled 18, which is due to come out on 15th July, and have even made a music video for their first single, the aforementioned ‘This is a song for Miss Hedy Lamarr’.
“It’s an extraordinary honour to play and write music with Jeff, one of the true greats and someone I am now privileged enough to call my brother,” Depp said in a release.
“I haven’t had another creative partner like him for ages,” Beck said of Depp. “He was a major force on this record. I just hope people will take him seriously as a musician because it’s a hard thing for some people to accept that Johnny Depp can sing rock and roll.”
The concert seems to show that the actor has moved on from the media circus brought on by the defamation lawsuit between him and his ex-wife, Amber Heard. Depp won all three defamation claims in the case, stemming from an op-ed Heard wrote in 2018 about her being a survivor of domestic abuse.
The trial was widely televised and became must-see TV for millions but did little to portray either party in a noble light.
Now, Depp is turning his energies to music to good effect. “He enjoys performing and has a busy summer ahead,” a Depp insider told People Magazine recently. “He is also looking forward to continue working. He just wants his career back. He loves filming.”
Prince Albert joined Monaco Ambassadors Club members for a summer party with Bohemian vibes at La Vigie Lounge and Restaurant on Wednesday, reaffirming the event as a highlight on the club’s busy social calendar.
As the fresh sea breezes drifted in from the Mediterranean, members and guests of the Monaco Ambassadors Club (MAC) gathered on Wednesday 6th July at the farthest end of the Principality for one of the biggest parties of the year. The event was organised by the staff of the Monaco Ambassadors Club including General Secretary Alessandra Sparaco, Club Manager Catherine Bernaz, and Event Manager Manon Delpont.
Rattan rugs, wicker chairs, and a sea of pink flowers set the boho scene for guests, who also dressed in theme for the joyful occasion.
Boho chic MAC Summer Party at La Vigie Restaurant and Lounge, photo by YG courtesy MAC
It was a packed house as guests mingled and networked over cocktails before heading to their tables to enjoy a sprawling buffet dinner prepared by the chefs at La Vigie Restaurant.
Prince Albert was presented with a box of Ortigia products by Ben Ashworth, Brand Director at Ortigia, and Benedetta Bizzini from Ortigia retailer Eleven Monte-Carlo. The luxurious Italian soap and fragrance company also gifted guests with their own Ortigia goodie bags. The company’s stunning silk kaftans were worn by the night’s models and hostesses.
Figuière was also a sponsor of the summer party, allowing guests to enjoy their trio of Cuvée Premiere wines for the evening. Figuière is a family-owned Domaine located in the French Riviera and has been producing organic wine for almost 40 years. Château owner Magali Combard joined in the festivities of the night.
A DJ set the party ambiance as guests danced late into the night.
The Summer Party is one of the most popular events on the MAC calendar, photo courtesy MAC
The Monaco Ambassadors Club was created in 1973 under the direction of Princess Grace, and Prince Albert II of Monaco is now its Honorary President. The club has enjoyed a renewal in recent years, organizing a series of events and galas throughout the year.
The club has a network of exclusive members who share a common belief in l’art de vivre (the art of living), and new members are always encouraged to join and be a part of this exciting and dynamic community.
The next event on the calendar is an Evening Cocktail at the Wine Palace in October, combing business and art, followed by Thanksgiving dinner in November.
