14 ° C
Profile

Tag: monacolife

Peace and Sport Awards go virtual

by: Stephanie Horsman
11/12/2020

The 2020 Peace and Sport Awards will be given out from 14th to 18th December, only this year, all the action will be online.
The Peace and Sport Awards are a much-anticipated annual event in Monaco, but organisers have had to change their format this year due to the ongoing health situation. So, they have decided to hold their ceremonies digitally over four days.
This temporary new format does not mean less excitement for the recipients and those interested, as fans can follow along to see the nominees and winners announced on social media as well as on the organisation’s website.
The five categories for nominees are the April6 Initiative of the Year, the Sport for Development and Peace Program of the Year, the Innovative Action of the Year, the Special Jury Prize, and the Champion for Peace of the Year, and the winners of each category will be revealed on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn from 14th to 18th December.
“In these challenging times, sport remains a universal language,” said Joël Bouzou, President and Founder of Peace and Sport. “Its role is vital to promote essential values such as respect, diversity and inclusion. The peace-through-sport community must stay active and connected in order to share best practices contributing to peace, dialogue and social change across the world with innovative ways.”
The jury is made up of South African rugby player Siya Kolisi, who is also Jury President. He will be joined by President of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation Kerrith Borwn, Advisor of Sport and Development for the Agence Française de Développement Laetitia Habchi, Columbia’s Minister of Sport Ernesto Lucena, CEO of My Coach Cedric Messina, Chairperson of CIGEPS Rosa Rakotozafy, and President of the Hellenic Community of Monaco and Director of Brooks Brothers Monaco Sophia Vaharis-Tsouvelekakis, who draws strong links between her sporting achievements and success as a businesswoman.
“In Greece we have a saying: a healthy mind in a healthy body,” Sophia Vaharis-Tsouvelekakis told Monaco Life. “Sport allows you to measure your strengths and your limitations; to put in place goals that you can surpass; to collaborate with your team – as I did when racing at Les 24h Chamonix sur Glace – and to respect others. It allows you to learn from losing and understand why you lost; to congratulate the winner and be humble when you win. I think all of these apply to sport as well as to business.”
Peace and Sport was founded in 2007 by Modern Pentathlon Olympic Medallist and World Champion Joël Bouzou. It is a Monaco-based independent association that promotes peace by introducing sports programmes to those in the world affected most by poverty, war and instability, the idea being that friendly competition builds bonds and communities.

The Peace and Sport Awards “reward organisations and individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to peace, dialogue and social change in the world through sport.”
The nominees for the April6 Initiative Award are:
• International Judo Federation.
• Kosovo National Olympic Committee.
• Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia.
• Palestine: Sports for Life.
• Secretary of State for Youth and Sport, within the Ministry of Education of Portugal.
The nominees for Sport for Development and Peace Programme of the Year are:
• Football for Change Outreach Project – Indochina Starfish Cambodia (ISF) Cambodia.
• Free football-for-youth-development programs – America SCORES.
• Volleyball4Life program – Dutch Volleyball Federation-Nevobo.
Nominees for Innovative Action of the Year are:
• FLAG21@Home campaign – FLAG21.
• Online SAMBO Cup – International Sambo Federation.
• Sa7ti Friyadti project (Empowerment through sport) – TIBU Maroc
For the Special Jury Prize, the nominees are:
• ERC Cyprus rally 2019 – International Automobile Federation.
• The Olympic Day Workout social media digital campaign – Olympic Channel.
• Together against Covid-19 – Olympique Lyonnais Foundation
The Champion for Peace of the Year is announced at the awards ceremony on the 18th and all the winners will be celebrated throughout the four days.
 
 

Interview: Flying high with Thierry Boutsen

by: Cassandra Tanti
10/12/2020

From racing the world’s fastest cars to selling the planet’s most expensive private airplanes, Thierry Boutsen has always been a man on a mission.
It is impossible to talk about Thierry Boutsen without first acknowledging his incredible racing career. He competed in 164 World Championship Grands Prix finishing 4th in 1988, winning three races, achieving 15 podiums and scoring 132 career points.
It is not something that he is eager to forget either. The Cannon Williams F1 car that the Belgian was driving when he won the Canadian Grand Prix in 1989 is proudly suspended on the wall of his office in Monaco.
But for the past 23 years, Thierry Boutsen’s acceleration has been in the air, not on a race track.
And while business took a nose dive during Covid, Thierry tells Monaco Life that things are gradually picking up in the aviation industry, with plenty of great deals to be had for buyers.
Monaco Life: When did your passion for flying begin?
Thierry Boutsen: I honestly had no idea that private jets existed until I was 18-years-old. I had just finished school and had two months off before going to university to study mechanical engineering. A family friend was CEO at Abelag (a private jet operator) in Brussels and he invited me to work there as a mechanic in the aircraft maintenance department. I enjoyed every minute of it – discovering these extraordinary flying machines. I was even invited on board to do a post maintenance test flight.That is when I promised myself, should I one day have earned enough money, I would buy and fly my own plane. I had to wait 12 years for that. Since then, flying has been a passion, like driving race cars.
When did your passion for flying turn into something more?
I had no intention of starting a company in the beginning. I was always flying my own plane from racing event to racing event, or marketing event to marketing event, for private or business purposes. Then I had a request in 1997 from a colleague of mine, former F1 driver Heinz Harald Frentzen, who wanted to buy the same plane I was using at the time but he didn’t know how to get it or how to complete the paper work etc. So, I said I would do it for him, and he ended up being my first customer. Immediately afterwards, I had a request from Keke Rosberg to buy a similar airplane for him; then I had to buy one for Mika Hakkinen, and then Michael Schumacher came to me and said he wanted to sell his Challenger. I did about 10 transactions, just in the racing world. I was doing the job as if it was for me – with a lot of passion, dedication and attention to detail. People loved it.
So, we decided to go further and explore Europe. My wife Daniela and I started Boutsen Aviation: she was in charge of the marketing and presentation and I was in charge of the commercial side.
At the end of 2000 we had our first employee, Dominique Trinquet – who is still with us today and is now president of the company. We have nine people working with us here in Monaco, and we have representatives in India, Russia, northern Europe, eastern Europe and Switzerland.

Thierry Boutsen flying his aircraft before hanging up the pilot wings in 2013

How many planes have you sold since the company was founded in 1997?
We have sold 385 planes to date, and every time we make a sale, we celebrate it is a success for the whole team. Our team in aviation is like a racing team – everyone is working together to get the job done and using their capabilities to 100%, or sometimes even more. It will be a very important milestone when we get to 400, but it is due to the hard work of everybody of the company.
Do you have a typical client profile at Boutsen Aviation?
There is no such thing as a typical client. However, I would say that 50% of the deals that we do are with brokers who have their own clients that want to buy an airplane. The other half are heads of state, international companies or private individuals.
Can you tell us about the relationship you have built with the Princely Family as their official supplier of airplanes?
A few years after I started the company in Monaco, a contact at the Palace said to me that Prince Rainier would like to sell his plane and he asked if I was interested in cooperating with the sale. I of course said “yes, sure”. That was in the year 1999 and since then we have sold all of the airplanes that have been the property of the Principality.
How often in a regular year do you normally fly?
I was flying my own plane until about 2013 but then the business developed and I just ran out of time. You see, to be able to fly a plane safely you need to spend a lot of time in a simulator for training. Being in the office from 8am to 8pm every day, there is not enough time left for this kind of stuff. Since then, I have only been flying friends’ airplanes, which I did a couple of weeks ago and I really enjoy it.
Before Covid, I spent 350 hours a year on a plane flying for business, around two to three times a week.
What did it mean for you when lockdown hit Monaco in March 2020?
Our biggest markets are the United States, China and India, and the lockdowns in these countries started in December, so we lost our activity and customers from then on. Lockdown in Europe was just a consequence of that. When we went into confinement here in Monaco, we put all of our staff on temporary unemployment and we didn’t do any transactions between March and August. So, for us it was a complete shutdown businesswise. Dominique and I tried to keep ourselves busy so we didn’t disappear from the scene, but we were disadvantaged enormously compared to the US or other European countries which could continue working.
We lost a lot of time and opportunities between January and the end of July. Contracts that had been signed were cancelled because we could not deliver planes. We had two planes due to go to India for six months, and only one could finally leave because we couldn’t get the other plane into the country.
But we have been fully active since August. We delivered two planes recently and we have another four ready to go before the end of the year, hopefully. We are catching up, which is a relief.
Inside a Gulfstream G650

How many planes are currently on your listing and what type of aircraft are they?
We have 16 planes for sale on an exclusive basis. We sell all types of business jets, but
70% to 80% of our planes are transatlantic, like Challengers, Gulfstreams, Falcons… big planes that can travel from Nice to Los Angeles, for instance. We also sell biz-liners like the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) and Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ).
Covid may have stopped people from flying, but people are now buying planes because of Covid, as the prices have dropped dramatically. The majority of pre-owned planes have fallen in value by as much as 20% in the last three to four months. So, opportunist buyers are entering the market now compared to three months ago.
How much money are we talking?
These planes used to sell for between 20 and 35 million. Today, it’s between 15 and 25 million for exactly the same airplane. This is because the inventory has increased. During lockdown, some people wanted to get rid of their planes because they had no need for them. A plane is expensive to buy and maintain, so if you have one that just sits in a hangar for six months, it’s not worth it.
What are your clients looking for when buying an aircraft?
The best price, comfort, space, quietness, and range. They want to buy a plane that can get maintenance anywhere in the world; some people want to fly to small runways, others want to go to the big airports, but mostly they use the aircraft because of the flexibility and the confidentiality.
Falcon 2000LX

Have you noticed any changes in client or customer demand over the past 20 years?
Yes, business aviation has become more common. Most of the big listed companies have their own planes. And not only one – they have three or four. Volkswagen, Swiss watch, pharmaceutical companies… they all have their own planes because they want to be flexible and well organised. So, when we are doing deals with these companies, we mainly speak with their flight department manager or director, who is there to advise companies on what to buy and when to sell. We are talking with professionals much more than 15 years ago.
You are an incredibly entrepreneurial spirit, so what is next for Thierry Boutsen?
Boutsen Aviation has been growing and developing, and we have taken quite a good position in the world market. But today we have absolutely no visibility into the future, so our priority is to work to maintain the level where we are at, with the amount of planes that we sell each year, and the quality of work that we deliver.
As the world economy is in chaos, we just want to keep our heads above water.
I am also the Chairman of the Boutsen Group which includes Boutsen Design, run by my wife Daniela, to offer a bespoke and individual design and decoration service for business jets, superyachts and residences. I also run Boutsen Classic Cars, sourcing and selling high-end classic road and race cars for discerning collectors. Then we have the Boutsen Racing Team, and we compete all over the world.
So, personally, I am trying to maintain the four companies to be in good operating condition and be as profitable as possible.
 
Related stories:

Interview: Designer Daniela Boutsen

 
Photos source: Boutsen Aviation
 
 

Closed 3-star Mirazur offering unique home experience

by: Cassandra Tanti
07/12/2020

Fans of the World’s Best Restaurant, the Mirazur in Menton, need not miss out this festive season due to France’s restrictions. Chef Mauro Colagreco is having his three Michelin starred cuisine delivered straight to people’s homes, taking the concept of “ordering in” to a whole new level.   
It’s fair to say that 2019 was a momentous year for Mirazur. After steadily rising on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list from its debut at number 35 in 2009, Mirazur finally took out the precious top spot. The accolade coincided with the restaurant gaining its third coveted Michelin star, and the beginning of a major three-year renovation project set to transform the dining room and extend the vegetable gardens. Everything pointed to an incredible year ahead for Argentina-born Chef Mauro Colagreco.
But, like all restaurants in nearby France, Mirazur was ordered to close for three months during the peak of the Covid pandemic in March, and again in October until at least 20th January 2021, when the country is set to lift restrictions, if the health situation allows.
That means no Christmas spoils or luxe New Year’s Eve celebration in nearby Menton.
But while the dining room remains eerily quiet, the kitchen is set to fire up again, with Chef Mauro Colagreco and his team of outrageously talented chefs formulating a festive menu true to Mauro’s inspirations of the sea, the mountains and the restaurant’s own gardens.
For the first time in its history, the Mirazur will be delivering a six-course festive menu to homes throughout France and Monaco, via the ChronoFresh delivery service. There is also a ‘click and collect’ option for pick-up in Menton.
Safe to say, “ordering-in” just hit a whole new level.

Mediterranean sea bream lotus flower with cold broth and citrus fruits from the garden, photo by Mirazur

The feast starts with grandma Amalia’s bread to share and soak in olive oil from Saint Michel. Next comes a Mediterranean sea bream lotus flower with cold broth and citrus fruits from the garden, followed by a capon and blue lobster ravioli in a light consommé with black truffle from Provence. The journey continues with Mediterranean sea bass caught by the restaurant’s fishermen friends Manuella and Lionnel with Champagne and Osciètre caviar, and a pithiviers of puff pastry with squab from the famous Madame Le Guen served with foie gras and Périgord truffle. To finish on a sweet note, there is a hazelnut chocolate and Alba white truffle treat, and traditional panettone from the Mitron Bakery.
It doesn’t get more indulgent for lovers of fine food, and it is a great way to support the restaurant during this difficult time.
Michelin star prices still apply: 240€ per menu, but in the true spirit of Christmas, 5% of sales will go towards supporting the victims of Storm Alex.
Pre-orders are available until 18th December. For details, visit the website: https://mirazur.shop-and-go.fr
 
Top photo: pithiviers with squab from the famous Madame Le Guen served with foie gras and Périgord truffle, picture by Mirazur
 
 

Riviera airport picks up pace

by: Stephanie Horsman
02/12/2020

Nice Airport has announced a complete reopening of Terminal 2 this month in an effort to get holiday travellers safely where they need to be.

Nice Côte d’Azur airport fully reopened Terminal 2 on 1st December with a full roster of both international and domestic flights.

The airport now serves 55 destinations in 24 countries with 583 flights per week.

Amongst the 29 airlines operating out the airport, Air France and easyJet both have several destinations available for passengers.

EasyJet serves 41 routes from Nice including Paris, Lille, Bordeaux, Biarritz, Nantes, Rennes and Toulouse domestically, and a host of international destinations such as Barcelona, Berlin, Amsterdam, Rome, Lisbon, Geneva, and London, to name but a few.

Air France will be flying several domestic flights to French cities such as Caen, Biarritz, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Paris, Rennes and Strasbourg several times daily.

Before flying, passengers are reminded that health regulations are still in effect and that masks are obligatory and social distancing is in effect at all times whilst in the terminal and on the planes.

For destinations that require negative Covid tests upon arrival, the airport is offering antigen testing at the airport. The testing room is available to all passengers from four hours up to 90 minutes before flying and is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 2pm. The tests are valid for 72 hours, fulfilling the requirement for most destinations.

 
Photo credit: Aeroports de la Côte d’Azur
 
 

Holiday celebrations in full-swing

by: Stephanie Horsman
02/12/2020

The Monaco Town Hall has organised a number of “Covid safe” events to ensure a merry and bright Christmas for all this festive season. 

Despite the current restrictions due to the health situation, the spirit of Christmas will be on full display this year in the Principality, though not in the usual way.

Since 20th November, residents and visitors have been able to enjoy the seasonal lights that illuminate each district after nightfall, giving a cheerful air to the chilly nights.

In addition, the esplanade of Quai Albert I is set to celebrate the magic of Christmas with nearly 250 fir trees and four attractions. There will be a carousel, duck pond fishing, a ride in the shape of a tree and another named the Caribou Ride-Santa’s Sleigh. The fun fair area will be open from 10am to 7:30pm from Friday 4th December to Sunday 3rd January.

The ice rink – a Monegasque winter staple – will also be open on 4th December at the Rainier III Nautical Stadium. With 1,000m2 of space, the ice rink takes five weeks to set up, but it is always worth the effort. Last year 28,674 skaters enjoyed the rink.

This year, the rules will be a little different, given the need to adapt to the health protocols, but fun can still be had. The rink can accommodate 200 people at a time and traffic must flow in a certain way as established by ground markers. Mask wearing is obligatory, and lockers and public areas will be disinfected regularly.

The rink will also host model-making mornings from 8am to 12pm on Sunday 13th December, 10th January, 24th January, 17th February and 21st February. It will also be the site of the Monaco skating championship on 6th March 2021.

For the smallest skaters, a 60m2 structure is being erected just for them. The ice rink will be open until 7th March 2021.

Princess Antoinette Park is also decked out in the spirit of the season for the first time. Christmas lights will be up until Thursday 3rd January and include a light trail and illuminated scenes, which can be enjoyed every day from 4pm until the park closes at 6pm.

New for this year, the Monaco Media Library is setting up workshops at the Metropole on the first three Wednesdays of December from 2pm to 6pm. The 2nd will feature a Christmas card workshop, the 9th is the Christmas Ball, and Christmas stockings feature on the 16th. The workshops are free, but space is limited so reservations are required. These can be made by emailing contact@metropoleshoppingmontecarlo.com or calling +377 92 16 77 01.

Happy holidays!

 

 

The story behind the closure of the Hôtel Métropole

by: Cassandra Tanti
02/12/2020

One of Monaco’s finest palaces, the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo, has closed its gilded doors. But do not fret. The luxurious hideaway has not fallen because of Covid. In fact, it will awaken even more spectacular than before. Managing Director Serge Ethuin tells us more.

When the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo was created in 1886, it was born out of the euphoria and prosperity of the Belle Epoque era, established on land that once belonged to Pope Leo XIII.

The international elite have always been attracted to its promises of excellence, luxury, and the art of living, as well as its positioning just metres from the famous Casino de Monte-Carlo.

Together with the Hôtel de Paris and the Hôtel Hermitage, the Hôtel Métropole forms an illustrious triangle of stunning palaces that are the ultimate symbols of luxury and charm.

Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo

Like its magnificent neighbours, the Hôtel Metropole has undergone a number of upgrades over the past 130 years, most significantly in 2003-2004, when the hotel blossomed into what we know and love today.

“The vision at that time was to associate the hotel with the best names in their respective fields – Joël Robuchon for the restaurant, Jacques Garcia for the design of the hotel, Karl Lagerfeld’s design of the pool area and, more recently, a spa by Givenchy,” Managing Director Serge Ethuin tells Monaco Life. “So, it was a structural transformation of the building which clearly is different to what will happen with the hotel in the next 18 months.”

On Monday 30th November, the Hôtel Metropole Monte-Carlo closed its doors to embark on a major renovation that has been in the pipeline for two years.

“We did not decide to close recently,” reveals Mr Ethuin. “We have, of course, decided that the current international climate is a further stimulation to anticipate what we wanted to do for 2021, 2022, and 2023.”

Managing Director Serge Ethuin

The renovation is set to take place in three stages. From now until mid-April 2021, the “back-end” of the hotel will be tackled – those crucial areas that guests never normally see but impact heavily on their experience. Most notably, the kitchens will be completely demolished and rebuilt.

“Renovation is very noisy. We decided to close the hotel because we didn’t want to affect that amazing experience that we are trying to give our guests,” says Serge Ethuin.
If all goes to schedule, the hotel will reopen in mid-April 2021 until the end of September 2021.

“There will be no major changes from a customer point of view. But we decided that we should not penalise the Principality of Monaco by having one of its luxury hotels closed during what will hopefully be the high season of next year.”

“Soft” renovations will continue throughout this time, “but only things that will not disturb the customer experience,” assures the managing director.

The most significant part of the renovation comes in phase three, starting on 1st October 2021, when the hotel will be closed for another six months.

Restaurant du Métropole Monte-Carlo / B.Touillon

“During this phase, we will tackle all the bedrooms – soft and heavy refurbishments – and we will create new exceptional suites,” says Mr Ethuin enthusiastically. “We are going to re-do the gastronomic restaurant completely, we are adding an extension to the Lobby Bar, and we are going to redo the Salon Mediterraneé, which is one of our two meeting and banqueting rooms.”

Once again, if all goes to plan, a refreshed Hôtel Métropole will reopen in April 2022, just in time for the commencement of the Principality’s major events.

“We hope to surprise our new and existing customers with a totally revamped product, but one that still retains the DNA of the hotel,” says Mr Ethuin. “We want to keep the same atmosphere, the same level of service and warmth, which has been part of the Métropole’s reputation.”

The designer responsible for that undeniable warmth and atmosphere is Jacques Garcia, who is charged with outfitting some of the world’s most treasured buildings. Seventeen years after he helped to reinvent the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo, Garcia is returning to carry out this vast new project.

Suite Carré d’Or at the Hôtel Métropole / Studio Phenix

“The good news is that whoever loved Garcia’s design then, will hopefully love his next instalment, because it will retain that amazing Garcia signature,” Mr Ethuin tells Monaco Life. “This will be Jacques of the 2020s versus Jacques of the early 2000s.”

The managing director assures us that the warm, Mediterranean vibe of the hotel and its rooms will not be compromised, adding, “It is going to be surprising, fresh, new… but it will still be Garcia.”

Apart from the décor, another significant difference will be the addition of more luxury suites, reducing the number of rooms from 125 to 116.

The popular Lobby Bar will be extended, capitalising on a growing appreciation for the restaurant element of the hotel, which has seen an uptake in revenue of over 35% in recent years.

Lobby Bar

A new terrace will be added to the bar, capping off what Mr Ethuin promises will be an incredible new experience for guests. “I don’t want to give away too many details, but I can say that the bar extension is an amazing design – I have never have seen anything like this before.”

Regrettably, the hotel will be closing its spa, lobby, bar and restaurants during renovation, including the two Michelin starred Métropole Monte-Carlo, and one Michelin starred Yoshi.

“We fully understand that people will be disappointed, but our philosophy is that the Métropole is offering a global emotional experience, so we decided when we close, we will close everything, and when we reopen it will be with a global excellent experience again.”

There is one element of the hotel that will remain open however – the Met Café in the Métropole Shopping centre, which will come as welcome news to busy holiday shoppers.

Dinner Suite Carré d’Or at the Hotel Metropole © Jérémy Jakubowicz

Managing Director Serge Ethuin is also very proud of the fact that all 213 long-term staff at the Hôtel Métropole will keep their jobs during both closures, maintaining 75% of their gross salary with the support of the Monaco Government and the hotel’s holding company.

“It takes so much time to recruit talent and train them to the level we want to achieve; it would have been extremely difficult for us to furlough our staff, so I say clearly and loudly: there will be no layoffs or retirements,” says Mr Ethuin.

When the Hôtel Métropole does reawaken in April, it will hopefully be to a new world, one where vaccines have allowed travel to recommence and large events like the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters tennis tournament and the Monaco Grand Prix to go ahead.

“We believe a vaccine will restore confidence, and as soon as confidence is restored and travel restrictions are partially lifted, we strongly believe our individual customers from around the globe will be in desperate need of travel,” reflects the managing director. “We don’t expect next year to be completely normal, but if we reach 70-80% capacity of a normal year, then it will be a good reason to reopen for the high season.”

In the meantime, we bid you farewell Hôtel Métropole, and wish you good luck for your “behind-the-scenes” make-over.

Photos provided by Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo