The popular Swedish housewares super store Ikea is finally opening in Nice Saint-Isidore on 11th May, giving long-suffering shoppers of the brand a close and convenient option.
After years of making the trek to Toulon or Genoa to pick up all those items one needs but doesn’t really need – a hallmark of Ikea shopping – patrons on the Riviera will this week have their very own branch to go to.
The Nice Saint-Isidore location boasts eco-friendly construction and standards, making it one of the first of a new generation of environmentally conscious super stores in the region. The roof is lined with 3,100 solar panels which the company estimates will meet 40% of their energy needs. Additionally, the grounds have approximately 10,000 m2 of green areas to blend in with the surrounding landscape.
The store is accessible by tram from Centre-Ville Nice, allowing shoppers to leave their cars at home, and it has a massive 32,000m2 surface area. For those who do drive, 1,700 parking spaces are on-site for convenience.
Over 360 employees will be “á votre service” between 10am and 8pm, Monday to Saturday, with the market specialising in Scandinavian treats open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm.
Though this location is new, it will be comforting to know that the store itself is based on the same model as every other Ikea in the world. There will be the vast array of flat-pack furniture items, home accessories and plants that everyone knows and loves, with home deliveries and assembly services for fitted kitchens and other furniture available.
Leclerc pipped by Verstappen in inaugural Miami GP
Amidst humid conditions in the Sunshine State, the on-track action took a while to heat up on Sunday as Max Verstappen fought off a late Charles Leclerc surge to take an historic victory.
Despite Verstappen’s victory, Charles Leclerc still retains a comfortable championship lead, with 19 points separating the rivals. Red Bull’s pace must nonetheless be a concern for the Monegasque driver.
Leclerc revealed he was “understandably disappointed to miss out on first place”. Up until Sunday’s main event, it was a weekend of contrasting fortunes for the two rivals. Whilst Leclerc managed to get plenty of laps in during the practice sessions, reliability concerns once again limited Red Bull to just a handful of laps. Not ideal when you’re trying to familiarise yourself with a brand new circuit.
It was only logical therefore that Leclerc took pole from team-mate Carlos Sainz, with Verstappen taking third. The Dutchman, however, wasted no time making up for Saturday’s disappointing showing as he overtook Sainz at turn 1. With Leclerc’s rear-gunner out of the picture, another Leclerc-Verstappen classic beckoned.
To the surprise of many, it was the Red Bull who seemed to have the superior race pace and Verstappen made light work of taking the lead, passing Leclerc with a simple DRS move on lap nine. In an attempt to keep pace with Verstappen, Leclerc began to make rudimentary errors as he lost touch with the leader whilst wearing-out his tyres in the process.
The race seemed to be trundling along to its natural conclusion without too much on-track excitement, but a collision between Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly towards the end of the race brought out the safety car and bunched the pack back together.
The main benefactor was George Russell, as he made his first and only pit-stop during this window; the Brit eventually sealed fifth in a stunning drive from 12th on the grid to finish ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who once again bemoaned the team’s “unkind” strategy.
11 laps remained when the safety car came in and Leclerc immediately went on the offensive. Suddenly, his hard tyres had switched on, and he managed to get within DRS range of Verstappen. But that was as good as it got. Verstappen managed to hold position and even create a gap in the last laps as he capped his perfect Sunday win with a fastest lap.
Behind the front two, it was Sainz who held onto third from Carlos Perez, who could have got on the podium if not for an impatient lunge down the Spaniards’ inside at turn one, which subsequently cost Perez time and grip.
For large swathes of the race, the cameras instead followed around the many celebrities in attendance at the Miami circuit. David Beckham was amongst the A-listers in Florida, and the former England international enjoyed a pre-race kick-about with Leclerc (click on image above to watch).
“I thought the atmosphere was amazing this weekend,” said Leclerc. “There was a really great show around the race and I’m looking forward to coming back.”
It remains to be seen as to whether, when he does return next year, he will do so as the World Champion. It certainly looks as though Verstappen will give him a close ride.
AS Monaco Basketball scraped a victory against Le Mans on Saturday (83-84), as they made their first appearance in the Betclic Elite since their Euroleague exit against Olympiacos on Wednesday.
Focus has well and truly shifted back to the domestic division. The dream of Euroleague glory has been extinguished, but the chances of becoming French champions still remain realistic. Sasa Obradovic’s men have already secured qualification to the end-of-season play-offs; the remaining fixtures are simply about facilitating the kindest possible draw.
Following Sunday’s win, Monaco are second in the Betclic Elite, one win behind leaders Lyon-Villeurbanne, although the former have a game-in-hand.
After their midweek exploits, Donta Hall and Mike James were rested for the Le Mans trip, whilst Alpha Diallo remains sidelined by injury. The hope is that he will be fit and firing by the time the play-offs come around, given how integral Obradovic perceives the young American to be to his game-plan.
Yakuba Outtara, following his strong showing in Greece, propelled Monaco to an ideal start, scoring 12 of the Roca Team’s opening 16 points, as they took a slender first-quarter lead. Le Mans, however, have much more riding on the fixture, their determination to pierce the play-off places gave rise to an energetic performance as Monaco struggled to create openings outside the key, whilst also forcing Obradovic’s men into errors.
Going into the half-time break, Monaco had to come back out and overturn a deficit (40-39). The visitors, however, have the quality and strength-in-depth. Dwayne Bacon and Donatas Motiejunas stepped-up in the third-quarter to allow Monaco to retake the lead.
Monaco could never reel away, and Le Mans gave them a late scare as they retook the lead with under two minutes on the clock. However, the Roca Team had enough to see the game out, a late Le Mans three-pointer brought the gap back down to just one, but it wasn’t enough to force overtime (83-84).
“We showed a lot of character,” said Obradovic post-match. “We fought really well, especially in the second-half when Le Mans went ahead and we had to go and chase the victory.”
“It was an important match to jump back into the French championship and prepare for these play-offs. We want to have the best possible ranking in the table.”
Only three games remain before the end-of-season play-offs, the first of which will take place at the Salle Gaston Medecin against Nanterre on Wednesday.
Ferrari will start the inaugural Miami Grand Prix with both its F1-75s on the front row after Charles Leclerc took pole position ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz in a session that once again demonstrated how close the battle is at the front of the pack.
It was the Scuderia’s 67th front row lock-out, while for Charles, it was his 12th pole position, which sees him equal the number of Ferrari poles secured by Sebastian Vettel. In the all-time list, he is now equal with Gerhard Berger and David Coulthard.
The two Ferrari drivers comfortably made it through the first two parts of qualifying, almost among the quickest on their way to Q3. Charles and Carlos were in the best possible shape for the final showdown as they each had two sets of new soft tyres at their disposal. On his first run, the Monegasque managed a 1’29”055 and his team-mate was a fraction slower in 1’29”071; but Max Verstappen sat at the top of the time sheet. The Ferrari duo pitted for fresh tyres and set off once again in pursuit of the quickest time. Leclerc produced a brilliant lap, stopping the clocks in 1’28”796 and Sainz was also on great form, delivering an equally impressive 1’28”986 to secure second place.
“It feels really good to come here and put everything together on such a difficult track,” said Charles Leclerc. “Although I was not very happy with turns 1-2-3, it was a good lap and I’m really glad to have secured pole. I feel at ease with the car. It feels great to drive and really makes you think of how to extract its full potential.Tomorrow will be a tight race and it is good to have Carlos by my side.”
Sunday’s race looks like being a tricky one in which anything could happen, particularly as air and track temperatures will be very high. However, there can be no better way to start than with both cars on the front row. The lights go out at 9.30pm Monaco time.
Photo of Charles Leclerc with acting legend Michael Douglas at the inaugural Miami GP, source: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre
Monaco makes another move towards equality for women
Monaco’s National Council has voted in a government bill to amend outdated provisions in the law that favour men over women.
A majority of 18 elected officials, with one abstention by Thomas Brezzo and no votes against, on Thursday 5th May supported a government bill which aims to strengthen the protection of women’s rights in the Principality of Monaco.
Government Services spent three years analysing nearly 12,000 legal and legislative texts to identify expressions that have become, over time, obsolete for legal, semantic or scientific reasons. In total, 85 provisions and texts are subject to modification or deletion.
“This updating of the legal provisions contributes to the construction of the edifice of women’s rights and to bringing the Principality into line with the evolution of society and, at the international level, in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations,” said Pierre Dartout, Minister of State. “I would like to salute the Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights, which has made a dynamic contribution to updating the texts of Monegasque law.”
The amendments include things like changing the need for female elected officials to take on the masculine word for councillor, conseillers.
“While this text represents an essentially symbolic progress – it is certainly not the most fundamental text in the history of the evolution of women’s rights in our country – it is another step in the right direction,” said National Council President Stéphane Valeri in his speech to the assembly.
According to Councillor Nathalie Blanc-Amoratti, the amendments are an important step towards changing perceptions about women in society.
“The main objective is of course to change mentalities, and this requires education, awareness and pedagogy from an early age,” said Nathalie Blanc-Amoratti. “In our position as elected officials, we are working with determination to modernise and develop our legislation in accordance with changes in society. And when it comes to women’s rights, there is a lot to be done.”
Other major steps that the Principality has taken recently towards equal rights for women include the extension of maternity leave in 2019, the decriminalisation of abortion that same year, a reform in 2021 of the legal provisions that constitute sexual assault, and a resolution adopted in November 2020 aimed at increasing the representation of women on the boards of directors of public, associative and private entities.
The latest move by the National Council and the Government, under the leadership of Prince Albert II, was welcomed by Céline Cottalorda, Interministerial Delegate for Women’s Rights, who said, “I am very satisfied to see this text come to fruition because it constitutes additional progress for greater equality between the sexes and less discrimination against women.”
Monaco Ambassadors Club members are among the first to try the new Pavyllon restaurant by Yannick Alléno at the Hermitage Hotel, as the club ramps up its post-pandemic events schedule with new and exciting offers.
The Monaco Ambassadors Club (MAC), under the high patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco, has always hosted lavish gala events, including the Summer party, the Goodwill Ambassador Award Gala, and the Christmas party. They are an opportunity for members and guests to enjoy the best of Monaco with friends and like-minded people, while celebrating the club’s mission of promoting the values of Monaco throughout the world.
But MAC also has a new impetus – organising intimate lunches at Monaco’s hottest new restaurants.
The latest members’ lunch is taking place at the Pavyllon, the new restaurant by Yannick Alléno, holder of 13 Michelin stars, at the Hermitage Hotel.
On the terrace overlooking the Mediterranean, members have an opportunity to get to know each other, to network, and enjoy a fabulous Michelin star lunch.
It follows a similar lunch organised by MAC in April at the new Em Sherif at the Hôtel de Paris, a partnership with the Société des Bains de Mer that promotes a circular economy in the Principality.
“Over the past few weeks, connecting with members face-to-face in smaller groups has been a wonderful experience for all,” says MAC President Christian Moore. “It has given some members the chance to meet for the first time and for others to properly catch up on all that has been missed these past few years. Adjusting to the new normal is the priority of MAC moving forward.”
Through events such as these, MAC aims to provide its members with the opportunities to form worthwhile connections and enhance their personal and professional lives.
The club was formed over five decades ago at the request of Princess Grace, who wished to assemble Monaco’s diverse residents together and encourage them to promote the merits of the Principality and share their love for Monaco on the international stage.
The next event on the MAC schedule is the Goodwill Ambassador Award Gala evening on 11th June, when property tycoon John Christodoulou will receive the honourable title.
Monaco Life is proud to be the main media partner of the Monaco Ambassador’s Club.
Click on the gallery below to see more pictures…
Top photo left to right: Willy Gunti, MAC Club Manager Catherine Bernaz, Lorenzo Turco, Monaco Life Editor in Chief Cassandra Tanti, Alejandra Ruiz, Said Benhamed, Parissa Khorsand, and Amir-Reza Khorsand. All photos by Monaco Life.
