If you love all things Italian and cucina italiana, mark the first Friday of June down in your diary!
Did you know that Monaco has three different markets? There’s the Condamine Market just off the Place d’Armes, the Marché de Monte-Carlo over on Avenue Saint-Charles and a brand-new addition in the form of the Petit Marché de Monaco Ville up on the Rock, which happens just once a week, but is steadily growing in popularity with locals and visitors alike.
These markets are vibrant places, but given the countless other attractions in the Principality, they sometimes fall off the visitor map. So, as part of a project to revive and revitalise these community hubs for residents and tourists, the Mairie de Monaco has, for several months now, been organising evening and specialty events within the market halls. After truffles, chestnuts, regional wines and cheeses, and even sea urchins, now it’s time for that family favourite, Italian cuisine, to take centre stage.
On Friday 2nd June from 7.30pm, market traders at the Condamine will come together for a night of traditional Italian cooking accompanied by live music from the Serena Sforzi & Fabio Paxia Duet.
In the past, many of these events have been sold out, so it’s imperative to make a reservation directly with the stores taking part next time you’re in the market.
Do you have an event in Monaco or the French Riviera that you would like us to include in our What’s On section and events calendar? Please email editor@monacolife.net.
Photo source: Klara Kulicova for Unsplash. This article was originally published 22nd May.
Exhibition: The story behind Prince Rainier’s “Noah’s Ark”
Monaco’s Jardin Animalier is soon to launch a behind-the-scenes photography exhibition depicting Prince Rainier III with the creatures great and small that he adopted and cared for.
Prince Rainier was a life-long lover of animals. As a young boy, he spent many happy days at the Villa Ibéria, in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, surrounded by birds of all feathers as well as two beloved chimpanzees, Clovis and Tanagra.
During a trip to West Africa in 1954, when Prince Rainier was in his early 30s, he welcomed onto his yacht some 30 orphaned and injured animals from the continent. Chimpanzees, crocodiles, monkeys, ostriches and more… the Deo Juvante II was transformed into a veritable “Noah’s Ark”, as described by the Prince himself.
A few weeks later, they had all found a new, safe home at the Centre d’Acclimatation Zoologique de Monaco. A young Asian elephant called Buom-Nam, a gift from then-Emperor of Vietnam Bao Dai, and two lions called Pacha and Caïd also joined the exotic crew of animals that the Principality and its young Prince hosted within the safety and security of what would become today’s Jardin Animalier, which can be found in the Fontvieille neighbourhood.
Monaco’s Jardin Animalier. Photo by Monaco Life
Many had been abandoned, some had been trafficked, others came from circuses, but all received the care and attention of Prince Rainier, who is said to have visited the park each morning to check in on its residents.
Prince Rainier also personally oversaw a succession of redevelopments and extensions of the park, which will soon celebrate its 70th anniversary. Of course, public opinion and understanding of animals in captivity has changed greatly in these years, but Monaco and its current sovereign and the heir of Prince Rainier, Prince Albert II, continue to aim for the highest welfare standards for the park’s inhabitants. Today it is a verdant one-hectare space in which many creatures live harmoniously and – most importantly – happily.
On 31st May, as part of the vast commemorative events that honour the centenary of Prince Rainier’s birth, the Jardin Animalier will launch an exhibition depicting the Prince in one of the places he enjoyed the most with a collection of intimate photographs. It will run until the end of this year.
To learn more about the ‘Le Prince et ses animaux’ exhibition as well as the many other events set to take place in Prince Rainier’s memory, click here.
Do you have an event in Monaco or the French Riviera that you would like us to include in our What’s On section and events calendar? Please email editor@monacolife.net.
Photo source: Centenairerainier3.mc
Basketball: Kevin Durant in attendance as Roca Team scrape past Strasbourg in playoff opener
In their hunt for a final piece of silverware this season, AS Monaco Basketball ensured a winning start to their Betclic Elite playoff series against Strasbourg (88-84) on Wednesday, in front of an onlooking Kevin Durant.
“It’s even harder than the Euroleague! I’m mentally and physically more tired,” said an exhausted Sasa Obradovic after a tight game that went the distance at the Salle Gaston Médecin.
“The Euroleague is finished. We need to move on. We mustn’t take these games lightly,” said Éłie Okobo (17 points) post-match.
The comments were in reaction to a match that certainly wasn’t dominated by the Roca Team. Quite the opposite…
Photo of Mike James by Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life
There was a sloppiness, on both sides of the court, a selfishness in attack and a lack of efficiency throughout, but particularly in the first half, which almost cost Monaco dearly.
Kevin Durant in Monaco
Obradovic’s men trailed by seven points after the first quarter, but clawed their way back into the game in the second, before taking the lead early in the third, largely thanks to Jordan Loyd’s (19 points) efficiency outside the key.
However, Marcus Keene (22 points) immediately responded, allowing Strasbourg to go into the final quarter with a slender advantage (63-64).
Photo of Kevin Durant by Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life
With the result on the line, Monaco stepped on the accelerator, stretching into a 10-point lead midway through the quarter, but there was a lethargy at times, and in front of Phoenix Suns player Durant, who was in attendance to watch close friend, Mike James (nine points), Strasbourg were handed another route back into the tie.
“We need to wake up”
Strasbourg’s indiscipline got the better of them ultimately. They gave away too many free throws (37) and the game got away from them in the final minutes. Whilst Strasbourg manager Luca Banchi was left bemoaning a refereeing performance, which according to him “lacked respect”, for Monaco, this game served as a warning.
“We need to wake up,” said Okobo, who won the Betclic Elite title with Lyon-Villeurbanne last season.
“They were 100% ready to play. We have to find the energy. It’s do or die. In the first game, there are no favourites and Strasbourg have nothing to lose. They gave us a really hard time. We’ve had better quality wins for sure,” echoed Obradovic.
Photo by Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life
Despite the performance, Monaco are now just one win away from the Betclic Elite semi-finals. The Roca Team travel to Strasbourg on Friday, and in the case of a defeat, both teams will return for a decider back in the Principality on Sunday.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc led the All Star Drivers to victory in the World Stars Football Match, the curtain-raiser for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix.
The charitable match, which raises money for Star Team for the Children MC, has become a fixture in the Monegasque sporting calendar, with the biggest names from the world of Formula One facing off against stars from other sports, such as tennis player Daniil Medvedev, who graced the turf of the Stade Louis II during the 30th edition.
After last year’s draw, the All Star Drivers beat Star Team For The Children MC (4-3) to lift the trophy.
Leclerc, Gasly and Sainz form attacking trident
The All Star Drivers team fielded a front three consisting of Ferrari teammates Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, as well as Pierre Gasly, a close friend of the Monegasque driver. All had chances to make an impact on the game in an open and entertaining edition of the match.
Leclerc, who faceplanted the turf in the opening minutes, joked about his performance.
“I really don’t have any talent! Football really isn’t for me. I’m a bit ridiculous,” he said to RMC Sport.
However, in such events, it is the spectacle that matters and, in front of Prince Albert II, both teams put on an entertaining match with the Monaco Grand Prix just around the corner.
Intimate images of one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, Michael Schumacher, are being shown at Sotheby’s Gallery in celebration of the Monaco Grand Prix.
She has photographed some of the biggest names on the planet: Mick Jagger, Lisa Marie Presley, Claudia Schiffer, Sir Roger Moore, Fernando Alonso… As a Monaco resident for most of her life, German-born Vanessa von Zitzewitz has also produced multiple portraits of Princess Charlene and Prince Albert, as well as Christmas portraits featuring the young Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella.
But this exhibition is particularly special to Vanessa, because it came about by pure chance: negatives which had sat in secret for more than 20 years were rediscovered and curated for a special show that will be launched on Thursday 25th May. It’s titled ‘Michael, Intimacy Behind Speed’.
I spoke to Vanessa von Zitzewitz as she and her team were setting up this unique photography exhibition at Sotheby’s Monaco Gallery.
Monaco Life: How did this photo shoot of Michael Schumacher come about?
Vanessa von Zitzewitz: I studied at the Parsons School of Design, New York, and I was lucky to have very quickly found my path. I published my first book for Cartier when I was 23, so when I did the Schumacher pictures, I was pretty much set in my career.
I have lived here in Monaco for 30 years, and it was amazing the access you had with the right passes. To see the actual (Monaco Grand Prix) race, I remember walking around the whole track during the race seven times – including the tunnel – which today would be impossible, security wise. You would get pieces of tyres stuck to your face from when they were speeding by. I remember photographing Ayrton Senna driving by me in Place du Casino.
I had the right pass, I knew the right people, and I was actually on the circuit, not behind the barriers; I was in the grid with the drivers, everybody, it was sizzling hot.
One of my closest friends was Jean Todt, the head of Ferrari at the time, and he allowed me to come to several races backstage, so I had this huge privilege due to him.
‘Michael, Intimacy Behind Speed’ exhibition, photograph by Vanessa von Zitzewitz, all rights reserved
What was the thought process behind these images?
I had asked Jean if I could come to several races and do some backstage images because what I find interesting are the details. What I wanted to do for Ferrari was to get all the details, the logos, the hand of the mechanics, Michael’s shoes; like the picture you see here where he is checking on Mika Hakkinen’s time… Details that had not been photographed before. That’s what I always find challenging, moments that capture the sense of what’s going on behind the scene.
What did you find were some of the most remarkable things about photographing Schumacher at that time?
This whole exhibition is an entire coincidence. I was still using film at the time and I was transferring all of my negative archive from one place to another when a picture fell out of the files. It’s the one where you see Michael relaxing, having a cup of coffee and on the phone, smiling. It is the opposite of what people have in mind when they think about Michael Schumacher; they always think of him as very concentrated, with a helmet, not in a relaxed, intimate position. This intimate, secret side of him was never really shown.
Also, at the time there were no iPhones, so people had less access to images that showed him in a different way. When I found this picture of him sitting there – I can just imagine that he was probably calling his wife or his kids – I said to myself, ‘Oh my God, I have to check if I have some more’. Suddenly, I saw this massive amount of contact sheets with pictures that I found very interesting. Sotheby’s saw them and asked to have a show during the Monaco Grand Prix, and so that’s how it happened. It was a pure coincidence.
Do you have any recollections of what Michael Schumacher was like as a person?
Yes, he was very polite, very precise, very kind, but very discreet and so focused. As you can see, these pictures were all taken when he was working very hard. Every second, every minute, people were talking to him, whether it was his team or the journalists. You didn’t have time to chat with him. I remember just saying ‘Hello’, and smiling, and ‘How are you? How’s your wife?’ because I also know Corinna, his wife. I photographed her on several occasions. But you had this distance. He made it clear that he was working. You would feel a lot of respect. That’s what I remember doing these pictures. I would really try to be as discreet as possible, not to bother him. I remember that very well.
‘Michael, Intimacy Behind Speed’ exhibition, photograph by Vanessa von Zitzewitz, all rights reserved
Indeed, you do get that perception when you’re looking at these photographs, it does look as though you were blending in and capturing those moments as if it was all very spontaneous…
They’re stolen moments, obviously, and that’s what makes them interesting. What did Ferrari and Michael Schumacher represent? Speed. So, that’s why I came up with this title for the show, ‘Intimacy Behind Speed’, to show that behind all of this crazy speed and loud moments, there are very calm moments. He was always very cool, very calm, very relaxed, very focused. It’s the total opposite of what’s then going on when he goes out of the pits and paddocks and sits in his car, and there are all these journalists and people watching and screaming. If you go around the pictures and look at them, it’s like you have just turned off the volume, and then you get these moments that I photographed.
They obviously have extra significance now given the accident. Do you feel privileged to have captured these?
I’ve worked for several months on the show now, because as they’re negatives, you have to blow them up and some old negatives had to be restored. So I’ve seen the images many times before they were printed and framed. But yesterday, when we put them all up on the wall, suddenly it was very emotional for me to see him there and remember the time that I took the pictures, but also the respect and what a man he is.
It’s not that long ago, most of the pictures were taken in 1998, but you see a lot of sports people today and things have changed a lot. Everything today is about agents and publicists and advertising that tell you what you’re allowed to do, what you are not allowed to do, or what you have to do.
You hardly have access to these racing drivers like you did at the time. So I’m not only privileged to have photographed him, but I’m also privileged to have had the opportunity to go behind the scene and to see things which probably today would be impossible to do because of all the regulations with sponsors saying, “Maybe she might see the inside of the engine and tell Mercedes what Ferrari is doing…” (laughs).
‘Michael, Intimacy Behind Speed’ exhibition, photographs by Vanessa von Zitzewitz, all rights reserved
It is a does represent a bygone error, even traditional film photography itself is a dying art…
It is a dying art. And what makes me very sad, and it makes me laugh on the other hand, is on Instagram every second girl is a photographer, because obviously it’s very easy now with an iPhone to take a picture. But I consider myself an ouvrier: I’ve learned how to process film, I’ve learned how to work in a dark room to develop my images. Film is expensive, so you wouldn’t just shoot like crazy and then erase 95%. You used to think before you would photograph something because you knew it was going to be expensive to process. And also the light. Today they all have these little lights with them. Lighting has not been used in these pictures – maybe I used a reflector or something – but now everything is easier, and I don’t think it’s better.
What else have been career highlights for you?
What I think is amazing about my job is that I really went from one subject to another. I used to spend two months a year in the slums of Bangkok living at an orphanage and I came up with this book called Slaughterhouse Angels. And Caroline Scheufele from Chopard organised a big event in Switzerland where we sold my pictures and book and a piece of jewellery she did for this project, and we raised almost $500,000 that we gave entirely to the orphanage.
So I went from shooting children dying of AIDS, because in the early 2000s, children were actually dying around the age of 15 when they were born with HIV, to photographing very wealthy weddings in Middle Eastern countries: a very sad charity project to overwhelming pictures of incredibly well-dressed people with tonnes of jewellery and haute couture dresses. I like contrasts in life in general, and I think my work represents that. If I have my Canon in my hand, I can do whatever is interesting. There’s not a specific subject that I really like or dislike, it just it has to be different.
Your exhibition is showing during this year’s Monaco Grand Prix, so is this also a proud moment for you to have your work on show?
I’m very proud, and I’m also very proud that Prince Albert and Princess Charlene are attending the opening. I consider myself very lucky with their busy schedule, especially during the GP weekend. Jean Todt is also coming on Monday to see the show, so yes, I’m being rewarded by the attention of a lot of people coming to see the show, and as an artist, what more can you want?
I’m also doing a tribute to Michael through this show. The most special picture of all is going to be sold worldwide with Sotheby’s for the ‘Keep Fighting Foundation’ of the Schumacher family.
‘Michael, Intimacy Behind Speed’ by Vanessa von Zitzewitz, is on show at Sotheby’s Monaco Gallery from 25th May to 23rd June.
Twiga, with its eclectic menu and sophisticated style, is kicking off the summer season during Monaco’s biggest weekend – the F1 Grand Prix.
Twiga Monte-Carlo opened its doors in 2014 and was instantly considered unique in the Principality’s nightlife scene.
With a menu featuring a mix of Italian and new-Asian cuisine, an extensive African and Japanese cocktail menu, and a beautifully decorated venue, Twiga’s ability to mix up different influences and cultures translates into a sophisticated night spot where seemingly unrelated pieces all fit together in harmony.
The name Twiga is translated from Swahili, meaning giraffe, and it is the brainchild of Italian entrepreneur and F1 legend Flavio Briatore, who brought together his love of the wildness and beauty of Africa with his innate sense of style.
The menu at Twiga is as eclectic as the establishment itself. Photo courtesy Twiga
SUMMER FUN
Summer is when Twiga comes alive and this year it will launch its season starting from the Grand Prix weekend for the entire summer.
Once again, patrons will be able to indulge in an eclectic menu that includes Seabass Tartare, Salt Crusted Branzino, and Red King Prawns Gnocchetti, as well as a cocktail menu with inspirational choices like A-Peel-Ing, a refreshing blend of strawberry infused Aperol and Campari, Bombay Sapphire gin, Umeshu and Sparkling Chinotto.
The restaurant will host exclusive dinner shows featuring Alessandro Ristori and the Portofinos, as well as several cabaret shows by Dolce Riviera, to name a few. The club opens at 1am for those who like to party until the sunrise, and will host DJ’s like Louie Vega, Themba, Sona, Jamie Jones and Marco Carola.
Opening times:
Dining: Tuesday to Sunday from 8pm
Club: Thursday to Sunday from 1am
Do you have an event in Monaco or the French Riviera that you would like us to include in our What’s On section and events calendar? Please email editor@monacolife.net.
Main image courtesy Twiga
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