Riviera Insider - January/February 2017 by Riviera Press

SCHOOLS Inspiring self confidence in students

NEW SERIES Hidden faces of Monaco

GOURMET A Michelin star for Liguria’s San Giorgio

REAL ESTATE Follies of an Englishman

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# 170 JanuarY / feBruarY 2017 4,90 € The

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EDITORIAL By PETRA HALL

Still thinking about 2016? No thanks! Instead we’re looking forward to 2017 - a year that we’re hoping will be more positive. For this edition of Riviera Insider, we spoke with a number of personalities on the Côte d’Azur and asked them what they expected from the new year. Lo and behold, everyone expressed their optimism, confirming the famous saying: “Hope dies last.” It’s good to hear hope is the confidence in a positive future. In this issue, you’ll also discover the thoughts of three mayors: Villefranche’s Christophe trojani who recently announced that his little, coastal town would be holding ‘the year of America’ in a mark of appreciation for the long-standing friendship between the US and France; Christophe Etoré of Valbonne who encouragingly told us, “Our city continues to provide good reasons for

dreaming!”; and Saint Jean Cap Ferrat’s JeanFrançois Dieterich who said with hope, “I am convinced that France will rise from the ashes.” All three are relatively new in office and are therefore highly motivated to bring about change in their part of the French Riviera for the better. All it takes is the right person, which is not always the case as we know from recent events… the best advice we can give you: enjoy life as much as you can! We at the Riviera Insider wish you, our friends and readers, a very happy and healthy new year. yours,

THE TEAM

ELSA CARPENtER

VINCENt ARtUS

KARINE bALAGNy

JAMES ROLLAND

CAROLE HébERt

DOMINIQUE FREULON

MICHEL GOMIZ

Nearly 25 years ago, Petra Hall (Riviera Insider’s editor-in-chief) founded the newspaper Riviera Côte d’Azur Zeitung in German, which was followed by the Riviera times in 2003. these titles have now blossomed under the names Riviera Insider and RivieraZeit into attractive, contemporary magazines. the goal from the beginning was to provide readers with exciting, informative and unique insights from the Mediterranean written by professional mother-tongue journalists. Petra Hall has become an institution in the south of France and Monaco's media landscape.

Carole Hébert (secretary) is the heart and soul of the team. besides dealing with accounting, subscription management and reader concerns, this native of northern France has a knack with numbers and always ensures everything in the office is ticking over perfectly.

Elsa Carpenter (editor of Riviera Insider) joined the team in spring 2016 with fresh ideas and a modern vision for the magazine. Having worked as a journalist in the south of France for many years - some of you may recognise her name - she is deeply invested in the culture and lifestyle of the Côte d’Azur and is keen to share her passion for the region with our readers.

Dominique Freulon (communication & PR), who was born in Paris and has been living on the Côte d'Azur for 15 years, puts maximum energy and dynamism into working in our marketing department. She is a true 'people person' and has always been an admirer of our magazines. Her hobbies are travelling in faraway countries and literature.

James Rolland (Managing Director) is an experienced entrepreneur with an extensive career background in the US and France. the Parisian is excited to be joining Riviera Press and become acquainted with our unique leadership. James is a passionate musician and amateur chef.

Michel Gomiz (communication & PR) lives for his profession. For 23 years he has been working as a media consultant for fashion, jewellery and other luxury items between the Côte d’Azur and Paris. One of his hidden talents is playing the drums.

Vincent Artus (art director) has a gift for transforming visions and ideas into reality. the Niçois creative talent has as a penchant for clean lines and playing with white space for optimum effect and has brought a fresh, stylish look to our publication. the multi-talented creative is also a photographer and videographer.

Karine Balagny (marketing) loves the international flair of the company. After several years of living in the USA, and thanks to her experience in sales and events, the native of Normandy has found her dream position in our multi-cultural publishing house.

OUR WORLD REVOLVES AROUND YOU WELCOME TO OUR BUSINESS CLASS, WHERE YOUR COMFORT IS OUR PRIORITY. Our new business cabins have been designed to ensure comfort and well-being throughout your flight. The French art of hospitality was our inspiration. From now on your Air France seat serves as an office, restaurant, entertainment lounge and bedroom. You decide how to use the cabin to meet your needs. The attentive staff will be there to relax and pamper you with a warm welcome, quality service and little details throughout your flight.

Award winning chefs in flight France is about gastronomy and fine wines. Our rotating team of the finest French chefs will keep you delighted with great classics from every region of France and a wide variety of wine and Champagne.

Your business seat transforms into a full bed to ensure a good nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rest. Zen Air France lounges The spirit of Air France extends to our lounges, The surrounding space is uniquely designed to keep your personal effects close at where youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll receive a warm welcome in a calming hand while providing privacy and direct aisle access. A variety of custom enatmosphere. Per use a wide variety of international tertainment programming is updated monthly on 16-inch HD touchscreens. publications and enjoy a snack while you wait. For those departing from Paris, relaxing Clarins spa treatments await. SkyPriority, enjoy priority at the airport Direct access ensuring priority at every step of your journey: Priority check-in, boarding, departure and luggage access. Rendez-vous in Paris Before you set out again on one of a thousand possible destinations with our SkyTeam partners, why not make the most of your stopover in Paris? Monuments, museums and gardens. All of France is here for your enjoyment!

AIRFRANCE.COM

Gradually installed on long-haul flights on a part of Boeing 777 fleet.

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Issue #170 SEE MORE, DO MORE, KNOW MORE

conTenTs

The Hotlist top news & trends

10 Success Story

Cover photo ©Bert Stern Trust. Staley-Wise Gallery/Galerie Dina Vierny

Meet the Côte d’Azur’s leading fitness provider

16 Politics Political commentator Julian Nundy shares his views on 2016 and the year to come Photo THE NOUVEAU MUSÉE DE MONACO’S VILLA PALOMA © NMNM/Sidney Guillemin

20 Business Results from the Riviera business Club awards

Monaco Monaco must modernise or become a museum

24 Hidden faces of Monaco: nuclear science at IAEA

26 Cap Ferrat Mayor Jean-François Dieterich’s mission to preserve its natural beauty

Peymeinade Artist Giacomo de Pass and mayor Gérard Delhomez

52 Real Estate Follies of an Englishman: Château de l’Anglais

32 Prince Albert buys Grace Kelly’s family home

33 Schools Where the great minds of tomorrow grow: ISM

34 the international schools of the region

Valbonne Motivated by the human spirit: Christophe Etoré

56 Style the latest collections from across the Côte d’Azur

58 Villefranche the Americans are back!

Museums Riviera Insider tours the cultural institutions of the south of France

41 Art and culture correspondent Sarah Hyde shares her favourite museums

44 Grasse’s beautiful Musée International de la Parfumerie

46 Culture Marilyn Monroe: I want to be loved by you

Gourmet On the hunt for truffles at Mont Ventoux

68 A Michelin star for San Giorgo in Cervo

70 Festivals From Mandelieu to Menton

74 Events See more, do more, known more

78 Expat Focus tony Stout: the Kiwi behind app yACHtNEEDS

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Formula 1 returns to the French Riviera AND WE’RE TALKING MORE THAN JUST THE MONACO CIRCUIT

In 2018, the Grand Prix will be making a historic comeback in the Côte d’Azur. After 10 years of absence, the pinnacle of motor racing is returning to the famous Paul Ricard track in Le Castellet. President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region Christian Estrosi broke the news on Facebook Live (in late 2016) saying, “the Grand Prix de France will be held in the Var on the Paul Ricard circuit in the summer of 2018. It is a lasting commitment and what is fundamental is that this agreement is

valid for five years. the return of the Formula 1 Grand Prix to France is excellent news as it is a major international sporting event and a strong factor in building the attractiveness, economic development and tourism [of our region].” between 2018 and 2023, the Le Castellet track will feature on the annual Grand Prix circuit. More than 80 million euros have been ploughed into the course since 2002 with 12 million euros coming in the last five years in an effort to bring the track up to F1 racing standards. During his speech, Estrosi paid tribute to driver Jules bianchi, who died in 2015 nine months after an accident on the Suzuka track in Japan that would prove fatal. bianchi was the first F1 driver to die from injuries sustained during a Grand Prix since the infamous death of Senna in 1994. “On this great day for French Formula 1, we have in our thoughts Jules bianchi. As a Niçois, I wanted to pay tribute to him.” 

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SIAM 2017 BOOK YOUR TEST DRIVE NOW

the very first Monaco International Motor Show - SIAM 2017 - is to be held this February (16th to 19th). A unique event with an open-air concept at locations around the principality, the show is a complementary date in the calendar for the many avid car fanatics in and around Monaco - especially for those eagerly awaiting top Marques at the Grimaldi Forum in April and the emphatic Grand Prix in May. Aside from being an opportunity to show off the latest technology and avant-garde innovations in the automobile world, the four-day event is also a physical representation of Monaco’s commitment to championing sustainable and responsible development - you needn’t be a total petrol head to enjoy the programme. A public forum event on 17th February is entirely dedicated to en-

vironmentally-friendly vehicles and will include presentations from various professions: manufacturers, designers and specialist equipment suppliers. Over 50 leading brands have signed up as exhibitors and a dozen top-notch locations have been strategically chosen within the principality’s borders. Electric shuttles are being laid on for visitors, allowing them easy access between the various display areas. Hosted by the Automobile Club de Monaco, tickets cost 15€ and can be exchanged for an All Access bracelet at the entrances to the show (Quai Albert Ier, Place du Casino, Place du Palais Princier and the Grimaldi Forum). you can also book test drives online at salonautomonaco.com. Visit our events pages (78-79) to find out how you can win tickets to the SIAM 2017! 

Global golf community headed for Cannes NEW INTERNATIONAL MEET PLANNED FOR 2017

December might seem a long way away, but preparations are already being made for the International Golf travel Market event that will take place at Cannes’ Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes at the end of 2017 (11th to 14th December). It’ll be the 20th edition of the global congress, which is a leader in its industry for bringing together high-end golfing and affiliated tourism businesses. From the world’s top golf courses to dedicated resorts, hotels, tourist boards and destination management companies, the annual expo attracts the biggest and best players from across the globe and also many new and developing agents. With more than 600 exhibitors and suppliers expected to attend as well as 400 carefully pre-selected ‘buyers’ and as many as 100 international press representatives, the b2b event typically hosts 10,000 meetings and seminars. the 2016 edition in Palma de Mallorca last November was a record-breaking event for organisers Reed travel Exhibitions and the International Association of Golf tour-Operators with more than 14,500 private appointments being made during its four days of trade. © Aaron Burden

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Monaco wins Ventimiglia port contract In late 2016, the Principality of Monaco reached a final agreement with the Cozzi Parodi group to takeover its shares in the Société Cala del Forte, which currently manages the pleasure yachting port of Ventimiglia. Monaco. Represented by the Société Monégasque Internationale Portuaire (SMIP), Monaco will now become the manager of the marina; a move that brings in line with it the principality’s unique, modern vision for development and expansion. Work is to begin immediately as the new owners set about increasing the number of berths available for yachts between six and 60 metres to 171, expanding car parking facilities, renovating the shipyard and building 3,800m² of commercial areas for local businesses and associations. Other works include the rehabilitation of the sewerage network, resurfacing of nearby roads and access points, landscaping and a vertical lift link connecting the port with Ventimiglia’s old town. It is hoped that the maritime-based works will be finished by summer 2018, allowing business to get back to normal in the port, while shore-based works are expected to be completed in 2019. the addition of the Ventimiglia port to Monaco’s current network will also likely ease the strain felt by the principality’s two existing harbours, which are frequently full or in high demand. 

WORKS TO BEGIN IMMEDIATELY

Artemis group takes over Port Vauban and Port Gallice “A MODEL PORT FOR A MODERN ERA”

As of 1st January, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the Côte d’Azur will take over the management contact for Port Vauban and Port Galliice. Under the umbrella of the Artemis group, the CCI with work in partnership with the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and the Caisse d'Epargne Côte d’Azur to achieve an ambitious project that specifically aims to elevate Port Vauban to the status of Mediterranean capital of yachting and to transform Port Gallice in a modern marina par excellence. the Artemis Port Vauban project is inextricably tied to a legacy and heritage of maritime activity dating back over three millennia: Antipolis was founded by the Phoenicians as a centre of navigation and trade. It still holds the title of largest pleasure yachting port in terms of tonnage, but Director of Ports for the CCI Franck Dosne believes Antibes’ main focal point can go one step further. “We have been working tirelessly towards this goal for many weeks, with as much rigour as magnanimity,” he says. “It is a project that has brought together our shared the expertise, dedication and savoir-faire. together we have affirmed our mission of public interest projects, proven our skills and professionalism, and committed ourselves to a model of sustainable, environmental and economic development that we consider to be the brightest future for the two marinas. We have also established an ambitious yet viable vision of port management for Port Vauban and Port Gallice, which has been built on a foundation of continuous support for innovation and excellent levels of service for all stakeholders.the decision to endorse and sanction our management of the ports is an honour and also a mark of recognition for our work. It also represents a considerable challenge to which we are entirely committed at every level.” both ports will receive significant investment in order to elevate the ports to higher levels of service, infrastructure and technology. Port Vauban and Port Gallice will also be incorporated into Riviera Ports (currently Cannes, Golfe-Juan, Nice and Villefranchesur-Mer). Works will begin immediately on the upgrading of services and administrative activities. 

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Changing of the guard: new faces of 2017 APPOINTMENTS AT THE PREFECTURE, CANNES ORCHESTRA AND THE CCI

Georges-François Leclerc: Prefect for the Alpes-Maritimes “I’d define myself as a humble man,” said Leclerc of his appointment as Préfet des Alpes-Maritimes, “but a proud prefect. Who am I, what am I like, what will I do… these are all questions put to a new prefect, but I will not answer them. I would like to be judged on my actions rather than proclamations.” At 50 years of age, Leclerc has already held a number of similar positions in Aude near the Spanish border and in the Haute-Savoie region, close to Geneva. Originally from bourguignon in eastern France, Leclerc has a diverse background and has held several high ranking offices prior to his ascension as prefect on the French Riviera, notably within the cabinet of then-ecology minister Roselyne bachelot (2002) and the cabinet for interior minister Claude Guéant under Nicolas Sarkozy (2011-2). He succeeds Adolphe Colrat in the Alpes-Maritimes post. Jean-Pierre Savarino: President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Nice-Côte d’Azur In late November, Savarino was elected as the 29th president for the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie. At a press conference in which he unveiled his team, Savarino revealed his plans for the future of the CCI, saying: “My vision for the CCI is one of an institution open to innovation and one that takes the initiative and, sometimes, risks. [It] will devote itself to transparency, breaking down barriers, flexibility,

planning and reactivity.” Savarino added that he will be working towards a number of goals during his term as president, such as: assisting businesses grow and develop; push forwards motions that will benefit commerce, industry and service providers in the region; investing in the ports and affiliated training schemes; supporting large-scale developments such as public transport and the construction of new housing; and reinforcing the economic attractiveness of the Côte d’Azur to the global community. benjamin Levy: Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Orchestre de Cannes PACA French musician and conductor Levy has been commissioned by the orchestra for a rolling three-year term, succeeding Wolfgang Doerner and Philippe bender at the head of the Cannes ensemble. benjamin Levy studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon (First Prize in percussion) and at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris (Prize in analysis and conducting). He also attended with the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen (USA) and at the Academia Chigiana of Siena, Italy. In 2005, the French Union of Music and theatre Critics awarded Levy the Music Revelation Award of the year and three years later, he also won the ADAMI young Conductor Award and two Diapason d’Or for his video recording with the opera company Les brigands. Since then, benjamin Levy has been very active in both concert halls and opera houses in Europe. He first encountered the Cannes-based orchestra in late 2016 and will host the first concert of 2017 on 13th January with pianists Khatia and Gvantsa buniatishvili at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes (théâtre Debussy). 

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Delving inTo The archives

History in print PAST AND FUTURE GENERATIONS

Journal De monaco marks seconD BirThDaYs of The prince anD princess

the official bulletin for the principality, the Journal de Monaco, has announced the release of a unique memento of the births of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella. In the form of a beautiful crafted publication featuring photographs and images of the royals twins, residents and fans of the nation can purchase the publication for 1.90€ at the headquarters of the Journal (found at the Ministère d’Etat in Place de la Visitation). It is both a souvenir and a historical document that may one day be considered as a precious collectible.

the term Les trentes Glorieuses (1945-1975) will ring a bell for any students of French history. It was a time in which, following the traumatic war years, France flourished as a nation. In Nice, under the political dynasty of Jean Médecin, there was an explosion of cultural and joie de vivre that saw the transformation of numerous historic quartiers into modern neighbourhoods as innovation and technology surged in. this new publication by éditions Gilletta, released in late 2016, contains almost 700 photographs from the era, from the everyday to the iconic. Some remain in their original black and white while others have been brought back to colour. Les 30 Glorieuses - Nice 1945-1975 can be purchased online for 34.90€. At the same time, éditions Gilletta also published Principauté de Monaco - Vues Anciennes. Available in French as well as English, the book reflects on the photographic works of Jean Gilletta, who was born in 1857 in Levens and went on to become one of the most important photographers of his period. Dozens of his exquisite landscapes and images have been reprinted in the publication with the support of the Mairie de Monaco. It is a true page turner and captures a unique time in the principality’s history, as noted in the foreword: “‘What is to be done with a tiny principality living frugally off an income of its olive and lemon groves?’ laments its prince, Charles III Grimaldi. While all over Europe, crowned heads, magnates and other eminences of the world are crowding to the terribly fashionable spa towns and seaside resorts of the mid 19th century, Monaco remains desperately left behind in the holiday-resort race. It would be tempting to open a casino – as did his cousin in baden-baden –, gaming having ensured the fortune of all the little German states, but a decent road and train service would need to link the Principality and the rest of the world…” Principauté de Monaco Vues Anciennes can be purchased online for 54.80€.  editionsgilletta.com

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Printemps des Arts de Monte Carlo THREE WEEKS OF MUSIC AND ARTS

With the spring festival season just around the corner, we’re looking forward to the Printemps des Arts de Monte Carlo. Under the patronage of Princess Caroline of Hannover, the 33rd edition fo the festival begins this year on the 17th March and with it brings three weeks of glorious music and arts. It is an interesting line-up with many important and international stars heading to the principality for the festival. Some of the famous names include the likes of some of the famous names include the likes of Julian Leroy, Mario Caroll, Pierre André Valade, Adrien La Marca, Jean Decoyer, Michael Jarrell, Ramon Lazkano, bruno Gelber, Ivo Kahane, Jean Efflam bavouzet, Marie Lenormand, Miroslav Srnka, Patrick Marcland. this year, there will be a special emphasis on the revolutionary berloiz with a three-part concert portrait of the romantic French composer and an exhibition exploring the wind instruments used in his work. Other areas of focus include the music of the Renaissance period, Concept Piano and an enduring favourite for true music lovers, the Mystery tour. there will also be the annual Journée des Conservatoires, which will highlight the talents of young musicians, and a unique event at the yacht Club de Monaco with Ivan Karizna on the cello and Julien blanc on piano - both are extraordinary musicians. the festival is wonderful moment for the students of the Monte Carlo Conservatoire to meet and play with international artists and there are several round table events, which intend to promote dialogue and the exchange of ideas. the concerts will take place in various venues across the principality and there is also a new mobile app that allows those who cannot be there in person to listen in through their phone or computer (visit the website for more information and downloads). One of the nicest things about this festival is that children go for free and that the ticket pricing is definitely in favour of those who would like to attend multiple concerts and events. there is a graduated discount programme with a reduction of 20% for four concerts, 25% off for eight concerts and 30% off for those hoping to attend 12! Depending on your personal taste there should be something for everyone. the festival definitely has a few gems hidden in the programme, which is well worth considering carefully prior to the event and early booking for the most popular events may be wise. One such event is taking place on 2nd April at the Auditorium Ranier III and will feature pole dancing troupe de Profundis performing to the accordion music of Jean-Etienne Sotty! Another unusual date in the calendar can be found the night before on 1st April when the Symphonic Orchestra of the Democratic Republic of Congo performs in the Place du Casino and later at the Auditorium Ranier III. Whatever your tastes, the Printemps des Arts promises memorable cultural experiences for all. Don’t forget the fringe events of the festival’s outreach programme that will see the Musical Caravanne take the concept to towns and cities across the region: breil-sur-Roya, Cannes, La Gaude, Menton, MouansSartoux, Mougins, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Vence. 

The hoTlisT

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in The fiT lane Meet the Côte d’Azur’s leading ﬁtness provider By ELSA CARPENTER

in a world where power and prowess is the aim of the game, there’s one name that stands out in the Côte d’azur. riviera insider caught up with Fitlane founder Hans Peter Franklin, fresh from a workout, to discuss how he’s beat the competition to become the region’s leader in personal ﬁtness and training.

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Centre photos THE LATEST IN HI-TECH EQUIPMENT CAN BE FO UND AT EACH OF FITLANE’S PREMISES

or more than a decade, Fitlane has been flexing its muscles as the French Riviera’s dominant force when it comes to fitness. born in Africa to an English father and a Danish mother, 58-year-old owner Hans is a truly international citizen, but he has found a home and highly successful niche for himself and his family in the Côte d’Azur. “I got into the fitness industry by pure accident. I was in the tennis world, running a tennis club in Hong Kong, when I realised you could fit so many more people into the same sized space,” says Hans. “I’ve lived all over the world: the US, Japan, Asia… but after 15 years in Hong Kong, I moved with my French wife (still business partners at Fitlane) and children to the south of France. Hong Kong was very polluted and I didn’t want my children - who were eight and six years old at the time - growing up in that air.” Once installed in the greener, cleaner French Riviera, Hans turned again to the fitness industry. the fitness industry is a booming trade that has shown no signs of slowing since it rose to prominence thanks to the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger on Venice beach and Jane Fonda’s famous step classes in the 1980s, as Hans explains. “150 years ago, people didn't brush their teeth every day like we all do now,” he says. “We’re still in the very early days of fitness - 35 years ago it simply didn’t exist - but it is becoming a necessity rather than a luxury.” In the US, 18% of the population are members of a gym and in the UK, it is 11%. France, however, is further behind at just 6%. Despite this, Hans says attitudes are changing in the hexagone. “the French are not as rigorous about exercise as Anglo-Saxons, but numbers are up each year. the largest growing segment is the over 50s, which grew by 17% last year. they’ve got the time, the money and they need it! I know, I’m 58 and in a country like this, where everyone has a glass of wine at night, you need to work that off!” When he’s not behind a desk, Hans is a keen golfer in his leisure time and is the current captain of the Royal Mougins Golf Club. He also tries to get into the gym as often as he can: “I try to go three times a week to keep age and weight at the door, but now I’m touching 60, it’s getting harder,” he laughs. “One of the good things about the French 35-hour working week is that people have more personal time. Unlike in the UK or the US where everyone piles in at the crack of dawn and late at night, in France it is much more spread out. At Fitlane, the morning is for the ‘older generation’ and the evening is a lot younger. We’ve adapted to that with zen, yoga and body balance classes during the first part of the day and the more aggressive and intense dance classes at night. We’re also turning one of our Cannes clubs, Carnot, into a yoga centre as far as

Far left photo HANS PETER FRANKLIN AT THE OPENING OF HIS NEWEST GYM IN MOUGINS

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group exercise goes. It’s something many of our clients want.” Fitlane is France’s third biggest independently owned gym company - they don’t do franchises. “the very first one opened in Mandelieu in 2004 then we went to Cannes, Sophia Antipolis, Nice Saint Isidore… We’ve recently opened our latest club in Mougins - our eleventh! On average, we open a new Fitlane every year, sometimes it’s two a year. We focused on this region because we lived here,” Hans explains. “We’d like to consolidate our position in the Alpes Maritimes - at the moment, we don’t have anything in Monaco, Menton or Grasse - so there’s room for more. We’ve been looking at sites for 2017, but nothing is decided yet. Once that’s done, we’re looking to export the business model to other demographics on the French coast - Marseille, toulon, Montpellier, maybe even as far as Lyon - to become the dominant player in southern France. that’s the business logic.” When opening a fitness club as high-tech as Fitlane, Hans says the company doesn’t get much pocket change back from one million euros. the newest club in Mougins cost around 1.3 million euros to build and set up, but Hans is pleased with the result. Just over a third of the money went towards the equipment, which is the most technologically advanced to be found in any Fitlane address. Hans’ parent company Fitness Holdings owns Fitlane along with Star trac France, which supplies the latest equipment and fitness technology to Fitlane centres and its competitors. Imported from the US, the various ranges - including Star trac,

We’re still in the very early days of ﬁtness

Nautilus, StairMaster and Schwinn - are at the forefront of technology. “they use an ‘open-hub’ system,” explains Hans, “which allows a member to transform the gym into their virtual office.” From tracking fitness performance through apps such as RunFit to accessing emails and browsing the internet, the equipment used at Fitlane pushes the boundaries of fitness intel and technology. It’s something Hans believes puts his company above all the others in the area. He’s modest, though, about the concept and says that Fitlane isn’t inventing anything special. According to Hans, it’s just good service with quality equipment. “We’re using the ‘affordable’ American gym model. For 49€ a month, members have unlimited access to the gym and 50 classes per week that we have at every club. For an extra 5€, members can go to any of our gyms and use all of the facilities - some have squash courts, one has a swimming pool, others have saunas. Everyone gets a free induction into how the equipment works when they join and this includes a free body composition report, which is extremely comprehensive and basically tells you who you are: body fat, areas of strength and weakness, where to improve… Members can have individual personal training sessions (paid by the hour) or join a small group training session, which is cheaper and has a maximum of six people.” there are also activities for children such as the Zumba tonic class for those aged between five and 14. At 15, teenagers can get a full Fitlane membership with parental authorisation. “I would say that the major contributors to our success are the levels of service we provide, the quality of the equipment, the easily accessible locations of our clubs and, of course, hard work, application, ambition and competitive instinct,” says Hans. “Our 33,000 members like the service they receive at Fitlane - from a warm, friendly welcome by our 170 employees to the cleanliness of our clubs (Fitlane has two full-time cleaners at each gym to ensure maximum hygiene) - and it makes them feel happy. the lack of service standards in other gyms gives us our competitive edge and providing a good service is very important to me.” “I love France,” says Hans, “and my biggest desire is to see Fitlane continue growing and expanding here. this company will carry on way beyond me - we have an excellent team - and I’d like to stay in France and watch it happen.” Riviera Insider has a limited number of annual subscriptions to give away to readers (visit the competitions section of our website to find out how to apply), but you can also head online to fitlane.com and sign up for a free three-day pass to test out the facilities and see if it works for you! Visit the competitions section of the Riviera Insider website for your chance to win a year’s subscription to Fitlane. 

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poliTics

ouT WiTh The olD Political commentator Julian Nundy reﬂects on 2016 t least it will be a year to remember. In 2016, voters in old democracies rejected the political establishment, shaking up the certainties of the world order; spectacular violence, in the form of terrorism and civil war, continued and even took on new forms. When history is written, no doubt the victory of the billionaire Donald trump, a 71year-old populist with no political experience, over the pundits’ favourite, Hillary Clinton, in the US presidential election in November will be seen as the main gamechanger. Even before entering the White House, the Republican trump shook Washington by naming advisers with a history of racist positions, casting the media as his foe and promising to realign US alliances, notably by seeking to accommodate Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. before trump, it was britain’s turn. Despite forecasts by most polling institutes that voters would choose to retain britain’s often fractious 43-year membership of the European Union, they in fact opted for brexit by 52 to 48%. Prime Minister David Cameron, who had promised the June referendum before his re-election in 2015, quit, leaving a mountain of technical and legal problems to his successor, theresa May. brexit brought its own violence. Jo Cox, a pro-EU Labour Party MP, was stabbed and shot dead a few days before the referendum by a man shouting, “britain First.” In August, as police reported a post-referendum rise in xenophobic incidents, a Polish migrant was beaten to death in Essex, east of London. but nothing could compare with the horror faced by Syrians in the ancient city of Aleppo, pounded mercilessly by government forces battling rebels opposing bashar al-Assad and fighters of the extremist Islamic State. Syria’s air force and troops were backed by Russia, even though Putin had announced

the withdrawal of his forces in March. As Aleppo’s hospitals came under devastating fire, bombs hit a humanitarian convoy carrying United Nations aid in September. US officials said Russian planes had taken part in the attack, a charge angrily rejected by Moscow. trump, meanwhile, made campaign promises to cooperate with Russia to eradicate Islamist extremists and to drop sanctions imposed on Moscow because of its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and support separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine. Still in the Middle East, Iraq pushed to expel the Islamic State from the north of the country. In yemen, on the eastern edge of the Persian Gulf, a Saudi-led coalition, armed largely by britain, France and the US, bombarded parts of the country under rebel control. then there was Islamist terrorism, which hit Europe, West Africa, Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as the Middle East. In Europe, two explosions struck brussels airport and a third in a metro station killed 32 people and wounded 340 in March. Days earlier, belgian police had arrested a suspect linked to attacks in Paris the previous year. then, as France was still reeling from the January 2015 attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January and on a kosher supermarket in which 17 people died and November 2015 attacks centred on the Paris bataclan concert hall in which 130 were killed, Nice was hit on the 14th July national holiday. When thousands on the Promenade des Anglais watched the traditional fireworks display, a 19-tonne truck driven by Mohamed Lahouaiej bouhlel, described by the Islamic State as ‘a soldier of Islam’, ploughed through the crowds, killing 84, of whom 10 were children. One chilling lesson of the Nice attack was that terrorists do not always need explosives, automatic rifles and complicated logistics to carry out their mission. France ended the year with a political tremor in the run-up to presidential and parliamentary elections. Nicolas Sarkozy, the president defeated by the Socialist François Hollande in 2012, was trounced in his bid for a second term as his former prime minister, François Fillon, won a surprise victory in the Right’s primaries. then Hollande himself, facing the lowest popularity ratings of any French president ever, pulled out of the contest to let the Left find a stronger candidate, bringing at least one certainty: there will be a new face running France from May 2017. 

american expaTs reacT To Trump elecTion “The ‘Achilles heel’ of the Unites States is racism” On the morning of Donald trump’s shock victory on 9th November 2016, Riviera Insider was present at the Hotel Negresco with the Riviera Chapter of Democrats Abroad, who had invited fellow US expats and friends from across the region to watch the momentous event unfold. A look of disbelieving horror crept on to the faces of those who had gathered in the hotel as it became clear the Donald had beaten Hillary Clinton, a woman many believed would become the first female president of the US. Speaking about Donald trump’s unexpected win, event organiser Dr. Frederick J. Curlin who has lived in the Côte d’Azur for 11 years - said, “I was hopeful [Hillary would make it], but I wasn’t completely confident. the ‘Achilles heel’ of the Unites States is racism. this is a historical fact and the root of all evil. trump will encourage racism and bring more discord into our country. He now has very much power. I wish my children and grandchildren could live in Europe.” American expats and Riviera Insider readers took to social media to express their shock and sometimes their anger at the shocking outcome in the days and weeks after the result was revealed. barbara Smith said, “As Americans, we are embarrassed of trump. We are better than that. I feel as though our country has been set back 100 years. I am so discouraged to hear his cabinet nominees. I'm still in shock... is lies, his feelings of bigotry, his record of female abuse. I think he's psychotic. God help us.” Meanwhile, tim Clark said, “I think his complete dereliction of duty so far and his preference for tweeting will affect everyone on this planet.” Melissa Pizarro in Nice said, “While in shock, it's not hard to believe. [I] have always been proud to call myself an American, but today I refuse to be proud when the country I love so much lacks any consideration for humanity. I refuse to ever acknowledge him as my president.” “In shock and profoundly shaken up,” echoed Pauline bera in Provence.

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changes for lanDlorDs Furnished tourist accommodation

JEAN-PHILIPPE GIOANNI, TAX ADVISOR AND CONSULTANT IN CANNES

he French Digital Republic act, which came into force on 7th October 2016, has brought changes for landlords who let furnished accommodation. From now on, owners of furnished properties who rent them for short periods, even if they rent their main property, have to register with the local mairie and/or ask for a prior authorisation to change the use of their real estate. this authorisation is already necessary for accommodation in Paris, its suburbs and towns with over 200,000 inhabitants, but now smaller towns too have decided to apply this process. If the landlord uses the services of a real estate agent or an online platform to rent the property, it must not be rented for more than 120 days per year in the case of main residence and the registration number must be indicated. Concerning this new online cooperative economy (rental of movable or immovable property), actual criteria to determine if the rental activity can be considered professional or not, are not adapted. In the new Social Security Act for 2017, thresholds have been proposed: 23,000€ for rental of real estate, 7,720€ for rental of movable property. beyond these limits, the activity will be considered as professional and will have to be affiliated to the French pension fund and social security; the owners will therefore have to pay social contributions. this new law should be enforced before the end of this year. Rental activity will be more controlled in the future and, sometimes, may prove less profitable because of these new contributions. 

finance

TWo presTigious aWarDs for compagnie monégasque De Banque Best Private Bank and Best Customer Serivce Bank in Monaco s 2016 came to a close, Compagnie Monégasque de banque (CMb) was honoured with two prestigious private banking awards. In a statement, CEO of CMb Werner Peyer says, “We are particularly proud and delighted... It is the fruit of our labour and our commitment to always put the value of our clients first.” the first award announcement came via the Global Private banking Awards, which are a collaborative effort, drawing on the expertise of financial magazines Private Wealth Management and the banker as well as the Financial times. the awards are organised into categories, such as best Private bank in Monaco, best Global Private bank and best Private bank for Innovation. CMb won its category for best Private bank in Monaco, taking the title away from 2015 winner Société

Générale, to stand out as a leading institution among more than 170 submissions from 83 countries. Its second triumph of the year saw it crowned best Customer Service bank in Monaco at the 2016 the European Global banking & Finance Awards (organised by the European magazine in collaboration with the thomson Reuters Group). the European magazine recognises organisations and individuals that stand out from the crowd and are consequently moving their industries forward. Good governance, capacity to innovate, knowhow and quality of service are all major considerations. their award programmes are in fact tailored to provide a comprehensive analysis of the very best in all major market sectors globally. Following the second achievement, Peyer released

another statement: “In October, CMb has been awarded best Private bank in Monaco by the banker, which is part of the Financial times Group. today we are being recognised for our exceptional quality of customer service. these two distinctions underline our commitment to always put our clients first.” CMb, the Monegasque private bank is deeply rooted in the Principality since 1976 and specialises in investment advice. the bank offers a diversified range of tailor-made products and services: Asset & Wealth management and Financing adapted to the specific needs of each investor. because of the long-term relationships with its clients, a highly skilled workforce, but foremost thanks to the trust their clients place in CMb, the bank has been able to reach 10 billion euros of assets under management to date. 

hsBc pulls privaTe Banking in monaco

a strategic review of its private banking operations in the principality following ‘receipt of unsolicited expressions of interest in acquiring that business’. At the time, the decision was made to retain the business and HSbC stated it would ‘continue to invest in the growth of the business in line with its commitment to priority markets’. It’s a pledge that has not be followed through and, in fact, the winding down of private banking by HSbC in Monaco marks five years of consecutive shrinkage. Since 2011, when Stuart Gulliver became chief executive, the bank has reduced its services to private banking clients from 150 countries to 50, with countries such as Japan, Israel and Panama being affected. Monaco now too has found itself on that list - Gulliver’s strategy is reportedly to focus more on core regions such as London and Hong Kong. In a statement, HSbC said of the recent decision to move out of Monaco: “It draws to a close the restructuring of our European private banking operations, with the future focus being on growing our business with strategic clients of the group. It is intended that the remainder of HSbC’s Monaco business will be subsequently

wound down after alternative arrangements have been made for any clients who do not transfer under the agreement.” the private banking arm of HSbC has been hit with scandal in recent years following revelations that the Swiss branch was involved in running accounts for those hoping to avoid paying taxes. HSbC was also on the list of banks linked to the Panama Papers, which detailed the complex tax avoidance schemes used by thousands of wealthy private banking clients. Following the signing of a referral agreement with HSbC, CFM Indosuez released a statement ‘welcoming clients introduced to it from HSbC’s client base in Monaco’. CFM Indosuez also stated that the agreement is ‘in line with Indosuez Wealth Management Group’s strategy to strengthen its positions with UHNWI (ultra high net worth individual) clients in its key markets’. According to the bank, which has its heritage in 1920s Monaco when it was founded by some of the principality’s leading families, the referral process has already begun and it will be working closely with HSbC to ensure the ‘smoothest possible process’ for clients affected. 

CFM Indosuez to step in By ELSA CARPENTER

fter a scandal-filled few years, HSbC Private bank is closing its Monegasque office and withdrawing from the Principality of Monaco, following similar departures by Crédit Suisse and Lloyds. CFM Indosuez Wealth Management will fill the gap, with HSbC transferring the majority of its private banking business to its competitor. HSbC employs around 200 employees in Monaco and manages approximately eight billion euros of client assets: almost 10% of the managed assets in Monegasque banks (note: financial details have not been confirmed by either party). Just three years ago, the bank, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSbC Holdings Plc., announced that it was conducting

riviera

Business

in search of a neW iDenTiTY

 MARSEILLE AIRPORt MODERNISES tO COMPEtE

a 1.8 Billion euro Deal

 FRENCH StAtE SELLS FINAL SHARES IN CôtE D’AZUR AIRPORtS t’s official: the airports of Nice Côte d’Azur, Cannes-Mandelieu and Golfe de Saint tropez have been privatised. At the end of 2016, the French state sold its 60% shares in the group to Italian consortium Azzura, comprised of Atlanta SpA, Aeroporti di Roma SpA and Electricité de France. Having paid an estimated 1.76 billion euros for the shares, Azzura will now become the majority shareholder as confirmed in the Journal Officiel de la République Française with the officiation of transport secretary Alain Vidalies.

Azzura is Europe’s biggest investor and has ties to both aviation, following its takeover as manager of Rome’s airport system for the international airports of Fiumicino and Ciampino in 2013, and international motorways in Italy, brazil, Chile, India and Poland. the remaining 40% of shares are held by the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Nice-Côte d’Azur (25%), the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region (5%), the department of the Alpes-Maritimes (5%) and the Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur (5%). 

25 Years of nice To norTh america  DELtA AIR LINES MARKS MILEStONE EVENt elta Air Lines, currently the only commercial aviation company to offer direct flights between the Côte d’Azur and New york, has reached its 25th anniversary of connections between Nice and North America. Since November 1991, the airline has safely transported over 2.3 million passengers between the south of France and the US. It’s an impressive figure that amounts to nearly half of all residents in the French Riviera! “Our onboard services have considerably evolved since our first flight in 1991,” says Delta’s vice

t must be hard being the ‘ugly sister’. With a rich cultural heritage, a larger city and a diverse landscape of urban and rural living, Marseille and the regions around it have plenty to offer visitors, yet it doesn’t seem to have quite the same appeal as Nice 200km down the coast. Marseille airport, for example, welcomes eight million passengers a year against Nice’s 12 million, but that’s something Aéroport Marseille Provence is hoping to change. there’s a renovation revolution happening here that is without precedent. 500 million euros of investment are being poured into its infrastructure and services as the airport seeks to build a newer, more modern identity for the 21st century. the first changes are visual and relate to the complete overhaul of the airport’s interior, which will be renovated to match the aviation hub’s colourful, new face. Green spaces are set to be installed in its interior halls as the airport gets back in touch with its Mediterranean roots. Other developments include: updating parking facilities and the construction of recharge points for electric vehicles (expected start of 2017); a new train station at the airport and direct links to the city (completed by 2019); refurbishment of boarding gates, toilets, multilingual signage; and a museum dedicated to the promotion of Provence as a region (completion expected in early 2017). 

president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Nat Pieper, “notably in the range of in-flight entertainment and WiFi, and reclinable seating, but the quality of our client service has remained the same.” Delta Air Lines transports some 180 millions passengers each year to 312 destinations in 54 countries across six continents. In 2016, it was voted as being one of the top 50 most admired companies in the world by Fortune magazine and has been the most highly rated airline five times in the last six years according to the same publication. 

riviera

anD The Winners are… entrepreneurial is something that reigns strong in the south of France - particularly among its expat community and the riviera Business Club honours these talents at its annual awards.

Photo THE WINNERS ARE PICTURED CENTRE WITH THEIR AWARDS (JENNIFER ROCHER, KERRY BRACKEN AND ANDY COLGAN) AND THE PANEL.

Riviera Business Club celebrates another successful year By ELSA CARPENTER

or nearly two decades, the Riviera business Club has been championing the talents of the business owners and its recent awards ceremony toasted the successes of two excellent entreprises: wedding planners Lavender & Rose and the popular Colgan’s brewery. “I thought that the results panned out very well,” says club president George Kasiliyake, who has been leading the organisation for the last three years. “It was great to have so many different fields represented and both businesses thoroughly deserved the honour.” After months of work behind the scenes, an international jury - presided by Skema business School’s Dorothy Foster and including a diverse range of personalities from the region such as Riviera Insider’s own editor-in-chief Petra Hall - narrowed down the shortlists to three nominees for each of the two categories. the winners were announced during a

Business

wonderful evening at the Radisson blu in Cannes at the start of December 2016. Up for business Person of the year were Doggy Cool’s Isabelle Pieterman, paperwork specialist tracy Leonetti and wedding planning duo Kerry bracken and Jennifer Roch of Lavender & Rose. It was the latter pair who clinched the award. “It was well deserved,” says George, “they’re doing very well and after meeting Kerry and Jennifer, I can see why they’re so successful!” Next up was the Start-Up of the year award, which patronising young businesses in the PACA region and Monaco. Celine Epeirier from Mama baker, Harrison brook’s Ryan Frost and Andy Colgan of Colgan’s brewery all made it to the top three, but it was the brewer from Down Under who would scoop the top prize. “It’s a massive honour,” says Andy Colgan. “We’ve put a lot of hard work and commitment in over the last few years and to get that recognition from the community and the RbC is wonderful.” “I’ve been following Andy since he started,” George says, “and he’s been through a lot with his brewery. He’s such a colourful personality and I am very pleased for him that he won.” It was an interesting year for the club whose network of more than 1,000 business has, since its inception, been largely dominated by English speakers and other expats. two representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the Côte d’Azur (CCI) sat on the jury for the 2016 awards and George hopes that this involvement with a local authority will help draw in French companies and entrepreneurs. “I think we’ve finally broken the assumption that this is a club for English speakers,” he explains. “Most of our members are expats, but we’re also developing a solid base of French business owners too. We’ve been working closely with the CCI and it’s very interesting because almost all expat business owners are completely unaware of the support they can get in terms of funding and investment from the CCI. they have supported Andy, for example, and I hope other business owners can reach out to them too. For the CCI, the Riviera business Club opens the door to a whole other market. We’re already looking forward to next year's awards (which will take place next December), but there will be plenty going on before then. the CCI wants to continue working with us and host joint workshops and events with guest speakers so this is a good time to join. the Riviera business Club really can make a difference for its members.” In comparison to previous years, George has noticed a much larger positive fall out on social media following the announcement of the winners in the recent awards. He tells Riviera Insider that thousands of people were getting involved and congratulating the winners on Facebook and the club received 20 membership applications in the first days after the results were published. “We have created a kind of buzz and people are writing in,” he says happily. “I feel really confident that this is something here to stay and prosper.” 

riviera

monaco

monaco musT moDernise or iT Will Become a museum By PETRA HALL

©Shutterstock.com - S-F

An interview with Monaco’s head of tourism Guillaume Rose For more than ﬁve years, Guillaume rose has been at the forefront of the tourism industry in Monaco. With approximately 5,700 jobs, the market accounts for around 10% of the gross domestic product of the principality and is thus the second largest employer in the country.

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monaco

I am really very conﬁdent for 2017!

monsieur rose, for the last five years you have been the director of the tourism office in monaco. What has changed in that time?

Rather than focusing just on China, the entire Asian market is very interesting for us. before, we just had a branch in Shanghai, but now we are also present in Singapore and have an office in beijing. We’re also looking at other countries such as the Philippines, thailand, Indonesia, Korea and Vietnam. Recently, we boosted our promotions in China with a major event ties to the Monaco yacht Show.

Since the beginning of my term, we have seen 4 to 5% more visitors each year. We are concentrating more and more on luxury tourism by constantly improving the services we provide. the internal stability of our country and the security prevailing here are important arguments. 2015 was the best year yet [2016 statistics are yet to be completed]. Competition is tough in this industry. How does the principality position itself, what clientele would you like to reach out to and with what strategies? Monaco is not a private club and is open to any visitor. Of course, we attach great importance to those in the higher tiers. Our country inspires people to dream and if you count it as a part of the Côte d’Azur, it is the most popular destination after Paris. From a marketing point of view, we conduct about 50 campaigns per year worldwide including gala evenings, press events and other presentations to promote Monaco. In addition, our tourism office has 10 branches around the world such as in New york and London.

What are the advantages to companies for holding their congresses in monaco?

Photo GUILLAUME ROSE: DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE DE TOURISME IN MONACO

What nationalities are visiting monaco today? three quarters of those who come to Monaco are individual visitors - also cruise passengers who arrive in peak season - and the remaining are those who come to participate in congresses, typically during the winter months. France ranked the highest during 2015 following by the UK, Italy and the USA. Germany and Russia have been in joint fifth place for some time. High calibre events such as an Indian wedding last October that brought in 3,500 guests are also important.

has the terror attack in nice had any affect? So far, we’ve seen little impact on the European, Australian and brazilian markets. the number of visitors from Japan, however, have fallen. In 2015, it was number 15 on the list of visiting nationalities.

To what extent is the chinese market important for monaco? In China, Monaco is not particularly well-known, but we are trying to change that through promotional efforts.

EARLY STATISTICS FROM 2016

Hotel bookings down 2.8% average price of hotel bookings up 4.3% 1 in 3 visitors to Monaco on a business-related trip Grimaldi Forum empty for just 10 days during 2016

there is no better deal! Monaco is a much more inexpensive destination than Paris, London or Milan. In addition, everything can be done on foot in a matter of minutes. the infrastructure here - places such as the Grimaldi Forum - is suited in every dimension to hosting a congress or large-scale event. On top of that, there is (again) security and a certain glamour. there’s also an increasing mixture of business and leisure so families of those who come can enjoy themselves too. In short, Monaco is the perfect place to work! At the moment, however, we only have 2,500 hotel rooms including the renovated Hôtel de Paris so we can host events with a maximum of 4,000 people. Having 4,000 rooms available would be ideal as unfortunately we have to turn away many prospective clients. 92% of the rooms are located within the three, four and five star hotel bracket.

What are your thoughts regarding the development revolution in the famous carré d’or by the monte carlo casino? I am in favour of the new project. to me, it seems like a positive development. In addition, we will also have a new space to hold events. If Monaco doesn’t modernise, it will become a museum.

how do you see 2017? I am really very confident for 2017, I think our country has a bright future. the work in the Place du Casino will slowly move towards competition and the Larvotto quartier will open two new restaurants - one Moroccan, one Indian - which are important cuisines for these markets. Furthermore, we are working on creating an even better welcome for our visitors. All of the employees in this industry should at least speak English! 

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monaco

hidden faces of monaco

iaea: The nucleus for marine Biological sTuDY By ELSA CARPENTER

When Prince rainier iii stepped forward in 1961 to offer Monaco as the location for a laboratory studying the effects of radioactivity on marine life, the word ‘nuclear’ was both a concern with risks associated with nuclear weapons and a great hope linked to peaceful and scientific uses. it was a bold and brave move that has helped propel the principality to its status as a world hub for marine biology and the international reference for research. The laboratories themselves, however, remain one of Monaco’s best kept secrets.

or those who remember the postWWII years, the 1950s and 60s were a time marked by the threat of nuclear warfare and of global weapons testing. It’s perhaps for this reason that the word ‘nuclear’ itself is one that creates an inherent sense of dread - one of the dangerous and the deadly. but during Riviera Insider’s visit to the Monaco Environment Laboratories, part of the International Atomic Energy Agency, we are confronted with the fact that nuclear science can be used for peaceful and, indeed, positive purposes. the IAEA was created in 1957 with Monaco as one of the founding members (current membership includes 168 countries worldwide). It is often referred to as the Atoms for Peace organisation following the famous speech of the same name by US president Eisenhower four years previously, in which the statesman declared: “the splitting of the atom may lead to the unifying of the entire divided world.” the IAEA finds its genesis in this phrase. today, taking into account the wide benefits that nuclear science and technology has brought in many areas - ranging from health to agriculture or nuclear power - the IAEA Director General summarises the IAEA mandate with the term ‘Atoms for Peace and Development’. “back then,” explains Director of the IAEA’s Environment Laboratories in Monaco and our guide David Osborn, “there was a lot of public concern about the dumping of nuclear waste at sea and nuclear weapons testing. there were increasing concerns about the impact the waste would have. Prince Rainier III kindly volunteered to create the laboratories here.” When the Environment Laboratories began - as the International Laboratory of Marine Radioactivity - the primary focus was on assisting the member states of the IAEA to monitor radioactivity in the marine environment. today this work continues, along with the production of reference materials for teams around the world. While the Monaco team is not personally monitoring the levels of radioactivity (among other issues), it represents a global entity that provides training and advice for scientists from each of the IAEA member states. the reference materials they produce set the standard for worldwide data analysis. “It’s similar to the International Prototype Kilogram that is stored in Paris,” he says. “that kilogram is the exact and precise measurement and that allows scientists to calibrate their equipment to ensure they are using the correct weight reference. We produce water, sediment and biological samples with particular levels of certain elements such as strontium and radiocaesium, and send them around the world. Scientists can then use these as a

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standard and ensure that their data can be compared against that of another scientist correctly as they’re using a common, certified reference material.” the facilities have considerably expanded over the years as has their scope and expertise: “We used to be located in the Oceanographic Museum, but we outgrew that space so moved to the football stadium and then to here!” ‘Here’ is right on the Port Hercule in a gleaming 3,000 sqm building over two floors that is home to a staggering array of samples and labs. Of the 45-person strong team in Monaco, a third is French and the other two-thirds is made up of a dynamic mix of nationalities that reflect the international nature of the IAEA. Anglophone nations such as the USA, UK, Australia and Ireland are represented as are Romania, Croatia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Poland, Sudan and Vietnam among others; it’s a diverse structure and one that David believes benefits the Agency. “Most of our team members are scientists - radiochemists, nuclear physicists and marine biologists - and others are engineers and clerical staff who help keep the laboratories running. together we play a very important role in building the capacity of scientists around the world. We bring in scientists from Africa, Asia and Latin America, among other places, and teach them how to monitor pollution, analyse the data and build up programmes in their own countries. the Agency has what we call a technical cooperation programme that the member states contribute to and the Agency uses these funds for training and capacity-building worldwide.” Riviera Insider wants to know what has changed in the 55 years since the laboratories were founded. How much has the situation worsened? What kind of impact is radioactive waste having on our seas? According to David, the problem hasn’t worsened at all. “the dumping of nuclear waste at sea has stopped,” he says. When asked about nuclear power plants, he adds, “today’s nuclear power facilities are very responsible and a lot of work has been done to reduce and treat nuclear waste. the Fukushima accident [in 2011] has caused a lot of concern, but the levels of radioactivity in that part of the Pacific are very, very low compared to natural levels of radioactivity. the ocean is large and the amount of contamination compared to the size and volume of the ocean was relatively small so it was quickly diluted. It was not sufficient to create a significant problem for the marine environment. Nature is strong.” “Many people hear the word ‘nuclear’ or ‘radioactivity’ and it brings a sense of fear,” David continues, “but it’s a part of everyday life and generally makes things safer. It’s important to distinguish between nuclear power and nuclear science. We use nuclear science to understand what is happening in the environment and part of our work is helping people overcome their fear of nuclear applications and science.” From diagnosing and treating patients with cancer to sterilising medical equipment and destroying harmful bacteria and fungus in food, David explains that nuclear applications are everywhere. It’s not something that

DAVID OSBORN Director of Environment Laboratories for the International Atomic Energy Agency australian father of four David Osborn’s biography makes for some impressive reading. He’s been living in the principality since 2013 with his Britishaustralian wife, who is a teacher at the international School of Monaco, and his family. He joined the iaea following a four-year term with the UNeP Global Programme of action for the Protection of the Marine environment from Land-based activities in Nairobi and The Hague. David’s stellar career has also seen him work as Director of Community Partnerships with the Great Barrier reef Marine Park authority, at australia’s government department of environment and heritage, as a programme officer for the United Nations’ environment Programme and as a seaman officer with the royal australian Navy. Throughout his working life, David’s focus has been on the link between robust science and good governance, and as such has qualifications in both environmental science and environmental law.

monaco

should create anxiety - only radioactivity in very high and concentrated doses is dangerous. “Most people aren’t aware that everything is radioactive: we are, our food is, the kitchen bench top you prepare your food on is. A classic example of natural radioactivity I like to use is bananas,” David laughs. “they have a naturally high level of radioactivity due to the Potassium-40 isotope. your body regulates how much potassium it has in it so you won’t get sick from being exposed to too much radiation if you eat a lot of bananas, you’ll get sick from simply eating too much banana!” the Monaco centre merged with the international agency’s terrestrial laboratories in Vienna in 2010 - “Issues on land affect what happens at sea so we’re complementary…” - but it had already begun expanding its research field to include other issues and pollutants such as heavy metals, marine plastics, oil spills, climate change and ocean acidification. “We’re currently using radio-isotopes to better understand the impact climate change and ocean acidification will have on the marine environment,” David explains. “High concentrations of greenhouse gases are changing the ocean’s chemistry, which leads to ocean acidification and it’s having a massive impact on marine life.” What can we do to prevent this getting worse? three things, according to David. “First we need to better understand the impacts on ecosystems and species, and how ocean acidification will affect them. Using radio-isotopes, we’re studying species such as oysters and mussels as well as investigating harmful algal blooms. In the ocean, there are lots of tiny, microscopic plants, some of which have toxins and poisons. As filter feeders, mussels and oysters feed on these blooms and can become contaminated. Secondly we need to reduce carbon emissions and third we need to reduce other pressures on the environment such as fishing pressures and loss of habitats. the healthier the ocean, the better it can cope with climate change.” Despite having only lived in Monaco since 2013, David shows much affection for his adopted nation. “I love it here,” he says. “the Agency has a rotation policy so the longest I can stay here is another three years, but it is a very nice place to live. Monaco is beautiful and the support we get from the government is fantastic. Prince Rainier was a visionary, both for protecting the environment and understanding how nuclear science can be used for peaceful purposes. Prince Albert takes a personal interest too and is very dedicated; he’s a champion for environmental issues. We work closely with the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, the Scientific Centre of Monaco and the Oceanographic Museum. “It’s important for me to be able to communicate to the community the work we are doing here. Monaco is a real hub of ocean expertise. We’re unique in the United Nations - there are no other marine laboratories - but we’re also one of Monaco’s best kept secrets… Most people have no idea that we’re here!”

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cap ferraT

god's gift A visit to the paradise peninsular of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat Since 2014, Jean-François Dieterich has been the mayor of this 1,767-strong community (and counting) between Monaco and Nice. in an interview with riviera insider’s editor-in-chief Petra Hall, he explains how he sees it as his mission to preserve the magic of this unique place.

r Dieterich, what do you consider to be your duties as the ‘first citizen’ of saint-Jean-cap-ferrat?

the peninsular is like a large garden over which our community is spread out. Everything that my predecessors have done so far must remain intact. this includes, most importantly, the protection of the headland with a strict ban on building construction. Urban planning is subject to very exacting control. We would like to get as much as possible out of our former status as a fishing village. this is one of my main priorities.

large cruise ships are often moored in the bay of villefranche-sur-mer, which borders the western side of cap-ferrat. how do you manage this? the coast of our peninsular covers 13 kilometers. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 40 fishermen, but today there are just four. there are simply less fish in the Mediterranean these days and this is why our remaining fishermen have to find a new economic avenue: transporting the passengers of the ships ashore and back. you have to find a balance between nature and reality. the mooring of the ships is checked in every detail including monitoring the effects on our undersea meadows of the sea grass posidonia oceanica. Cap-Ferrat is part of the Europe-wide nature conservation network Natura 2000, which has been designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species. It also fights against issues such as overfishing.

cap-ferrat is a jewel on the french riviera. how do you maintain and protect it? It is actually not easy, especially since state economic support has fallen by 50% in the last four years. but we are a ‘showcase’ for the beauty of the region and that requires constant vigilance. Our community’s reputation is one that appreciates the quality

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What are your thoughts on security and public safety? after all, some very high profile people live here. Since my arrival in 2014, we have sent out a strong signal in support of better security with the opening of a police station at the entrance to the town, which is also the only access point to the peninsular. It would not be very easy to make a quick getaway here. In addition, we have eight police officers on duty – more during peak season – and 50 CCtV cameras to watch over our residents and visitors, whose numbers can triple in the summer months.

quality of life and safety are the two major priorities. What else is important to you?

Far left photo THE UNIQUE VILLA ROTHSCHILD © Pierre Behar Balloide Main photo A NATURAL HAVEN Left photo MAYOR JEAN-FRANÇOIS DIETERICH Right photo THE PORT OF SAINT-JEAN BY NIGHT

Of course, economic development is also important. the season should run all year round and the hotels should be open as long as possible. We would also like to promote business tourism and motivate organisers of small congresses and seminars to host their events here. three conference rooms are available for a total of 600 people plus the unique Villa Rothschild. We are currently in talking with a number of organisations. We also need to stabilise the hotel situation as we have lost seven since 2010.

is there much happening culturally on cap-ferrat? yes, special attention is paid to the events, which are always very popular. between June and the end of October, at least one event takes place every week, for example, the Fête Foraine de la Saint-Jean in June, the jazz festival in August and the Saint-JeanCap-Ferrat Legends (a classic car event and exhibition ) in September.

What do you think the future holds for france as a nation? Our country has had to cope with many tragedies in the recent past. We must react to them and come together, not let these awful events bring us to our knees. I am a born optimist and believe that the year 2017 will be more positive. We must be convinced that France will rise again and be stronger than before. We owe this to our history and heritage. 

of life and as such we clean our beaches all year round and pay considerable attention to cleanliness. Since 2012, our sewage treatment plant has been linked to that of Nice. All this is an expression of political will and the result of teamwork. About 600 of the private properties here on large plots and they contribute to the beauty of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat with their magnificent gardens. 50% of homeowners, by the way, are foreigners.

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“The Château de l’anglais, as the magniﬁcent building came to be known, was both loved and hated. its many quirks and curiosities meant that for some it was a work of art while for others it was a nightmare...”

n the sloping cliffs above the Port de Nice stands an unusual, pastelhued building. It is reminiscent of an old English castle, but also exotic - a mix of Europe and Indian, of the Gothic style and the Hindu. the main reason behind this is that its builder and owner had recently returned from a posting in India as an engineer and colonel of the british Army. It was the beginning of the 19th century and change was afoot around the world as colonial empires were forged and expanded, even in farflung India. born in 1787 to a wealthy English family, Colonel Robert Smith was the first field engineer in the bengal Army. He built the first british lighthouse in India in 1808 and the first Anglican church in Malaysia - both not military projects that, for Smith, were a type of developmental aid. He visited Nice for the first time in the middle of the 19th century via Italy, fell in love with the city and purchased a large 22,000sqm plot on Mont

Photo A VIEW OF THE CHÂTEAU DE L’ANGLAIS FROM THE WATER © Pierre Bona

The follY of The english By JÖRG LANGER

boron between boulevard Carnot and the Mediterranean Sea. Everything was vast, not just the site. the construction works were large-scale and complex, particularly due to the hard, rocky subsoil. the dimensions of the ‘castle’ were also massive with its marble staircases and benches, looming towers and lofty belvederes, private beach and guesthouses, and a theatre that could seat 500. In order to better monitor the progress of the building works on the site from a distance, the eccentric colonel rented an entire floor in a hotel that had a view of his plot. the Château de l’Anglais, as the magnificent building came to be known, was both loved and hated. Its many quirks and curiosities meant that for some it was a work of art while for others it was a nightmare. It was completely reviled by French poet Stéphen Liégeard, who would later coin the term ‘Côte d’Azur’. but for Smith, its design would have been significant and important; its closest architectural cousin is perhaps the Red Fort, the residence of the Mughal emperor for 200 years until 1857, which the colonel had helped restore prior to coming to the French Riviera. In attempts to describe it, Liégeard and others fell to using ‘La folie de l’anglais’, the folly or madness of the Englishman. Considering its size, one would be forgiven for thinking that Smith built this palace to host events and large parties, but he was actually something of an introvert who preferred to be alone with a book, pen or paintbrush. He ‘life companion’ was an Indian woman and they shared a son, although there seems to have been little love lost between the man and his boy. Smith’s son promptly sold the estate to the Austrian-Hungarian Consul to Nice, Count Melchior Gurowski de Wczele, after his father’s death. the new owner filled the Château de l’Anglais’ rooms with life, noise and laughter. the enigmatic building is now a luxury hotel following consecutive restorations and transformations. Some of its rooms have become apartments. but despite the many changes, the property remains controversial. In 2000, it was classified as a monument historique! 

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prince alBerT purchases grace kellYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chilDhooD home Plans for its redevelopment are to be revealed in 2017 By ELSA CARPENTER

t must have been a poignant moment, as well as one of jubilation, when Prince Albert II and his lawyers closed the deal on his motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s childhood home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in late 2016. After being put on the market by its former owner for an estimated one million dollars, some 40 years after the Kelly family moved out, Prince Albert reportedly clichĂŠd the sixbedroom, Colonial-style property for $775,000. Monacoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sovereign confirmed the sale in an interview with PEOPLE magazine at the end of last year, saying: â&#x20AC;&#x153;It feels good. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m looking forward to showing

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the house to the kids [Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella], sharing it with them and having them see the garden.â&#x20AC;? While it remains unclear for the moment what use the property will be put to â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still trying to figure out what weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to do with it. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking at having it contain some museum exhibit space and maybe use part of it for offices for some of our foundation [Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco] workâ&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the prince did seem relieved to have rescued the home from an unsure future. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m very happy to have saved this old, family home from a near certain death or development,â&#x20AC;? he told the

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magazine. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have to finish the work and then weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have some sort of opening. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll probably be next year [2017].â&#x20AC;? Located at 3901 Henry Avenue, the property was built in 1935 by Grace Kellyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father, John Kelly, and it remained in the family until 1974. It has been designated a Pennsylvanian historical landmark and it certainly seems to hold plenty of (sentimental) value for Prince Albert.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;the house was very beautiful and very special to our family,â&#x20AC;? he told the magazine. â&#x20AC;&#x153;the house is filled with moments of being a family.â&#x20AC;? Prince Albert will no doubt be keen to breathe life and laughter back into the house that reportedly still bears the markings of the Kelly childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heights on a doorframe. It was also at this property that Prince Albertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father, Prince Rainier III, proposed to his future wife. ď&#x201A;ť

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From nursery through to high school, its students develop and evolve in a thoroughly multicultural environment and its internationally recognised international Baccalaureate Diploma (iB Diploma) ensures that its pupils can gain access to the most prestigious universities around the world. riviera insider takes a tour of this exceptional educational institution.

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Where the great minds of tomorrow grow The International School of Monaco

he location is unusual: split over several floors in a large office complex on Port Hercule in a building that has been recently extended into the the neighbouring former Monaco yacht Club, which the school has absorbed. Only the groups of young children dressed smartly in white and blue in front of the building and older ones chatting away in English suggest the presence of a school behind these red brick walls. Even more striking is the interior of the school. It is a tuesday morning and an arbitrary day in the middle of the school year. to the left and right of the corridor are classrooms - most of them with a panoramic view over the harbour and the Principality’s characteristic skyline. the rooms are separated from the corridor by floor-to-ceiling glass walls with blinds, although most teachers have chosen to leave the blinds up, which allows us a clear view of what is happening inside. teachers have a maximum of 16 pupils per class, but it can be less as we see from an art class in which only three girls stand at easels. A small group of theatre students are sitting on the floor in the room

By AILA STÖCKMANN

opposite discussing a piece while another class of maybe 14-year-olds is seated behind their keyboards listening to their music teacher. “We’re not an ‘exam factory’,” says ISM Director Francis Gianni, and yet since 2003, the pass rate here has been 100% with just one exception. but the ISM is interested in something far beyond cramming students full of knowledge and information. Academic performance is, of course, highly appreciated, but special attention is also paid to out-of-school activities that can range from meditation to sports of all kinds - sailing, football, tennis, basketball and dancing among many others the arts and philanthropic endeavours such as the club that regularly performs community service. “World citizens are growing up here with us,” says Mr. Gianni, “and they are exposed to an international perspective in all classes.” the current statistics of ISM’s students speak volumes: just under 30% have an English-speaking background, 20% are Italian, 12% are Russian, 6% Scandinavian and 5% from German-speaking origins. the remaining 30% is made up of children from parents from all over the world. When the ISM was founded in 1994, it counted just

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34 students in its books. today that number is over 630. the vast majority of students live in Monaco, but some also live in the surrounding communities or even in the neighbouring Italian region of Liguria. those of nursery and primary school age (or kindergarten and elementary) are taught all subjects equally in French and English. From Grade 7 (middle school age), the language of instruction is mainly English. French is taught as an obligatory second language: Spanish, Italian, Russian or German are offered as third languages and all languages are taught by a native speaker. "At the end of their school days, the children speak fluent English and French as well as a third language at a very high level," says Angela Godfrey, who is responsible for admissions at the school. It would seem that all teachers share a passion for their establishment. During a brief encounter with art teacher Alexander Lloyd, he tells Riviera Insider, “this is a wonderful school! Every student has their own qualities. I teach them techniques and allow them to discover for themselves the beauty that can be extracted from a simple pencil.” the ISM is strongly supported by the princely family; Prince Albert or a family member presents the graduation diplomas each year. this ceremony is one of the highlights of the school year. 

ANNUAL FEES AT THE ISM RANGE BETWEEN

19,000 AND

25,000 € DEPENDING ON THE STUDENT’S AGE

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Nurturing self esteem in students of all ages

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The imporTance of confiDence

From the psychological to the social, riviera insider asks schools of the region how they support their students in building self conﬁdence.

eadmaster of Mougins School brian Hickmore believes one of the most important responsibilities of his school is teaching a student that they are valued. “It is essential to recognise the qualities of each student and the curriculum permits us to help students to develop their potential be it academic, musical, theatrical, artistic or in sport.” His establishment is well known for its arts and cultural pursuits and says that the confidence gained through standing with ease on a stage and performing in front of one’s peers is ‘inestimable’. “Art is a wonderful form of self-expression and can permit students to articulate their personality with pride,” says the headmaster. “Mougins School aspires to give the gift of confidence to every one of its students and provide them with continual challenges within the curriculum. With a broad choice of both academic and non-academic subjects, the whole individual is taken into consideration and is able to shine and take pride in their achievements.” Francis Gianni, the director of the International School of Monaco, seeks to imbue his pupils with the confidence to speak up and participate. “Developing self confidence is very important; it starts with good language skills, but even the youngest children are encouraged to speak up in class, to ask questions and know they will be listened to. It is also important not to fear making mistakes and to learn from these and to move on. We help our students develop their self confidence through active participation in class, but also through many areas beyond academics: public speaking through LAMDA courses; debating skills through the Model United Nations Clubs and conferences where you learn to

argue, respectfully, against issues such as child slavery, child soldiers, political prisoners. there is also time dedicated every week to discussing important issues such as internet safety and respect for other people's points of view.” As in Mougins School, the ISM encourages self belief in subjects outside of its academic studies. “We have a well-balanced curriculum, which includes - on top of traditional subjects - music, art, drama and many sports, where you find many hidden talents! We are very fortunate in Monaco to have so many outstanding facilities and clubs. there is something for everyone.” Awareness and respect of others are complementary facets to building self confidence at ISM: “Students can earn merits for effort, behaviour, leadership and not just good test results. We try to teach our students to be caring individuals with a sense of the wider global community.” Of course, the students in question might not always be of ‘school age’. the Regency School of Languages in Monaco caters to adults of all ages and abilities, and says that its teachers are well versed in the psychology of building self confidence. “the personality and the general approach of the teacher matters just as much if not more than the method itself in order to develop the students’ confidence and to keep them interested in the language and the culture. In terms of developing self confidence, we at Regency School of Language are fully aware that the psychological aspect is as important as the pedagogical one in the classroom. It is essential not to overcorrect students mistakes as we don’t want them to feel discouraged, especially for beginners.” At the other end of the scale, the charges of schools such as the écoles Internationales bilingues (see page 40) are very young - as little as two years of age in some cases. this requires a gentle approach. “the child must be able to flourish in a safe and encouraging environment,” says director Pascale Rosfelder. “by paying careful attention and providing encouragement, a child will develop a strong sense of self confidence through recognition of their abilities. For the youngest children, we ensure that the school environment is fun and creative, but activities are also played out in French and English. Effective communication is all part of developing self confidence. Every child is able to thrive in a climate of dialogue and mutual respect. this prepares them for the world of tomorrow by giving them to tools and freedom to explore, express themselves and develop.” 

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international learning for all ages

Schools Aix-en-Provence Ecole Privée Val Saint André 19 Avenue Henri Malacrida 13100 Aix en Provence + 33 (0)4 42 27 14 47 ecolevsa@hotmail.fr www.ecole-val-saint-andre.fr

Fuveau (Pays d’Aix) Sainte-Victoire International School (SVIS) Domaine Chateau l’Arc Chemin de Maurel 13710 Fuveau +33 (0)4 42 26 51 96 infos@svis.fr www.svis.fr

International Bilingual School of Provence 500 Petite Route de bouc-bel-Air 13080 Luynes +33 (0)4 42 24 03 40 www.ibsofprovence.com

Genoa Deutsche Schule Genua Via Mylius 1 16128 Genova, Italy +39 (0)10 56 43 34 segretim86@dsgenua.it www.scuolagermanica.it

Antibes Terre Enfantine Ecole Montessori d’Antibes Les Colonnes 732 Chemin des Eucalyptus 06160 Antibes Juan-les-Pins +33 (0)6 49 28 32 52 info@terre-enfantine.com www.terre-enfantine.com

Grasse Institut Fénelon (international branch) 7 Avenue yves Emmanuel baudoin 06130 Grasse +33 (0)4 93 40 60 59 www.institut-fenelon.org

beaulieu-sur-Mer CeFoLiAc 5 Impasse Gustave Eiffel 06310 beaulieu sur Mer +33 (0)4 93 543 225 info@cefoliac.com www.cefoliac.com beausoleil Waldorf Kindergarten 403 Avenue Prince Rainier III de Monaco 06240 beausoleil + 33 (0)4 92 10 89 48 waldorfkindergarten@orange.fr www.steiner-lebeausoleil.org biot Collège de l’Eganaude 3140 Route des Dolines 06410 biot +33 (0)4 97 23 42 20 Cagnes-sur-Mer EIB International Bilingual School 43 Chemin du Pain de Sucre 06800 Cagnes-sur-Mer +33 (0)4 93 73 70 41 www.eibcagnes.fr

Manosque Ecole Internationale 159 Avenue du D. bernard Foussier 04100 Manosque +33 (0)4 92 74 23 11 www.ecole-internationale.ac-aixmarseille.fr Monaco International School of Monaco 10-12 Quai Antoine Premier 98000 Monaco +377 93 25 68 20 www.ismonaco.org Regency School of Language 7 Avenue Prince Pierre 98000 Monaco +377 92 05 21 21 www.regencyschool.com Mougins Ecole Saint Martin (international options for children aged eight to 10) 841 Chemin de la Plaine 06250 Mougins +33 (0)8 99 18 77 03

Mougins School 615 Avenue Docteur Maurice Donat Font de l’Orme 06251 Mougins +33 (0)4 93 90 15 47 information@mougins-school.com www.mougins-school.com Nice ABC School 72 boulevard Carnot 06300 Nice +33 (0)4 92 00 01 23 contact@abcschool.fr www.abc-schoolinternational.com ABC School (high school) 12 Rue Gioffredo 06000 Nice +33 (0)4 92 00 01 23 contact@abcschool.fr www.abc-schoolinternational.com EIB Collège-Lycée Int. La Fayette 10 Avenue Clemenceau 06000 Nice +33 (0)4 93 62 00 29 www.ecolesbilingues.com EIB International Bilingual School 23 boulevard Gambetta 06000 Nice +33 (0)4 93 44 75 44 www.eibnice.fr International School of Nice 15 Avenue Claude Debussy 06200 Nice +33 (0)4 93 21 04 00 www.isn-nice.com Montessori School Nice 2 Rue de Orestis 06300 Nice +33 (0)6 14 74 53 05 contact@montessori-nice.fr www.montessori-nice.fr

Pégomas EIB International Bilingual School La bergerie 1257 Route de Grasse 06580 Pégomas +33 (0)4 93 09 65 56 www.eibpegomas.fr Saint-Laurent-du-Var Evo’s School 371 Avenue du 11 novembre 06700 Saint Laurent du Var +33 (0)6 64 31 26 20 contact@evoschool.fr www.evoschool.fr Sophia-Antipolis Sophia-Antipolis Centre International de Valbonne 190 Rue Frédéric Mistral 06560 Sophia Antipolis +33 (0)4 92 96 52 06 www.civfrance.com Ecole Bilingue Internationale Côte d’Azur 245 Route des Lucioles 06560 Sophia-Antipolis +33 (0)4 93 64 32 84 www.ebicaschool.com Ecole Elémentaire Sartoux 160 Promenade de la bouillide 06560 Sophia-Antipolis +33 (0)4 93 12 34 95 www.ac-nice.fr/ienvalbonne/sartoux Les Colibris Ecole Bilingue Montessori 950 Avenue de Roumanille 06410 Sophia-Antipolis +33(0)4 93 63 29 96 info@colibrischool.fr www.colibrischool.fr Villeneuve-Loubet Cours Champollion 109 Avenue des beaumettes 06270 Villeneuve-Loubet +33 (0)4 93 20 89 76

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Universities Marseille & Aix-en-Provence Université de la Méditerranée, Aix-Marseille 58 boulevard Charles Livon 13284 Marseille +33 (0)4 91 39 65 00 www.univ-amu.fr Monaco International University of Monaco 2 Avenue Albert II 98000 Monaco +377 97 98 69 86 www.monaco.edu Nice Centre International de Formation Européenne 10 Avenue des Fleurs 06000 Nice +33 (0)4 93 97 93 97 cife@cife.eu www.cife.eu Edhec Business School 79 boulevard René Cassin 06200 Nice +33 (0)4 93 18 99 66 www.edhec.edu

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Ipag Business School 4 boulevard Carabacel 06000 Nice +33 (0)4 93 13 39 00 www.ipag.fr Sophia-Antipolis Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis Avenue des Diables bleus 06300 Nice +33 (0)4 92 07 60 60 www.unice.fr Sophia-Antipolis SKEMA Business School 60 Rue Dostoïevski 06902 Sophia Antipolis tel: 04 93 95 44 44 www.skema.edu EURECOM 2229 Route des Crêtes 06560 Sophia Antipolis +33 (0)4 93 00 81 00 www.eurecom.fr

this list does not proclaim to be complete or exhaustive of international establishments in the region.

EIB INTERNATIONAL BILINGUAL SCHOOLS Visit : www.ecolesbilingues.fr

Give your children an international future

Early learning Nursery Primary Sports facilities Music Bilingual teaching: 50% French, 50% English Open from 7.30am to 6.30pm Get in touch to organise a visit Enrollment and visits by appointment

Français % 0 5 h Frenc nglais A % 0 5 English

EIB - Le Pain d’Epice NICE Tel: 04 93 44 75 44

EIB - Le Pain de Sucre CAGNES/MER Tel: 04 93 73 70 41

EIB - Le Pain de Sucre 3 PEGOMAS Tel: 04 93 09 65 56

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moDern learning In an bilingual and international environment he Ecoles Internationales billingues (EIb) are a network of four establishments in locations across the Côte d’Azur: Le Pain d’Epice in Nice for nursery and primary age children; the Collège-Lycée Lafayette in Nice for children up to the ages of 18; Le Pain de Sucre in Cagnes-surMer for children in nursery and primary school; and the Le Pain de Sucre 3 in Pégomas also for nursery and primary classes. together the schools welcome more than 600 students of different nationalities and provide a fully bilingual learning environment for all, in which 50% of classes are taught in French and the remaining 50% in English. this international ethos is reflec-

ted in the teaching staff, which also represents the global community and allows children to develop, very early on, an allrounded awareness of different cultures and languages. From the youngest to school leavers, pupils are consistently taught in a bilingual manner that utilises elements of both the French national curriculum and the English. Its well-rounded and multidisciplinary curriculum is complemented by a strong and diverse programme of activities outside of the classroom. Afterschool sports clubs include swimming (the Pégomas complex is located in a domain with access to a private pool that can be used every day during the summer season); judo; zumba

and dance. Artistic pursuits on offer include choral singing in Italian; tuition in violin and piano for children above 4 years of age; and percussion. Linguistic ability is also encouraged beyond English and French, and pupils are also able to study Chinese, Russian and Italian at various establishments. “Our children work hard,” says director Pascale Rosfelder, “but it is also important to discover music, sports and cultural activities. Every year, a new project energises the EIb and all pupils are able to take part. the projects are very varied: theatrical, artistic, cultural… this year, the theme will be biodiversity and Culture in line with a UNESCO initiative.” What binds the four institutions together is their shared consideration for creating a balanced and warm environment in which children of all abilities can prosper. “We aim to teach our pupils empathy, respect and awareness so that they grow up to be tolerant, independent and kind,”

OUR CHILDREN work hard, but it is also important to discover music, sports and cultural activities.

says Pascale. Other key qualities include responsibility, cooperation, curiosity and enthusiasm: essential concepts in building healthy minds. the mission of the Ecoles Internationales billingues is to allow each children to flourish academically and socially whilst being prepared for future adult life. the schools are open daily from 7.30am to 6.30pm and visits to the school can be organised by appointment.

Parlez-vous français?

Whether you want to brush up on your French skills or start learning French from scratch the Regency School of Languages in Monaco oﬀers you what you need.

TAILOR-MADE FRENCH COURSES FOR STUDENTS OF ALL AGES AND PROFESSIONS :  from one week to several months  in one-to-one tutoring or in small

 emphasis on spoken French  experienced and enthusiastic

groups

mother-tongue teachers Member of Souffle (The French as a Foreign Language quality label)

The Regency School of Languages 7 Avenue Prince Pierre - 98000 Monaco - Tel. +377 92 05 21 21 - Fax +377 92 05 27 29 regency@monaco.mc - www.regencyschoolmonaco.com

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Touring the museums of the Côte d’Azur

museums

capiTal of culTure By ELSA CARPENTER & AILA STÖCKMANN

here are the emblematic institutions such as Nice’s MAMAC (Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain) and Marseille’s headline attraction of MuCEM (Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée). there are museums that bear the names of the iconic artists who adopted this region as their own: Picasso in Antibes and Vallauris; Chagall and Matisse in Nice; bonnard in Le Cannet; Cézanne in Aix-en-Provence; Cocteau in Menton; Renoir in Cagnes-sur-Mer; and Léger in biot. there are museums made famous by their own exceptional collections such as the Musée d’Art Classique in Mougins, Cannes’ Centre d'Art La Malmaison, the grandiose Musée des beaux-Arts in Nice and the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence that dedicates itself to painting and sculpture from the 18th to 20th century. Local history and archeology are well-represented among the cultural addresses of the Côte d’Azur and each museum has its own piece of the story to tell: Nice’s newly renovated terra Amata; the Musée de Préhistoire Régionale in Menton with its wide-reaching exhibition that travels from the bronze Age right back to life 1,000,000 years ago in modern day Liguria and the Alpes-Maritimes; Grasse’s beautiful Musée International

Ours is a landscape that has inspired generations, from the ancient era when rhinos and lions roamed the countryside to classical artists and modern day contemporary creatives. The many museums that have risen up in our cities, towns and hill-top villages pay testament to the cultural and human history of the region; some are famous and world renowned entities, but others are barely known…

de la Parfumerie, which pays tribute to the city’s unique patrimony; the provincial archeological museums of Antibes, Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël; and the Musée d’Histoire Locale et de Céramique in biot that reflects on the town’s traditions of pottery and ceramics. Some museums have been established within the very walls of the history they showcase such as the Musée de la Mer on Île Sainte-Marguerite, which has been both a royal fortress and the infamous prison that held the Man in the Iron Mask captive, and the Citadel of Sainttropez from the 15th century. Others look out over the subject they present such as Monaco’s astonishing Musée Océanographique, which is entirely devoted to marine life and sciences, and attracts almost 800,000 visitors a year. From the cinema to cuisine and stamps to sports, there are also an array of unusual and quirky museums that have been lovingly assembled by collectors. Perhaps the most high profile of these in the Museum of Stamps and Coins on Monaco’s waterfront, which is home to a rare collection of philatelic pieces and currency dating back hundreds of years, and is the culmination of the life passion of Prince Rainier III. Let Riviera Insider take you on a tour of some of the most intriguing museums and monuments of the Côte d’Azur. 

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The birthplace of modern cuisine Fondation Auguste Escoﬃer illeneuve-Loubet is both the location of France’s only museum dedicated to cuisine and the birthplace of celebrated French chef Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935). Escoffier has been accredited with revoluntising the art of cooking, earning himself the title of ‘the king of chefs and the chef of kings’ in the process. From working in his uncle’s restaurant in Nice at the tender age of 13 to rubbing shoulders with international nobility in Paris as a young man, Escoffier quickly scaled the social ladder and found

Open every day from 2pm to 6pm during winter months.

himself developing a luxury hotel and restaurant with César Ritz in 1884, the director of the Grand Hôtel de MonteCarlo. After Monaco came Lucerne, London - with the Savoy Hotel in 1890 - and once again Paris with the opening of the Ritz. He was the man who introduced menus at fixed prices and was the mind and tastebuds behind famous dishes such as the Peach Melba. Escoffier can also be thanked for the stocks and gravy granules

almost every kitchen has today. His visionary and inventive recipes and food plans can be explored at the maison de ville where Escoffier was born in Villeneuve-Loubet’s old town. It was renovated and relaunched last year on the museum’s 50th birthday, and includes a number of astounding historical documents - a favourite of Riviera Insider’s was the meal plan for Queen Victoria’s birthday in 1897. 

Matisse, Henri Manguin, Albert Marquet, Maurice de Vlaminck, Kees van Dongen, Pierre bonnard, Raoul Dufy, Pablo Picasso… All flocked to see the pristine beauty of this light-filled region. the petit Musée de l’Annonciade bears witness to this time and despite its modest dimensions, it is

one of the most beautiful and high-quality museums in France. A major winter exhibition featuring all of the museum’s acquisitions in recent years is unfolding over the next few months in conjunction with the museum’s 60th anniversary. be sure to visit before 17th April! 

rediscover the jewel of the riviera Musée de l’Annonciade ong before Saint-tropez became the playground for the rich and famous, this picturesque fishing village was already a well-known destination among some of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century. It was Paul Signac who is most frequently accredited with ‘finding’ this jewel. From his yacht, Olympia, in 1892, Signac caught his first glimpse of the signature Sainttropez silhouette and fell in love. He bought a house - La Hune - was set up a studio to which he invited many friends and colleagues from the art world. Georges Seurat, Henri-Edmund Cross, Henri

Open every day except Tuesday from 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 6pm.

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passions of a prince Museum of Stamps and Coins his is a museum that demands your time and attention - move too quickly and you will miss out on exciting little details and anecdotes of a world past. For philatelists and numismatists, Monaco’s Museum of Stamps and Coins is a gold mine of trinkets and collector items. It presents the principality’s entire back catalogue of stamps compiled almost religiously by the museum’s founder, Prince Rainier III. Visitors begin their voyage at the back of the building in a quiet, darkened and airconditioned room. Here there are envelopes dating from the early 18th century to the mid-19th century such as one sent from Monaco to Antibes in 1705 a time before the stamp was invented. Until the English Uniform Penny Post

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reform of 1840, the recipient of a letter was the person to pay, but this all changed when the government of the time monopolised the postal service and began charging a penny for the carriage and delivery of a letter between two places. On 1st January 1851, the first Sardinian stamps were introduced at the price of five, 20 and 40 cents. the same happened in Monaco, which at the time was under the protection of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Upon leaving this room, visitors encounter a miniature replica of the Monegasque coin press of 1837/8, built under the orders of Honoré V. Next comes the main room, which features coin after coin and stamp and stamp as well as a huge printing machine that was used to print the principality’s stamps between 1937 and 1990. Monaco’s stamps have featured

almost every motif imaginable over the centuries - the oldest, from 1885, shows the face of the then sovereign, Charles III. then came knights, musicians, vistas of the principality, cars of all eras, animals and, of course, the princely family and special occasions. Around 30 new stamps are added to the collection each year, such as a stamp commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, the Olympic Games in Rio that the prince attended and a new rose named after Princess Charlene. Alongside many of the stamps are hand-written remarks made by Prince Rainier III. In one he notes the look of his son’s hair, in another the colouring of his wife, Grace Kelly. today it is Prince Albert who decides which designs are sent off and out into the world. 

of a construction site were excavated where the terra Amata stands today. Venerated archaeologist Henry de Lumley, who is also responsible for the Musée des Merveilles in tende and the preservation of the caves at the Laboratoire du Lazaret, argued that the discoveries should be preserved and, 10 years after the first signs of prehistoric life were found, the museum was founded on the very site. It has recently undergone significant renovations and its exhibitions are a true wonder to behold. the milk tooth of a seven-year-old boy is one of the most valuable exhibits: “It is the oldest piece of a human being ever found in the Nice area,” says museum director bertrand Roussel. Other tantalising pieces include: the footprint of a human who stood at 1.55m; the bones of ancient elephant, brown bears and rhinoceroses; and countless shards of rock carefully splintered for use as tools. Archaeologists have set a date of 400,000 years ago for the first traces of hominins in

the area. Groups of hunter gathers - no more than 20 individuals - would have passed through Nice in the late summer season and set up camp in small, wooden shelters on the coast. Sea level was around 30m higher than today and the heart of the museum bears the marks of one such camp that covered 70sqm. tens of thousands of artefacts have been meticulously preserved since the first unearthing along with the residue of a fireplace, one of the oldest pieces of evidence of man’s use of fire. 

Open daily from 9.30am to 5pm.

niçois history Terra Amata n the plains around the once flowing waters of the Paillon Delta in Nice, which roared down from the mountains to its mouth between Mont boron and Castle Hill, rhinos and elephants would graze while predators prowled the perimeter. Human activity here dates back around 400,000 years - a fact realised in an extraordinary discovery half a century ago. In 1966, workers chanced on prehistoric evidence of human life when the foundations

Open every day except Tuesday from 10am to 6pm.

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museum musings

art and culture correspondent Sarah Hyde takes us on a journey to her favourite artistic institutions of the region.

musée picasso of antibes he Picasso Museum in Antibes is quite literally on my doorstep. Run by the local council, this collection is found in the old Grimaldi castle bordering the ramparts of old town Antibes. One of the most amazing things about this region is the number of really important artists who spent time here and it is mind-blowing to think that so many of Picasso’s seminal works were created in Antibes. He had a great affection for the city

and used to come on holiday here with his wife Olga and son Paul. they would rent a villa in Juan-les-Pins and, perhaps remarkably (or not, considering his reputation), Picasso would also invite his young, athletic and naive mistress Marie-thérèse to stay in a boarding house at the same time! Some of his greatest pictures of her were painted here on the beach in Juanles-Pins after an afternoon of passion, but before going back home for dinner. After WWII, Picasso was very pleased to finally be able to leave Paris and come

back to the south. In 1946, he came to Antibes for a year and painted in the atelier of the castle, which is now the museum. It was a very positive time for him and after he moved to his own studio, he gave the city 23 pictures and 44 drawings. these works now form the basis of the collection. the museum also houses works by Nicholas de Stahl, a brilliant artist who sadly died in Antibes. In some ways, I feel like de Stahl defines Antibes better than any other artist and when I look at his work, I think he really captures the place with his abstraction. Watch out for his grey version of the Fort Carré; he painted it just before he died. 

Open from 10am to noon and 2pm to 6pm every day (excluding Monday). www.antibes-juanlespins.com/culture/musee-picasso

nouveau musée national de monaco hile the rest of the Riviera drowns in art history, this is an outward-looking national museum is always engaging in current, contemporary dialogue with the art world outside of France. Led by Marie-Claude beaud over two sites, exhibitions here usually have some major connection with what is going on internationally and fit into the greater art world pattern. the museum has a fantastic outreach policy and seems to have many connections with powerful organisations all over the world. this is the place to go if you want to keep on your toes. the highlight for the new year will be the tom Wesselman show. 

Open from 10 am until 6pm every day. www.nmnm.mc © NMNM/Sidney Guillemin

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maeght foundation in saint-paul-de-vence his was the first contemporary art museum established in France, although by now its collection is best described as modern. the museum was built long before the Pompidou Centre and the multiple private foundations that have been mushrooming up ever since. For me, this a very special place and it does feel slightly sacred. the foundation is situated on the site of an old monastery and the connection with nature is tangible. I have yet to truly delve into the architectural past of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, but when you watch the sun set, it does feel very ancient. the permanent collection was endowed by its founder - legendary art dealer Aime Maeght - and is absolutely priceless. the building was designed by Sert, a professor of architecture at Harvard, and it commands a magnificent view all the way down to the Mediterranean. the sculptural garden is exquisite. If you are living in this area and love art, this museum has a wonderful Société des Amis, where it is possible to meet other art lovers. Membership provides not only free entrance to the museum, an invitation to all the private viewings and free posters, but also invites members into an annual programme of art events that they can dip in and out of. It’s like stepping into a tranquil, modern art wonderland. Everything is just so and and rather like La Colombe d'Or just down the road, the Fondation Maeght is now a priceless relic of the area’s fabulous, artistic past. 

Open every day from 10 am until 6pm in winter (7pm in summer). www.fondation-maeght.com © JJ L’Héritier

collection Yvon lambert in avignon his is the collection I visit when I want to escape into daydreams of curating my own event. Containing some of the most desirable art in the region, a trip to this address is a little bit like gazing into the window of a fabulous patisserie in Paris: everything is tempting, perfect and irresistible. the museum houses the personal collection of the vi-

sionary French dealer yvon Lambert. born in Vence, local gossip claims that his father was Matisse’s part-time driver, but this handsome, self-made dealer rose through the social ranks to the Parisian stage where he challenged the art establishment by championing great American artists. His eye fantastic, his timing superb; the collection is testament to his enormous talent. His work with Cy twombly is that of legend. Although officially retired,

Open every day from 11am to 6pm in the winter (7pm in summer). www.collectionlambert.fr

the museum gives the impression that it is still very influential. Works include Warhol, Cy twombly, Andres Serrano, Sol LeWitt, Nan Goldin, Donald Judd, brice Marden, Daniel buren, Dennis Oppenheim, Gordon Matta-Clark, Anselm Kiefer, Miquel barcelo, Julian Schnabel, Jean-Michel basquiat, Douglas Gordon and bertrand Lavier. Also - if you like bread and cakes - the charming Maison Violette around the corner is well worth a visit! 

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Above photos THE ENTRANCE OF THE MUSEUM IS FOUND IN A FORMER LUXURY HOTEL (LEFT) WHILE THE EXIT IS VIA AN OLD TOWN HOUSE (RIGHT). © Musées de Grasse, C. Barbiero

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Grasse and its culture endeavours

The musée inTernaTional De la parfumerie By AILA STÖCKMANN

Grasse has even more culture to offer than Nice!” proclaims Olivier Quiquempois. the curator of Grasse’s cultural heritage is talking about the history of perfumery, its listed buildings and the two famous sons of the city: painter Jean Honoré Fragonard who was born in 1732 and sculptor Charles Nègre who lived and died a century later. the Fragonard name in particular is now inextricably linked with Grasse’s major museums and has inspired the city’s famous perfume industry, with an ever-growing number of boutiques in its streets bea-

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ring his name. Olivier tells Riviera Insider that the work of artist and photographer Nègre is also being rediscovered in the 21st century with much aplomb. Conservateur Olivier is the director of the three major museums of the city: the Villa Musée Fragonard with its works and trinkets belonging to the family and housed in a charming 17th century villa that was one of the first to be built outside of the medieval walls of Grasse; the equally noteworthy Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Provence at the Hôtel de Clapiers-Cabris; and the International Museum of Perfumery (MIP) and its gardens. While the first two are usually hidden from the eyes of

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Left photo A 6TH CENTURY VESSEL FOR PERFUME FROM GREECE. top photo A GLASS ENGLISH-MADE PERFUME BOTTLE FROM THE 17TH CENTURY bottom photo ONE OF THE MOST PRECIOUS EXHIBITS IN THE MUSEUM: QUEEN MARIE ANTOINETTE’S TRAVEL CASE © Musées de Grasse, C. Barbiero

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day-to-day tourists, the MIP has become one of the most frequented museums in the Côte d’Azur since it reopened in 2008. More than half of its 100,000 annual visitors are foreigners and the museum has adapted its facilities to welcome them with open arms. Olivier has only been in Grasse for two years, but feels strongly attached to each establishment entrusted to his care. the most important is the MIP and he has brought with him many new ideas, including the updating of the museum’s strategy. As we tour the four floors of the architecturally beautiful perfume museum, anecdotes are plenty. the building itself is the renovated Hôtel de Pontevès and its courtyard, former stables and garden from 1781, a section of the 16th century city walls and a narrow old town house - the former Hugues-Ainé perfume boutique. Visitors begin the top and work their way down. From the roof terrace, there is a magnificent view across the countryside to the sea. Now where houses stand, fields of lush green and flowers would have been until the end of WWII, Olivier explains. the museums’s exhibits date from all epochs of perfumery; from ancient times to a collection of perfume bottles and distilleries and even infamous Queen Marie Antoinette’s travel case. It’s chronological; the ancient Egyptians, Greek and Romans as well as pieces from the 1600s to the 20th century. One period that is noticeably lacking is the Middle Ages - perfumes were outlawed by the Church during this period as being unchaste. At the very bottom of the museum, modern entities are showcased. the collection of perfume bottles is simply astounding and you have to wonder how the museum managed to track down such an impressive repertoire. “Many of the exhibits are donations,” Olivier explains. For example, Johann Maria Farina, a direct descendant of the Eaude-Cologne inventor of the same name is a regular visitor and has gifted the museum with many pieces. Not matter how many times you come to the MIP, there is always something new and exciting to discover such as the two major annual exhibitions. the winter period is often dedicated to the local population - until 15th March, you can look back on perfume capital Grasse in the 1970s in a capsule collection of photographs curated by Alain Sabatier. It may not be long ago, but the scenes of the city are barely recognisable today. In the coming summer (mid-May to mid-September), Christian Dior and his intimate relationship with perfume, Grasse and its environment will be the focus of a retrospective, collaborative exhibition. the gardens of the MIP in Mouans-Sartoux are closed until the start of April. Mid-June is perhaps the best time to visit them as this will be when most of the aromatic plants and flowers will be in full bloom. the site was opened in 2010 as a ‘complement to the MIP because visitors will be hard pressed to find any other floral fields elsewhere’, explain the director. Olivier and the museum believe that culture should be made as easily accessible as possible for the public so the entrance fee to the museum is kept modestly small at 4€ (6€ for the summer’s exhibition). 

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i WanT To Be loveD BY You By SARAH HYDE

The ageless allure of Marilyn Monroe

Main photo © Sam Shaw courtesy of Shaw Family Archives Ltd. Left photo © Michael Ochs top right photo © The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s

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creature like no other, it is hard to know whether Marilyn Monroe was the victim or the mistress of the male gaze, such was her extraordinary ability to harness the photographic image. the result is that everyone feels they know Marilyn Monroe intimately. We all have an opinion, even the feminist movement appropriated Marilyn as an early crusader. Sadly, she died before the women’s movement truly began, but it’s lovely to think that she may have become a passionate supporter rather than a victim of her femininity. We all feel we own a little part of her and have an opinion about some parts of her life, whether it is about the politics of her body, the question of her death, who she loved and perhaps most tragically of all, who really loved her. Situated in the beautiful Hotel de Caumont, Marilyn greets us via multimedia wizardry in all her pneumatic, shimmering glory, singing ‘I want to be loved by you’ - the title of the show. For the price of an entrance ticket, we enter a carpeted twilight zone to gaze back at her with unbridled adoration and get lost in our own private conversation with Marilyn Monroe. It’s quite a journey. born in 1926, the young and unselfconscious Norma Jean is delightful. Despite what we now know about her horrific traumatic childhood, with an absent father, the awful haunting phantom of maternal insanity and sexual abuse, she appears to be a happy athletic all-American high school girl. Early home film footage shows a fifteen year old Marilyn springing across the wall doing acrobatic Arab springs across a beach. Physically confident, strong and agile, she is nearly as powerful on her hands as on her feet; her famous tiny 22 inch waist is already on show in her white bikini. Her relationship with the camera began early and she

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was discovered as a model while working in an air plane factory. One of her early boyfriends was a photographer - Andre de Dienes. He met Marilyn when she was 19. De Dienes was struck by the photogenic nature of the young model: “I could see the quality of her skin: smooth, polished, the type which reflects light instead of absorbing it.” they went on a long road trip. De Dienes photographed his young model; perhaps unsurprisingly, he was besotted as she seduced him through the lens. Could it be that it was at this time that the young Marilyn started to develop the incredible selfawareness, that sense of knowing and wanting to know exactly how she appeared to others? this was ‘something’ that she was eventually able to control and project, when her magic worked, to such a high level and with such dazzling brilliance that on a good day she could turn it on and off like a light switch. One of the great delights of this exhibition is being able to closely observe the evolution of Marilyn Monroe from human to icon. It’s fair to say Norma Jean, just as she was, appeared to be pretty lovely. but what distinguished the young Norma Jean - who became Marilyn Monroe in 1945 with her first 20th Century contract - from other starlets is her remarkable discipline, hard work and ambition. She passed through the studio system. She had her nose done, learnt to smile with her eyes

THE CLASSIC ‘FLYING SKIRT’ © Sam Shaw, courtesy of Shaw Family Archives Ltd.

wide open and her lips parted, which was so much prettier than her real smile, and discovered her iconic white blonde hair style. Marilyn always had fierce physical discipline, she was always striving. She learnt to sing, to dance, to speak in a breathy voice, to keep her face still when she spoke to camera so that her gorgeous childlike features were more able to reach out and seduce us. Her walk was entirely contrived and later in her life ,when she left the studio, she continued this endless coaching, striving and improving with Lee Strasberg and finally, later down the line and more tragically, with her various therapists. At the beginning of the exhibition, there are some amazing photographs, which could be described as ‘becoming Marilyn’. Visually, with Marilyn, it’s all about her mouth, the wider open it is, the more she is the icon that we know and love with her dazzling smile. In the early day, before she worked this out, there are some glorious images of Marilyn with her mouth closed, looking like a wide-eyed groomed starlet trying different looks. In one amazing image her hair is darker and styled like Marlene Dietrich. the fact that she looks very beautiful in all of these guises is testament to her fabulous face, but it is very curious to see Marilyn not looking as we know her. One of the early highlights of this exhibition is the full tom Kelley pin up series that is shown. All twelve

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images are present of a young, fully nude Marilyn. they are gorgeous and if you look at the expression on Marilyn's face you can just catch, in the snarl in her lip, the absolute determination in holding her pose to get the best angle possible to show off her fabulous figure. the question of who was controlling the male gaze arises again. this was a moment before she had perfected the infantile and childish wide-eyed, vulnerable persona for which she became so famous; the look that, combined with her overt sexuality, threw men into a tail spin. Considering the fact that she called any man that she really liked ‘Daddy’, they did not know if they wanted to protect the naive creature or follow their instincts. through an education in photography, the visitor to this exhibition discovers images from Phillippe Halsman, Cecil beaton, Richard Avendon, Ed Feingersh, Sam Shaw, Eve Arnold and Milton Greene. A curious character, who like many others occupied a very unhealthy role in Marilyn's life, as part protector part exploiter, acting like her saviour but indeed replicating her childhood experience of foster families, Greene supported Marilyn through what now seems to be a most misguided period of therapy, where she constantly re-experienced her early trauma. It was at this time that she had left the studio system and created her own company with Greene. the relationship ended abruptly when Marilyn married Arthur Miller (another father figure and saviour) in 1956. After her marriage to Miller ended in 1961, she returned to daily therapy. the seduction that takes place between the photographer, the camera and his model is one of the key skills of a good photographer and with Marilyn it worked both ways. this complete, but entirely artificial seduction, the subject of the exhibition, was something that as an actress Marilyn excelled at. On occasion the magic seemed so real it worked. One of the greatest examples of this is exhibited here at length. bert Stern had the chance to make several long sittings with Marilyn in 1962 for Vogue. Commissioned by the great Diana Vreeland, this series is now the stuff of legends. these sessions defined both the actress - they were the last sittings of her tragic life - and the photographer. Little did Stern know at the time that they would be a high point of his career; that these images would be so powerfully defining that they would cut short rather than expand his career. For the first sitting, which took place in a hotel in bel Air, Marilyn, newly thin after a bile duct operation, which left a scar on her tummy, arrived a nervewracking five hours late. At the time she was fragile and the photographer and the actress began drinking and working mostly with a chiffon scarf and the bed. they drank red wine, vodka and champagne in the session until Marilyn, perhaps so drunk, fell asleep on the bed. A magical transference occurred between them and the colour photos were incredible and considered to be the most sensual images of all.

“I COULD SEE tHE QUALIty OF HER SKIN: SMOOtH, POLISHED, tHE tyPE WHICH REFLECtS LIGHt INStEAD OF AbSORbING It.”

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A tipsy, naked Marilyn playing with her sexuality, teasing us with a scarf, rolling on the bed and flirting with the camera, playfully inviting the viewer to join her. the results were stunning, but these images were not right for Vogue - it was a fashion magazine, not Playboy - and the artistic director sent Stern back, this time with clothes and make up and a top stylist. In all there were seven sittings and both photographer and actress gave their absolute all. As Oliver Lorquin the curator describes the sitting, in an interview: “What bert Stern did not realise is that these pictures defined his career, but were also the high point of it.” In these final photographs, there is true intimacy. Monroe was well past her prime and although she seems very attractive to modern eyes, in 1962 an actress’ shelf-life was shorter. She was 36 years of age and that was too old - her life as a sex siren was over. Marilyn was childless, man-less and this was her last chance to sizzle. And she did. In the final image of Monroe, taken before she died, she wears a diamond necklace and shines as brightly as ever. Mouth wide open in joyous childish delight she fills the moment with pure enchantment and we are happy to see her. A copy of the couture Dior dress that Marilyn wore in the final photograph is in a glass case as the exhibition closes - a poignant reminder of her true physical presence. A dignified black and white selection of these final images appeared in the September Vogue of 1962 the day after she died. 

I want to be loved by you Until 1st May 2017 Hotel de Caumont Centre d’Art, Aix-en-Provence

“SHE LEARNT TO SING, TO DANCE, TO SPEAK IN A BREATHY VOICE...” © Joshua Green

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Riviera Insider meets artist Giacomo de Pass at his studio

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after New York, Washington, venice, Moscow and Tokyo, now Peymeinade: that’s how they introduced Giacomo de Pass’ exhibition. The question is not only ‘Why Peymeinade?’, but also ‘Why now?’ This artist of global renown has been living here for almost 40 years, but his presence has gone largely unnoticed by the public – until now. By AILA STÖCKMANN

caTcher of The lighT iacomo de Pass doesn’t like to hear people talking about his work. He doesn’t like being the focus of buzz. the mayor of Peymeinade, a friend of Giacomo’s long before he assumed office at the town hall (see page 55), had to almost push him to hold a retrospective exhibition last year in the town, which is the adopted home of both men. Since then, four sculptural works by the artist – including a pair of red and yellow metal cats with their backs dramatically arched – have held a prominent place on the roundabout on the way towards Grasse. During de Pass’ height of commercial success in the galleries of Paris and New york almost 40 years ago, he purchased an old bastide in sleepy Peymeinade. He was looking for peace and quiet, somewhere he could escape the tumult of the fashionable capital and the inundation of people desperate to visit his studio. Of course, this popularity was a mark of recognition for the artist, but he longed for a more natural and tranquil environment. All this he found in a huge old property from 1830. When he first bought it, there were no other homes nearby, but today urban development is slowly creeping in. His home, however, has the dreamlike atmosphere of a fairytale castle. the garden is a vision of creativity and has been transformed by an array of brightly coloured metal and polished steel sculptures on the lawns and hidden amongst

Photo DE PASS IN HIS STUDIO BENEATH THE BEAMS OF THE ROOF

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the plants. Sometimes in the form of creatures, sometimes human, the sculptures are composed of thin strips of metal, perforated and fine so as to reflect the light. that’s why he calls them Pièges à lumière: they are catchers of the light. Giacomo works on the upper floor of the property under the beams of the roof. He is 78 now, but continues tirelessly. He has erected two enormous computer screens between his easels, paintings and canvas-covered frames. “I can’t help it. It directs me,” says de Pass of his affinity with artifical light. As a child, no scrap of paper in the de Pass household was free of his doodles. “I just had to let it out,” he says. While at the école des beaux Arts in Paris, he sketched in a standing position – one drawing after another – rather than seated like his classmates. this endless energy is still present in the diminutive man; he stands before the easel with several brushes and a spatula in hand, mischievous eyes darting across the canvas. He works with flourish and grand gesture – it is the picture of an artist internally young and restless. the art he creates cannot be categoriSed or defined. there’s simply no precise style to what Giacomo produces, especially as he is always reinventing himself. Of course, he did have stages of certain passions. At one point, women dominated his paintings then it was women and cats. Games have caught his attention too. For one decade, he created various depressive and grey works - comédie humaine - a social criticism of humanity. “How can you paint music?” he asks himself aloud, revealing that time and time again, this lover of music has tried to paint it. His work is inspired by moments in his life; the beautiful and the sad. “Every canvas captures a part of my life,” he says very precisely. “Everything in life is creation.” In every painting, he discovers traces of his unconsciousness. "What's inside of me comes out and that relieves me," he says. Every piece of work carries him on. It’s as if painting is therapy for him. If you ask him whether he has idols or role models, he responds with an anecdote from his youth. He was barely 16 when he entered the école des beaux Arts and not much older when he left the institution all together. “you have to protect yourself against the influence of others,” his professor told him one day as he took de Pass’ brushes away from him. He had recognised the talent of his protégé and sent him away from the school in the hope that it would allow Giacomo to retain his uniqueness and individuality. “you can talk to other artists,” his teacher told him, “but be careful not to visit their studios.” De Pass was in shock; only his mother was able to explain to him his professor’s reasonings. throughout his career, de Pass did meet countless other artists. the life of a successful artist means that these encounters are almost inevitable. He got to know Picasso, Dalí, bernard buffet and many others, but he didn’t pursue any real friendships.

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Main photo WITH HIS LIGHT CATCHERS IN HIS GARDEN Lower photos A DIVERSE ARTIST top right photo THE SUBJECT AND THE STYLE IS ALWAYS CHANGING WITH DE PASS

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«culture is FUNDAMENtAL» For nearly four decades, there has been a world-famous artist living in Peymeinade. What does this mean for your town? It is an honour and a privilege to have an artist of international repute in our commune. the town is proud of all of its talents, but Giacomo de Pass is a genius. He says he wants to pay tribute to Peymeinade, but it is the town that must honour him!

He doesn’t hold back when discussing Dalí, who he describes as a disappointment because of the way he presents himself. De Pass understands the game of this narcissistic man who, for the public, is a very eccentric, arrogant and sometimes even happy man, but in reality is very impatient, tyrannical and in a bad mood. He says that Dalí can drag down the atmosphere of a room. Dealing with this kind of personality must be difficult for someone as amiable as de Pass, although he does recognise Dalí’s genius. Nor has Giacomo ever joined a group of artists; his inspiration always comes from himself - "Even if this is the most difficult; to seek the source within yourself." Recently de Pass devoted himself to virtual encounters as a response to the internet and its online worlds. Currently it is light. His bright, radiant and speckled works, full of joie de vivre, could not be further from his gloomy phase of comédie humaine and for the artist, they are very abstract productions. “I’m not trying to capture any of my own emotions, but materialising life,” he says. “Perhaps it’s my age.” Painting and drawing give de Pass a complete sense of creative freedom: “I want to lose myself, to take off.” If he wants to feel grounded, he makes a sculpture. Only here are there physical limits to his work. Riviera Insider asks if he feels proud to have his sculptures in the town of Peymeinade, but he seems entirely unaffected. It makes him even more personable and perhaps explains why he isn’t in the global set of super-successful artists. He lacks the ego and the eccentricity. Even in quiet Peymeinade, de Pass keeps to himself and avoids any crowd. those with the greatest success are the ones with the biggest mouth and Giacomo de Pass is far too modest and sensitive for that. 

Former attorney Gérard Delhomez has been the mayor of Peymeinade, a few kilometres to the west of Grasse, since 2014. Despite his academic background, Delhomez is an avid supporter of the arts and of culture, particularly within his 8,000 population community. in an interview with riviera insider, he explains why.

How important are art and culture today for a town such as yours? Culture is as vital to the mind and soul as water is to the body. Culture is fundamental for personal and social balance. Each of the arts contributes towards making life more harmonious. Artistic education should be a compulsory part of the national curriculum from primary age. A commune can and should be a vehicle for promoting the arts and sharing artistic works, but also to allow artists a special place in society. Art is for beauty, but it is also for reflection. What roles do art and culture as well as sport and community projects play in daily Peymeinade life? Peymeinade has a rich community spirit across all areas and the town hall helps and supports local associations. We are committed to putting culture at the forefront of our priorities. It is important to involve the general public and, of course, the younger generation in various art forms and cultural endeavours. What can we expect from the town of Peymeinade in 2017? Last year was a very good year – a grand cru – for everyone in terms of cultural events. Highlights included the Giacomo de Pass retrospective exhibition and an outstanding level of musical and theatrical performances as noted by the press (with tenor Gilles San Juan, the choir and soloists of Art Canto, pianist Mariko Chauvineau Izumi, Quator Alma and the famous whistling of Fred Radix). 2017 will continue in the same vein and we are also preparing the town for the construction of a new theatre in which to better welcome artists and the public. 

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moTivaTeD BY The human spiriT Mayor of Valbonne: Christophe Etoré

Christophe etoré has been mayor of valbonne since last October. Life in this pretty, dynamic town – which includes the prosperous Sophia antipolis technology hub - is, in almost every respect, good.

albonne Sophia Antipolis - to give the town its full name - has something special about it. While it doesn’t quite have the dramatic views of the region that other villages in the hinterland boast, its quaint medieval centre with the arcade-lined has that authentic Provence atmosphere. All life and activity is focused here and not only on Fridays - the bustling market day – but all year round. People come from across the

Côte d’Azur to enjoy its restaurants, cafés and boutiques in the pedestrianised streets. English is Valbonne’s second language, but many other nationalities have also made this town their home over the years. Its 13,000-strong population is spread out over a vast territory divided up by neighbourhoods and large swathes of wooden nature reserves and parks. 60% of Sophia Antipolis with its 1,400 companies and 31,000 employees is a part of Valbonne - the main reason this place is financially doing very well compared to other towns in the region. Valbonne is also the only commune in the Alpes Maritimes to be dominated by socialists: the majority of votes has been on the left since 1989. Of course, the new mayor is also a socialist. Marc Daunis, who presided and directed the town for over 20 years, chose to say goodbye to the communal stage at the end of October 2016. He will, however, continue in his role as a senator in Paris and as the vice president of the Sophia Antipolis area (Communauté d’agglomération de Sophia Antipolis). Etoré was elected by the Conseil Municipal as the new

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mayor with a clear majority. Etoré originally comes from Paris, but has been living in Valbonne for almost 20 years. He has two adult children. From a professional teaching background, Etoré last worked in teacher training and also in the Grasse prison. He has to give up these roles now: the mayor’s office in Valbonne is a full-time job. the life of a politician is something Etoré is used to; his father had worked as the adjoint au maire and later the mayor of a Paris suburb. “but I really did not intend to go into politics,” says the 54-year-old. He encountered Daunis, respected him and found himself on his ‘list’. they also became firm friends. Etoré led the campaigns for the former mayor in the last two local elections. “Humanity has always been my motive,” says Etoré, who has been in charge of education in Valbonne since 2005. “Living together in peace, the wellbeing of children, clubs and associations, culture and festivals… All of that is very important to me.” ‘Will he put his own stamp on the policies of Valbonne now he’s in charge?’ Riviera Insider asks, but Etoré waves us down energetically. He shares the strategies and visions of Daunis, and was a contributor towards them. Until the next mayoral elections in 2020, the long-term projects and construction plans devised by Daunis and his team in 2014 will continue. Etoré tells us in concrete terms that he and his staff will work to ensure that Valbonne retains its exceptional character. In addition to the protection of the environment, urban development here is carried out with great care. Valbonne is one of only three municipalities in the Alpes Maritimes that complies with the government’s 20% quota of social housing and it’s not stopping there. Valbonne is keen to progress with its plans to expand the logements pour les actifs concept, which brings affordable housing to first time buyers. It is also conscious of mixing up residential sectors to avoid concentrations of solely social housing. there is a focus on the development of ‘clean’ vehicles such as electric bikes. With the extreme traffic jams found around Sophia Antipolis during peak travel times in mind, extra car park and parking spaces are to be built in strategic locations to nurture car sharing and people are being encouraged to travel outside of rush hour. Improving employment rates is also on the agenda as is bolstering the long-standing involvement of Valbonne’s citizens in its policies through démocratie participative, the lowering of the town’s comparatively low debt and slimming down the brigade of civil servants at the mairie. “Creating the same conditions for each and every child has always been a priority for me,” says the mayor. this is the reason why Valbonne was one of the first places to reintroduce school on a Wednesday. Whether or not the decision has had Etoré’s desired effect is currently being evaluated. “We are fortunate enough in Valbonne to live in a world of tomorrow, a world of the future,” says Etoré,

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“and not just in terms of technology, but also humanity. We live in a mix of cultures and that’s why there is an openness here that is not necessarily experienced elsewhere.” As a mayor, Etoré’s duties are much more enjoyable than for the average mayor in the Alpes-Maritimes. In addition to his day-to-day responsibilities, Valbonne is also preparing for two large celebrations: the 500th birthday of the town itself and the 50th anniversary, of Sophia Antipolis. both fall in 2019. “La ville continue à faire rêver,” he concludes with a smile, “Valbonne continues to dream and build dreams.” 

“WE ARE FORtUNAtE ENOUGH IN VALbONNE tO LIVE IN A WORLD OF tOMORROW. WE LIVE IN A MIx OF CULtURES AND tHAt’S WHy tHERE IS AN OPENNESS HERE tHAt IS NOt NECESSARILy ExPERIENCED ELSEWHERE.”

TÊTE-À-TÊTE WITH RIVIERA INSIDER What are the challenges for a mayor of a town like Valbonne in the 21st century? We’re not a big metropolis, we live in a town on a human scale and it’s nice! We have two defining features though: in a few years, we will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the village with its exceptional historical and cultural heritage while on the other hand, we have the first (large scale) european technology hub that is bubbling with innovation. Sophia antipolis attracts talent from around the world and this ‘small’ commune is made great by its projects, objectives and multiplicity of its residents. Combining the protection of our beautiful environment with the harmonious development of jobs, housing and the economy is an ongoing challenge, but it’s an exciting one. Has the role of a mayor changed over the years? in digital terms, a great many changes have taken place. Technological advances in general - the internet - has considerably modified the organisation of work and the workplace. The way of doing politics has also changed. Today, dialogue and consultation have a more important place. Through the committees we have set up regarding co-habitation, finances and water management for example, valbonne is a very dynamic social fabric fully supported by local democracy. What can you do to better improve the lives of the Valbonnais? To get involved more, to work harder, to listen better… i want to convince [the people] that the projects we are carrying out go beyond personal interest and advantage in favour of the general public and ourchildren.

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la moDe Riviera Insider presents the newest boutiques and latest collections from fashion addresses across the Côte d’Azur

magic of Burma Bijoux Burma The extraordinary Multi Pastels collection is an explosion of colour and extravagance with violet amethyst, blue spinel, green peridot, yellow sapphires and rosy gemstones. The 36 pieces are a vibrant display of the illustrious works produced by the French jewellery house - established 1927 - and reflect its creativity and savoir-faire.  20 Boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes

JukeBox viBe Harry Winston The Opus 14 timepiece is the first in the series to be launched following the Swatch Group takeover of Harry Winston and it has firmly quashed rumours that the line was to be discontinued with an extrovert, 1950s-inspired piece that oozes playfulness. Harry Winston teamed up with renowned watchmakers Franck Orny and Johnny Girardin for the commission, which took three and a half years to complete under the code name Opus 14. Drawing much of its style from the Americana era - big, bold and, of course, blue, red and white - the watch features graphics reminiscent of a jukebox with what Harry Winston has called a ‘emblematic diner aesthetic’. Beneath the face, which has been cut from a single piece of sapphire crystal, the watch reveals four disks housed in a store, each showing a specific display: local time, GMT time, the date and a star bearing the signature of Mr. Harry Winston - a reference to the stars of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Production is limited to 50 pieces. Price on request.  29 Boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes

Time for a neW sTYle? Furla Accessories and handbag brand Furla has launched its new women’s watch collection just in time for the new year. The diverse range of five distinct styles - Metropolis, Eva, Linda, Diana and Valentina - blends the traditional with the contemporary for glamourous design with innovative technology. Two of the lines (Metropolis and Eva) feature interchangeable wrist straps, allowing the wearer to adapt their accessory to their outfit. Rose gold chain or Furla’s signature, soft leather? Try the collection today.  2 Avenue de Verdun, Nice

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shinY cashmere Eric Bompard They sparkle with silver, gold and dazzling bronze. They gleam in the twilight in decadent ultramarine and forest green. A touch of silk thread and a golden hem: the Glitter Fever collection by Eric Bompard is the perfect companion to brighten winter days. The 100% cashmere Baroque-inspired cardigan featured here uses structured lines and a shimmer of strong colours to bring energy and vivacity to the timeless shape of the garment (490€).  26 Rue du Commandant Andre, Cannes 4 Rue de Longchamp, Nice

closeT for a cruise Jimmy Choo In the SS2017 Cruise collection, creative director Sandra Choi has imagined a world rich in colour and vibrance. From the decadent, royal purple of the Hitch 100 Madeline sandal to the ombré black and mocha sparkling stiletto, the metallic apple green Celeste clutch and the beautiful floral pump with lime and lilac highlights and jewelled buttons, this is a collection ‘designed to sate the appetites of both wearer and watcher’. The varied collection can be shopped online and in-house.(pictured below).  65 Boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes

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floor To ceiling Design Univers d’Intérieur

DelicaTe Dreams of golD anD porcelain Manufacture de Monaco The Manufacture (de Porcelaine) de Monaco was established by Erich Rozewicz in 1972 with the encouragement and support of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace of Monaco. Erich first encountered Monaco’s royals during a chance meeting at one of his exhibitions in Paris, where both sovereigns urged the designer build a porcelain manufacturing company in the principality. The early designs drew their inspiration from the rosettes and mosaics Erich discovered in the Palais Princier and the many artworks that the prince owned from civilisations across the Mediterranean. Today the illustrious company is in the safe hands of Erich’s son, Joram Rozewicz, who spent many years prior learning the acute savoir-faire of his father. The result is a porcelain renowned for being very white, hard and translucent. Manufacture de Monaco has considerably expanded during Joram’s 16 years at the helm and now exhibits a selection of the most prestigious international brands in the field of tableware and décor from its boutique in the Métropole shopping centre in addition to its own exclusive collections. One such collection is Line E, in which each item is individually formed on the potters wheel, glazed and hand-painted. For 2017, the collection will add a new colour to its ranks: the sumptuous verbena with golden highlights. Other brands waiting to be discovered include L’Objet, Michael Aram, Artel, Moser, Porthault, Chilewich and Alain St Joanis.  17 Avenue des Spélugues, Monaco

Discover a world of interior design solutions and accessories at Univers d’Intérieur’s two stores in Saint Laurent du Var and Monaco. Bedroom to bathroom, dressing room to living room, this boutique interior design concept offers a tailor-made service for a range that combines refinement, elegance, comfort and wellbeing. Featured here is the Coco de Burgbad bathroom furniture collection, a contemporary blend of geometric shapes and softened lines in a range of some 24 natural and elegant colours. The brilliant lacquers and matt finishes will appeal those of a modernist taste while nature lovers will find tranquility in the wooden façades and nuanced accents. The versatile collection is highly customisable and can be adapted to your personal requirements and desires with wall or recessed fittings, plentiful sizing options and the latest TipOn and Soft Close techniques for a seamless finish.  240 Avenue de Verdun, Saint Laurent du Var and 29 Boulevard d’Italie, Monaco

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Boutique shopping for your holiday of tomorrow Univairmer opens new Cannes address

he recently opened La boutique des Croisières is found on the western edge of Cannes’ historic old town, just a few minutes’ walk from the quays that see the footfall of thousands of visitors headed off to different destinations each year. the shop and its team are specialists in cruise ship and luxury liner travel, and are on hand throughout the year to assist its customers in selecting (or creating) the perfect itinerary for the dream travel experience. From the Mediterranean to the Caspian, the black to the baltic and the Atlantic to the Pacific, La boutique des Croisières works directly with some of the cruise

industry’s most well-known and respected organisations to offer an unparalleled level of choice and service. but it’s not all about ocean voyages as the shop is also partnered with a range of river cruise companies that offer bespoke journeys down some of the world’s most enigmatic and beautiful water courses such as the Elbe and the yangtze. Discover too the majesty and unrivalled beauty of the polar regions through La boutique des Croisières’ unique network of holiday providers. Customers are invited to pop into the shop on Mondays, tuesdays and Saturdays or make an appointment online to ensure you receive the attention you need. 

WinTer sales Six weeks of shopping t’s starting to look like the start of this year is going to be a particularly chilly one; that’s what we’re telling ourselves anyway as an excuse for hitting the winter sales. From cashmere in Cannes to stilettos in Monaco and fine linens in Liguria, here’s when to get the best bargain. In the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes, the winter sales kick off on 11th January and end on 21st February according to the strict French rules restricting sales to just six weeks. Most shops reduce their prices consecutively during

the sales period so for items such as electronics, the last fortnight is your chance to strike gold. Monaco’s sales are starting one week earlier on 2nd January and, as such, will likely finish a week earlier although no official dates had been announced by the principality as Riviera Insider went to print. Just over the border in Liguria, the winter sales commence on 5th January and come to a close on 18th February. From beautiful Italian leather shoes to décor and classic home wear, this region will be our shopping destination in 2017. 

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The americans are Back! it’s now 50 years since the United States’ Navy 6th Fleet bade its ﬁnal farewell to villefranche-surMer. valérie Blouin, the president of the Les américains et la 6ème Flotte association, is now in the process of organising a three-day event in January to commemorate those bygone days with the support of the town and the US Navy League. She certainly has a special connection to this particular time in villefranche’s history: it was during this era that her grandmother, Mère Germaine, became a lifeline to many of the young US sailors stationed in the town. Von PETRA HALL

MÈRE GERMAINE IN FRONT OF HER RESTAURANT OF THE SAME NAME. SHE WAS AN ENORMOUS SOURCE OF SUPPORT FOR THE YOUNG SAILORS FROM THE USA. HER GRANDDAUGHTER, VALÉRIE BLOUIN, IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE LES AMÉRICAINS ET LA 6ÈME FLOTTE ASSOCIATION. © US NAVY

hristophe trojani, the mayor of Villefranche-sur-Mer, was only three months old in 1966 when the US warship Springfield set sail from the coastal town’s harbour for the very last time. Although he grew up surrounded by the story of the Americans in his hometown, he was born too late to have any real experiences of this unforgettable era, but to this day, his parents continue to share stories about this extraordinary period in the small Riviera town. In the family album, Riviera Insider discovers a photo of Christophe as a young boy standing in front of the La Mère Germaine restaurant, the owner of which played a central role in the American experience of the time. In the picture, the four-year-old is watching a US Marine Corps ship anchored in the bay at Villefranche. In another, his parents play basketball with the marines. trojani, who is also a surgeon, explained that these foreign forces integrated extremely well into the life of the fishing village during the 1960s. “the US headquarters were established in Rochambeau,” explains trojani. “More than 200 families from the United States lived in our little Villefranche and made an enormous contribution to the economic development of the town. It must have been an exciting era. back then, it was also much easier to find affordable apartments and houses.” Property prices have exploded since then and there is hardly any undeveloped land left in this amphitheatre by the sea. Around 47% of the inhabitants are foreigners who have bought a second home here. Many are from the UK or Scandinavia and there are also a number of VIPs in the area. “We have always been extremely hospitable,” he says during our meeting at his office in the town hall of the

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historic citadel. the major has good reason to be proud of his town, which arguably has no equal in France in terms of its scale and beauty. “Villefranche is one of the greatest treasures of the Côte d’Azur. It’s probably best not to tell anyone though - people here like their peace and quiet.” It’s probably already too late, however: visitors from all over the world come to Villefranche throughout the year in order to explore this jewel on the Riviera. Established by Charles II d'Anjou as a ‘free port’ in 1295, the town offers architectural sights such as the Rue Obscure - a 130m covered street in the centre of the old town - and the imposing citadel that was built in the 17th century. Another attraction is of course the Combat Naval Fleuri - the ‘flower battle on the sea’ - which takes place every February. “It’s my job to ensure that Villefranche preserves as much of its original character as possible,” says trojani proudly. On 19th January 2017, Villefranche will again play host to the 6th Fleet as it commemorates the withdrawal of the Americans in 1967. A highly symbolic three-day event is now being planned with strict security measures in place to honour these friends from another continent. At the time of publishing, more than 150 American veterans and their families had registered to take part. the event is being organised by the Les Américains et la 6ème Flotte association under the direction of Valérie blouin, together with the US Navy League and its president, Cornelis Van Vliet. the event is expected to be an emotional and highly nostalgic affair. On the morning of the 19th January, the destroyer USS Ross with a crew of 300 men and 25 officers will sail into Villefranche harbour. those wishing to go on board should contact the town council as soon as possible because numbers are limited. On 20th January, a ceremony will be held at the war memorial in the presence of political leaders. this will be followed by a procession to the port station, where a memorial will be unveiled. Also included in the programme are a gala evening, cocktails, conferences, film screenings and city tours for the guests as well as a photo exhibition titled ‘La 6ème Flotte US à Villefranchesur-Mer’. the main sponsor is thales Underwater Systems based in Sophia-Antipolis. 

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cornelis van vlieT keeps The flag flYing on The côTe An interview with the president of the US Navy League French Riviera-Monaco Council

“VILLEFRANCHE IS ONE OF tHE GREAtESt tREASURES OF tHE CôtE D’AZUR. It’S PRObAbLy bESt NOt tO tELL ANyONE tHOUGH - PEOPLE HERE LIKE tHEIR PEACE AND QUIEt.”

IN THE IMPRESSIVE TOWN HALL OF VILLEFRANCHE: CORNELIS VAN VLIET, PETRA HALL, CHRISTOPHE TROJANI AND JAMES ROLLAND (L-R). © D.R.

The sea has always played an important role in the life of Cornelis van vliet, a mechanical engineer from Holland. From 1959 to 1963, he served in the US Marine Corps on ships including the USS Springfield, which was anchored in villefranche harbour for many years. He held the position as business partner of a construction firm in New Jersey for almost a decade, but spent all his free time on his sailing boat. By a lucky coincidence, Kees - as his friends call him - visited Cannes with his wife in 1972 and bought a yacht broker business. in 1984, van vliet established the Mediterranean Yacht Brokers association (or MYBa) with the aim of introducing high professional standards for the industry. This system has since been adopted worldwide and is also now available online. after holding a number of other professional posts, Kees was appointed president of the US Navy League French riviera-Monaco Council. Thanks to his enormous network, it was easy for him to help the Les américains et la 6ème Flotte association, its president valérie Blouin and the town to organise the major event planned for 19th January. He was primarily responsible for contacting veterans who were stationed in villefranche during the 1960s. Kees, can you give us a brief background on the US Navy League? The Navy League of the United States was founded in 1902 with the support of President Theodore roosevelt. it gradually became the leading public institution worldwide for all service providers related to the sea, such as the naval and merchant fleets, but also the coast guard. Today, the US Navy League has 40,000 members and 240 councils, including those in the Côte d'azur and Monaco. What are your tasks? Our most important task is to help officers and sailors of the US Navy League in any form when they are in our area. in addition, we support the Franco-american friendship and organise events with guest speakers of the US Marine Corps and also including French citizens and politicians. One example is the annual Day of the Navy in Grasse. The 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of the US fleet from villefranche is, of course, a special highlight. 

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Tennis tickets go on sale Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters onaco prides itself on being ‘a land of international tennis’, a title well deserved considering that this year’s Rolex Masters will be the 111th edition of the event. Every spring, the clay courts of the Monte-Carlo Country Club welcome the first European round of the annual AtP World tour Masters 1000 and it’s a date that, along with the Grand Prix de Monaco, has come to represent the the start of the season for sporting and cultural events in the Côte d’Azur. We won’t know the official list of tennis stars taking part at this year’s tournament, from 15th to 23rd April 2017, until mid-March, but it’s certainly fair to say that the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters attracts a world-class pedigree of players year-in, year-out. During a press conference last October in Milan, tournament director Zeljko Franulovic revealed the success of the 2016 edition, saying, “With eight out of the 10 best players in the world present at our event… I would like to thank all players for their loyalty and commitment to our tournament, which every day offered superb

monaco kicks off The fia WorlD rallY championship With the 85th Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo t’s the sport’s longeststanding fixture and canvases some of the most beautiful terrain in Europe. From Monday 16th to Sunday 22nd January, the 85th edition of the famous Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo will test the drivers’ skills, nerves and determination as well as their cars in 17 high speed stages through the lower Alps and the French Riviera. Following two and a half days of reconnaissance, the Round 1 of the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship will officially begin at 6.15pm on the thursday in Monaco’s Casino Square with two night stages: Entrevaux-Val de Chalvagne-Ubraye and bayons-bréziers. Drivers will then be pushed to the limit during the following day - the longest in the competition - as the teams head north of Gap for 160km of intense driving in the Hautes-Alpes and Isère:

Agnières en Dévoluy-Le Motty, Aspres lès Corps-Chaillol and Saint Léger les Mélèzes-AncelleLa bâtie Neuve. On the third day will feature a new version of the loop of Lardier et ValençaOze and La bâtie Monsaleon-Faye, which will both be run twice, and a second drive along bayons-bréziers before the final servicing in Gap. the final day of racing will see another four stages in which teams will twice contest on the Luceram-Col Saint Roch and La bollène Vésubie-Peira Cava, which itself was a replica of the famous Col de turini see in 2016. All in all, the route created by the Automobile Club de Monaco is vastly different 85% - to last year’s race and is set to be a gruelling four days of hardcore racing. the prizinggiving ceremony, however, will take place as tradition dictates at 3pm in front of the Monaco Palais Princier. 

matches to the great delight of the 135,652 spectators. the Court Rainier III was sold out from the tuesday to Sunday and the Court des Princes was equally full from the tuesday onwards.” tickets for the imminent tournament have been on sale to the public since 17th October 2016 when organisers SMEtt - Société Monegasque pour l’Exploitation du tournoi de tennis - proudly unveiled a new interactive 3D tool that allows spectators to view the Court Rainier III from a selected seating area. It’ll be impossible to choose the wrong seat! For this year’s edition, the Main Draw will be taking place on Friday 14th April the day before the tournament begins - at 6.30pm in the Jardin Exotique de Monaco. the events schedule for the tournament itself, not including the many battles that will dominate the Monte-Carlo Country Club, includes: the signature Launch Party on Saturday 15th at Zelo’s; a Children’s Day on Sunday 16th of workshops, virtual tennis competitions and signing sessions by the players in the activity area of the venue; and the traditional Grande Nuit du tennis on Friday 21st at the Salle des étoiles. 

paris-nice challenge One step ahead of the pro riders ou’ve seen it on the television, followed their progress in the news, but for some cycle fans, that’s just not enough. While most of the ParisNice Challenge route, from 5th to 12th March, is reserved for the professional riders, amateur cyclists can also get a piece of the road action on the penultimate day of the competition. On Saturday 11th March, 24 hours before the peloton tackle the final stage in the tour, two routes in the south of France will be opened up to road riders of all abilities (although experience is recommended). there’s a choice of two different routes: the demanding and professional route of 126km with 2,276m of elevation gains, which is rumoured to be featuring the fa-

mous Col d’Èze for the 2017 edition and costs 30-35€; or the (slightly) calmer 99km route with 1,170m of elevation gains for 2530€. Whatever the route, cyclists can expect to leave the bustle of the French Riviera behind them and head up into the stunning, natural scenery and hinterland of the region. Maps of the official routes are expected to be revealed sometime during early January. the roads will still be open to traffic, unlike the following day of racing, but organisers are reassuring competitors that the day of riding on the Saturday will take place under maximum security measures. Individual Accident insurance is provided by the organiser's insurer at an additional fee and is optional, but highly recommended. 

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golf

The green keeper When science meets golf By ELSA CARPENTER

riviera insider meets Le Provençal Golf Club’s Tim O’Sullivan on a sunny winter’s day to learn the art behind the perfect green.

t’s a near cloudless day when we head away from the coast to the rolling hills of Valbonne-Sophia Antipolis for an afternoon at Le Provençal Golf Club. Despite it being early December, the club house’s outdoor terrace is packed with tables ready for lunch and with the carpark full to bursting, almost all are reserved. Green keeper tim O’Sullivan meets us on the brow of the driving range with a bucket of balls. From up here, you have an almost panoramic view over the 44 acre, nine hole course. to the northwest, the Loup river cuts a deep cleft into the rock at Le-bar-sur-Loup in the distance while in the foreground, the lush greenery and fairways of the golf course seem to tumble away endlessly. “We’d describe it as a parkland course thanks to the trees and forests,” says tim. “It’s a relatively short course and not a very hard game, but it will please most golfers.” He gestures to the southeast: “Over there is the Pitch and Putt five hole course. It’s free at the moment and it’s a great place for golfers to practise and improve.” Le Provençal has around 140 members and green fees for the main course are 40€ during the week and 42€ at the weekend. there’s also a Ladies Day (thursday) and a Seniors Day (tuesday) both for 36€ each, which tim says are well attended and particularly sociable days. We’re visiting on a tuesday and it seems that many mature golfers are making the most of the discounted rates.

We head down from the driving range to the club house and restaurant in a cart with Iced tea, a very amiable Labrador belonging to a female professional golfer who trains at the course, in pursuit - he’s something of a mascot here. It’s barely turned 12pm, but the restaurant is already abuzz with a mixture of older golfers and suits. “this is one of the best restaurants in the area,” says tim as we take our table, “At this time of year, they do about 300 covers a day. Lots of businessmen and women from Sophia Antipolis come here for meetings - it’s just a few minutes away.” Over a delicious lunch by chef Christophe Seine - we order a Galician entrecôte and veal shank at 25€ each - tim tells us about the precise science of green keeping. Joining the profession is more academic than some may think. Many begin their journey working at their local course as a caddy, but then follows an apprenticeship or, for others, a university degree. “One of the lads I have working for me here did a four-year degree in horticulture,” says tim. “I spent two years at Penn State University and another two the University of Minnesota studying turf grass science.” Originally from Killarney in southwest Ireland’s County Kerry, tim launched his own company, Dt Golf Management, six years ago and is based out of Ireland, although the majority of his work in recent years has been on the French Riviera. “I’ve been contracted by Le Provençal Golf Club since 2014,” explains tim, “but I’m also project managing the renovations at the Royal Mougins Golf Club in partnership with turfgrass (owned by fellow Irish expat John Clarkin). I’ve worked all over the world in the Caribbean, the US, Spain, the UK and, of course, in Ireland, but the south of France is the first place I’ve felt settled. I’m always happy to come back here after visiting home.” His team is here seven days a week attending to the course, although the winter months are a lot calmer than the summer for the green keepers. “We have a routine every morning of going out and checking the various aspects of the course. In the winter, the grass grows more slowly so we only need to cut it back once or twice a week, but in the summer, it’s needed five or six times. On the fairways and approaches, we can use sit-on mowers, but for the greens it is more particular and exacting so we use a range of push mowers. Here we cut the greens to 2.9mm, a height I believe provides good consistency for golfers with regards to ball roll and bounce, but the height can change wherever you are in the world according to conditions.” At the moment, tim is getting the course ready to host one of his popular expat tournament. Under the tongue-in-cheek title of Golf and yachts Society, 36 players from across the Côte d’Azur are competing for a trophy although the losers also win a prize: a 30 minute lesson by trainers at the club! If you’d like to get involved, you can contact tim and Dt Golf Management via their webiste www.dtgolf.ie!

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T e e i n g

o f f

o n

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D ’ a z u r

GOLF CORRESPONDENT RAIMUND THEOBALD

golf Blue green sainTe-maxime it’s early morning, the roads are empty and the sun is shining down as we make our way to a day of golf in Sainte-Maxime. From now on, this is my favourite hilltop resort on the Côte d’azur.

oday I’m playing with a friend at a course that might be a challenge for his amateur genre of golfing, but by the end of the day, he proclaimed: “I will definitely play again!” It’s a trialling course and a buggy is compulsory here. At first my companion was a little unwilling to accept one, but following a begrudging ascent, he was certainly grateful after driving it for at least one hour the distances between some of the holes here are particularly large. We’re playing on one of the most beautiful coastal mountain plaines in the region; a course nestled between the hills that offers views of both the hinterland above and the breathtaking azur sea below.

this highly diverse par 72 course with its 5,440 metres of yellow tee provides a challenge for players of every game. you can enjoy the golf on a personal level. there are plenty of bunkers here, but little water, which only comes into play on two holes. A great water obstacle can be seen in the distance as we begin play, but in no way does it disturb our game. Don’t underestimate the power of the terrain however, considering its mountainous locale. Straight and slightly shorter strokes than usual are essential for a good result. During the warm, dry summer season, you should be playing on the well-watered fairways as away from the course, the ground becomes rock solid

making your golf ball bounce far and high. the most laid-back play is on the par 5 holes - excepting the 520m hole 2 - while the par 4 holes are long and direct. However, you’re sure to find tranquility at the tee-off for hole 7. Depth is sensory on this 160m par 3 hole, which is capped off by a lake that fills the basin in front of the green. Add to this the penultimate 17th hole, another similar par 3 facing a valley this time without water, on a slim green. this kind of golfing is what makes all the fun. With our buggy in tow, there’s no need for a break for lunch and we can dedicate ourselves entirely to the golf. Our results are accordingly good. One more note I must add: the previous reviews that said this course is in bad shape and the green fee is not justified are now irrelevant thanks to new management. this place is in very good condition and well worth the money! 

Born in 1956 and a passionate golfer since 1992, raimund is a lover of France in all its forms: the people, the food and wine, the culture, and most importantly Provence and Côte d'azur.

GOLF D’OPIO VALBONNE Golf Blue Green SainteMaxime Route du Débarquement BP1 83120 Sainte Maxime www.bluegreen.com

The course

18 holes Par 72 5,847m white tee 5,438m yellow tee 4,974m blue tee 4,584m red tee Driving range, putting and chipping greens Clubhouse with amenities, a restaurant and a well-stocked pro shop Open year round

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on The hunT for Truffles

In the forests of Mont Ventoux By CHRISTINE MAACK

From December through to March, the region around the Provençal town of Carpenters is focused on one thing: truﬄes. imbaud jumps up and down excitedly on the dirt road. He’s happy that there are guests again today and he paws at the ground, sniffing eagerly. Along with Polka, Rimbaud is the Jaumard family’s truffle dog - a mixed breed with Doberman genes. the dogs and the truffles they find are the livelihood of Eric Jaumard and his family, who have been living at the foot of Mont Ventoux in Provence for three generations. the family has devoted itself entirely to truffles for the last ten years. the notion of a quick earner has nothing to do with it, Eric tells us. More than 15 years ago,

he planted his 20 hectares of land with oak saplings that had been inoculated with truffle spores. the truffles he harvests cannot exist without the roots of the oak trees; it is a lifelong connection. Only around 20% of the trees planted have produced truffles, as Eric explains. “truffles are natural products, they don’t grow to order!” the truffle season has started and Rimbaud is canvasing the woodland floor with his nose pressed to the ground. Eric marches along after him with the energy of a man optimistic for a rich harvest. the soil here is a light brown, moist from the autumn rains necessary for the truffles and stony underfoot anyone hoping to go truffle hunting on Eric’s terrain should be sure to wear solid shoes! “In this limestone soil, the truffles need frequent rains to thrive,” Eric explains. Rain, however, has become rarer in the late summer and early autumn months of recent years even on Mont Ventoux, which is nearly 2,000m high. During the time of Eric’s grandfather, it’s estimated that 1,000,000kg of truffles were harvested each year in France. Now it’s just 50,000kg. “truffles were the food of the poor,” says Eric as Rimbaud leaps around behind him, “but now prices can be as high at 9,000€ per kg!” It wasn’t until the Renaissance period that truffles started appearing on the tables of Europe’s nobility and royalty. the peasants had lost their secret; truffles had become a luxury product. Rimbaud continues digging and hopping around until Eric bends and, using a small pickaxe, exclaims “Voilà!” the first tuber of the day has been unearthed. It is matted with clay and is hardly distinguishable from a stone to the untrained eye - it’s the aroma alone that reveals we’ve found something special. With their stronger noses, the dogs can smell the intense scent as it rises from underground. truffles grow around 10cm below the surface, but only when they are ripe do they develop that signature, mouth-watering scent of forests and roots. Pigs go crazy for this smell, but they are hardly used in truffle hunting anymore: “they eat the truffles right away without waiting!” We come to the end of our hike through the forest and thick clods of clay still cling to our boots. Rimbaud is deservedly tired and Eric’s bag is full as he swings it proudly onto the table. We sample our foraged treasures with frothy scrambled eggs and fine slices of truffle. A slice of foie gras, a glass of red wine and a fireplace blazing in front of us… Wintertime doesn’t get any better. 

MARKET DAY Where to find the finest truffles richerenches in the vaucluse region is the unofficial yet undisputed truffle capital of France and it’s home to europe’s biggest market dedicated to truffles. The town’s truffle association even has its own sigil: the Confrérie du Diamant Noir or Fraternity of the Black Diamond! The markets begin in November and can continue right into March every Saturday season-permitting. The brokers’ fair is open to the public although you won’t be able to purchase any truffles here; instead visit the market on avenue de la rabasse, where you can also pick up some delicious local cheeses and other produce. OTHer TrUFFLe MarKeTS iN THe SOUTH OF FraNCe Every Thursday until 1st March Place Frédéric Mistral aups Every Friday until 31st March in front of the Hôtel Dieu Carpentras 7th January La Bastide de Saint-antoine Grasse 15th January Place des Platanes Le rouret 22nd January in front of the town hall villeneuve-Loubet village 29th January Town square Gréolières 5th February Place de la Madone Colomars 11th February Place Maillot Puget-Théniers

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Jacques Gantié’s REStAURANt RECOMMANDANtIONS Jacques Gantié is the author of the unique regional restaurant guide: Guide Gantié. It is available in French in hard copy and electronically in English and contains hundreds of great insider tips for dining in the south of France.

DaMe NaTUre

The Duo of le p’TiT cageoT Homemade cuisine honoured with Maître Restaurateur accolade By ELSA CARPENTER

ound the combed streets of pedestrianised vieil Antibes, Le P’tit Cageot (the little crate) opened just six months ago, but its homely and unobtrusive cuisine has already won it the title of Maître Restaurateur. the status is the sole award given to restaurants by the French state and it signifies an establishment run by a professional chef who buys only fresh ingredients to produce a meal entirely fait maison or handmade. Owners Arnaud Lacombe and Roxane Michel have created a restaurant lush in vintage, provencal France where the building has been parred back to its roots. Exposed wooden beams, natural materials and calming light transport the space back to a former age that is complemented by the traditional dishes of the young couple. Innovation has its place here too, hardly a surprise given the cooking calibre of the 30-something duo who have worked in the kitchens of many a great French Riviera restaurant. Arnaud came to Le P’tit Cageot on 5 Rue du Dr Rostan from Hôtel belles Rives and Hotel Juana in nearby Juan les Pins so has at his beck and call a whole array of local producers, farmers and fishermen. He assumes the role of head chef and through his menu combines his experiences in the Mediterranean with those from his native bordeaux. the menu changes often according to the fresh ingredients that they can source, but is typically

this is a place for those who eat organic, whether carnivore, vegetarian or vegan. Gluten-free diners will also find more options here than almost anywhere else on the French Riviera. Created by Fabienne and Michel Vilain, Dame Nature really does stand up to its name. the ingredients used are rigorously sourced: tomatoes and vegetables from Pierre Magnani; Jean tonelli’s olive oils from La Clémandine domaine in SaintJeannet; cheeses by Alain barbagli in Amirat… It’s not often that you find a restaurant with such an open book policy. the wines too have been carefully selected in partnership with organic wine boutique Saveurs & Anthocyanes run by Antoine Soave in Nice and other reputable producers of the region and beyond. the menu changes frequently, but the winter starter menu currently features sea trout ceviche with lemon and oil (12€); a Swiss chard tart with leeks, a pine nut cream and sheep’s milk tomme (8.50€); and bone-in

organic beef steak with shiitake mushrooms and thai spices (11.50€). Mains range from 15 to 27€ with dishes such as grillfired fish and gambas with charred celery, amaranth and crunchy seaweed (27€); the restaurant’s signature burger with an organic beef patty, pesto, tapenade, organic parmesan and panisse (chickpea) chips served on a bagel (25€); and an unusual lactose-free vegetarian lasagne using tempeh bolognese, smoked tofu and vegan pasta (19.50€). Desserts are equally inspired: baharat pepper and orange soup with Corsican clementine sorbet (8.50€); ginger-infused carrot cake (9€); and a floating island with hazelnut praline and almond milk (9.50€). A menu comprising of an entrée, main and dessert - all of choice costs 39€.  Atoll Beach 167 Pormenade des Flots Bleus 06700 Saint-Laurent-du-Var restaurant-damenature.com

composed of three to four different starters, mains and desserts: wild crab meat with lime and aioli or braised beef stew with preserved shallot and a bordeaux sauce (20€), trout gravlax with pomegranate and fennel (14€) or a leek vinaigrette with quail eggs and rich bone marrow (10€). Desserts aren’t in short supply either, thanks to Arnaud’s background in patisserie at the private beaches of Helios and Colombier in Juan les Pins: St Emilion macarons with a nutty mousse and cream (9€) or a delectable tiramisu. the wine list has been intelligently selected and offers the finest of the French winemaking regions without excessive prices. that’s something that is reflected throughout the restaurant - you can eat (and drink) very well for a modest bill. A threecourse meal costs 30-35€, unless you opt for the Le P’tit Cageot menu for 29€! 

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half a cenTurY of hospiTaliTY By SUSANNE ALTWEGER-MINET

And a Michelin star for chef Caterina Lanteri Cravet The Ligurian gem of Cervo in the province of imperia is a delight for the eyes, ears and palate. The harmonious composition of this medieval town with its celebrated Summer academy music festival is only enhanced by the welcoming gastronomy of awardwinning restaurant San Giorgio.

“A FALSE INGREDIENt DIStORtS tHE COURt AS A FALSE NOtE DOES A CONCERt.”

Right photo CATERINA WITH HER SON ALLESSANDRO

he Michelin star was not the goal, but it was the hard-earned result of decades of work for chef Signora Caterina Lanteri Cravet. When we met, my first impressions are of her petiteness and unpretentiousness - this does not seem to be a woman of ego and vanity. Her attire is most remarkable and individual: a floor-length, white lace apron with a flower on the collar and a funky headscarf that matches the quirky ambience of the restaurant. During our interview, she talks of her passion for cooking, for ingredients, for quietly-kept kitchen secrets, the history of her family. Everything is emphasised with the classic Italian expressive gestures. the philosophy of her house is rooted in the preservation of Ligurian and Mediterranean cuisine. With justifiable pride, she mentions that she was awarded the Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic) in 2007. Since last year, she has been adorned with a Michelin star and is now the member of another exclusive club in which women are still very much in the minority. As a restaurant chef, Caterina appreciates the advantageous advertising effect of winning the award. Smiling, she recounts the time she received a call from Japan regarding a food critic arrived in the middle of the night. She meets the growing demand for her food with great serenity. this is not a woman affected by the so-called ‘star stress’ felt by some chefs who have earned the accolade: “I always cook at the same time and I cook what we like to eat,” she says simply. I’d like to know what that is. “90% is fish, crustaceans and shellfish,” she explains, “and, of course, seasonal vegetables. On the menu, you’ll find freshly caught fish from the nearby sea cooked,

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côte d’azur scores highly

grilled or raw with celery, fennel or mushrooms; gnocchi with shrimp, scampi from Oneglia and local squid.” the kitchen is open to new trends such as cucina molecolare (molecular gastronomy), but always remains authentic. that tends to mean Mediterranean in form; simple produce in the best quality. “the individual ingredients of the dishes retain their unmistakable character, they cannot overlap and compete. A false ingredient distorts the court as a false note does a concert,” this music lover muses. It’s this passion for her ingredients that means Caterina knows all to the very last detail. She talks of herbs as a perfumer does about the head, heart and base notes of a perfume. In the case of parsley, for example, she can tell the differences between a sprig picked from a large or small tuft and can describe how the plants were cultivated. I’ve never heard anyone talk so tenderly about parsley and I begin to get a different understanding of how excellent the food is here. I’m learning completely new things. For one, Caterina tells me that you should never smell garlic in a room. It should unfold its taste on the plate and not in the air. Working with garlic is different. Caterina’s descriptions are so vivid that I can already taste her cuisine. From the dining terrace or the small, cozy rooms of San Giorgio, guests can enjoy a beautiful sea view. Over the years, décor has evolved itself here with lovingly compiled silver highlights and floral arrangements that transform everyday life into something of pure happiness. Service fits in seamlessly. Caterina’s son Allessandro barla is responsible for the salon and is happy to advise on your choice of wine with the expertise of a sommelier. He does so with an understated approach and gentle advice. the head waiter, who has been a part of the restaurant for 40 years, explains the menu quietly, but also with a good shot of humour. Has there been much celebrity among San Giorgi’s clientele, I ask. With a bright smile, Caterina discourages the question discreetly. Many wellknown musicians have entertained her here. All of this - the quality of the restaurant, its unique atmosphere and its glorious chef - are a reflection of more than 55 years in hospitality within the walls of this protected enclave at the upper end of the town. Finding the entrance requires a little creativity and quick thinking. It has grown from a small trattoria owned and run by Caterina’s mother and her three daughters. the kitchen and is ambience grew slowing over time, taking small steps towards what it is today. the 15 years that Caterina spent working alongside her mother laid the foundations for her career. It was then on to the next generation, Caterina’s son, who helped pave the way to the top spot with his own distinctive style and clever decisions when it came to exceptional service. 

LA LIStE OF 1,000 bESt REStAURANtS

rance and French gastronomy have fallen out of favour with the world’s ubiquitous food critics. Italy, Spain, Denmark… All have featured in the top spot of the World's 50 best Restaurants in recent years, but France has barely been able to make the top 10. It was the backlash against this ‘failure to adequately merit the work of French chefs’ that drove La Liste organisers and partners to begin a new global ranking using the specialist tools of an algorithm-based aggregator of food guides and reviews. According to the 2016 list of the world’s 1,000 finest restaurants, French talent still rules with Parisian restaurant Guy Savoy at Monnaie de Paris clinching the gold, but also countless other institutions in l’hexagone have performed well. 11 restaurants in the Alpes-Maritimes and two in the Var have earned themselves a place on the new list. Leading the pack is Louis xV by Alain Ducasse (pictured above) at the Hôtel de Paris in Monaco (30th with a score of 98.25) followed by La Vague d’Or in Saint tropez (36th), La Palme d’Or in Cannes (247th), Christophe bacquié in Le Castellet (296th), Hostellerie Jérôme in La turbie (385th), Joël Robuchon in Monaco (394th), Mirazur in Menton (546th), L'Oasis in Mandelieu (609th), La bastide Saint-Antoine in Grasse (622th), La Chèvre d'Or in Eze (635th), Villa Archange in Le Cannet (730th), La Paloma in Mougins (821th) and Le Chantecler in Nice (822th). Similarly to the 2015 edition, France was the second best represented country with 113 restaurant on La Liste behind Japan (116). 

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DesTinaTion monaco Two luxurious addresses

Wine Palace

ExCELLENt WINE WItH AN ExCELLENt VIEW; tHE bESt WAy tO ENJOy MONACO

At the prow of the majestic yacht Club de Monaco, designed by british architect Lord Norman Foster, is Wine Palace Monte-Carlo. Stepping beyond its floor-to-ceiling glass front, wine connoisseurs and devotees are in for a voyage of discovery and hedonism thanks to the cellarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impressive 2,300 wines, champagnes and spirits. the sommeliers of Wine Palace are on hand throughout the experience, steering guests through a prestigious and international selection that can be enjoyed in the warmth of the opulent interior or on the terrace - even if you only have time for one glass, the view from the terrace alone is worth the visit! Wine Palace is intimate, inviting and surprisingly unpretentious. Servers take their time to explain the wide array of choices on offer and are passionate in their tasks. Each bottle of wine here has been bought directly from the vineyard. Savour your handpicked tipple in-house or take it away with you for a competitive price. Wine, of course, takes the main stage here, but there is also an excellent selection of high-end spirits, which can be purchased at the premises. ď ¸

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thirty Nine

It COULD bE ARGUED tHAt MONACO IS ALREADy A PRIVILEGED MEMbERS’ CLUb, bUt tHIRtHy NINE HAS RAISED tHE bAR WHEN It COMES tO ExCLUSIVIty.

Seated in the decadent salon of the recently opened thirty Nine Club, former international rugby player Ross beattie is a long way away from the mud of the pitch. While it could be argued that Monaco is already a privileged members’ club, Ross has raised the bar when it comes to exclusivity. thirty Nine opened its doors in late last year, but it’s got its feet firmly in the future. Located on the prestigious Avenue Princesse Grace, thirty Nine has been seamlessly designed as a luxury venue for dining, entertainment and relaxation. It oozes the glamour that Monaco has become known for on every floor. From the state-of-the-art fitness suite (the biggest in the principality at 800sqm) to the beauty studio by Velvet Monkey, the in-house tailors and a gourmet restaurant and its menu by top sports nutritionist Matt Lovell, Ross has cornered every aspect of the modern millionaire’s lifestyle… And with much aplomb. "the club will be like my house" said Ross. "Members will always be welcome, and the people they will meet there will be just like them, looking for some good times and joie de vivre. Give them my address, I live at number 39!” 

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fesTivals

on paraDe Lights, music, action for the start of festival season! By ELSA CARPENTER

There’ll be wows from the audience, squeals of delight from the children and smiles on every face as the French riviera springs into action with its first festivals of 2017. From the floral beauty of the Mimosa road in Mandelieu to Broadway reinvented in Menton’s zesty signature style, these next two months will be filled with excitement, tradition and performance as the region goes on parade…

under the big top Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival 19th to 29th January he Chapiteau de Fontvieille is donning its circus attire for one of Monaco’s most dazzling event: the Monte-Carlo International Circus festival. Created in 1974 by Prince Rainier III, the annual circus festival has developed into one of the greatest circus shows in the world and is now held under the patronage of Princess Ste-

held on 4th and 5th February. Emerging personalities and talents from across the world will perform and compete for the titles of gold, silver and bronze. tickets for both events are available online and at ticket offices. 

phanie. A spectacular array of international acts from all circus disciplines are invited to the principality each January to compete for the festival’s prestigious awards. From awe-inspiring feats of human ability to the captivating animal performances, each night of the festival will leave you and your family speechless. Aside to the main event, the New Generation fringe festival for young acrobatic and circus artists will be © Charly Gallo

king of energy Carnaval de Nice 11th to 26th February lmost 150 years in the making, this year’s Carnaval de Nice will take the theme of energy - electric, fossil, wind, solar, hydraulic, renewable and human - a suitable choice considering the vivid and lively spirit of the event! While there will be some changes to the 2017 line-up, such as the moving of the floral parade to Place Masséna instead of along the Promenade des Anglais, organisers and the city of Nice have pressed on with plans for the tradition despite the tragic events of July last year.

Officials have been keen to stress that all necessary security measures will be in place to ensure the safety of the thousands of families and visitors who attend the annual parades each year and extra additional police and security officers will be drafted in to support local forces. throughout the festival, Nice comes alive with mini carnivals in its neighbourhoods and music events dotted around its flower-strewn streets. A true moment of communal celebration that is not to be missed! tickets can be purchased online and at ticket offices. 

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oranges & lemons

La Fête du Citron 11th February to 1st March

he Côte d’Azur’s tangiest festival is back with a broadway theme! Musicals from the 1930s to today will be brought back to life in sunny Menton, but regardless of the weather, the crowds are sure to be singing along to classics such as Singing in the Rain, tunes from Mary Poppins and the timeless Wizard of Oz songtrack. An incredible 145 tonnes of oranges and lemons are transformed from fruits to floats - expect to see the likes of Liza Minnelli, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly up to 10 metres high and wheeled through the streets for the daytime Golden Fruits parade. by night, visitors can explore the displays in the Jardins biovès for the Gardens of Light experience. If you head down to the festival in its latter stages, there’s the possibility of picking up some of the produce used in the event for just a few pennies too! tickets can be bought in advance online and at the Office de tourisme de Menton. 

native of Australia, the mimosa flower was introduced to Europe and the Côte d’Azur in the mid19th century. It has thrived here thanks to our warm climate and the special soil conditions of the French Riviera and its hinterland. Of the 18 million mimosa stems harvested in France each year, more than half are from this region - 6,000,000 of which are from the municipalities of Mandlieu and Pégomas. Every year since 1931, Mandelieu-La Napoule has celebrated its heritage and success with a floral parade that has, in recent years, become a large public festival attracting thousands to the coastal town. the 10 days of festivities keep their own traditions: the Notre Dame des Mimosas (Mimosa Queen) is chosen on the first day of the event; Saturday evenings take the shape of floral parades; and on Sundays, children are invited to join the melée with flower fights in the streets as each rushes to col-

long live the south in winter Mimosa Festival 15th to 22nd February

lect up bunches of the vibrant yellow flowers. For those visiting the festival with some spare time of their hands, a walk along the magnificent Corniche d’Or is an absolute must. this is the Mandlieu section of the Mimosa road that links Grasse with bormes-les-Mimosa and has spectacular views of the Esterel Massif and the largest plantation of mimosa blooms in Europe on the tanneron Massif. For more information, please visit the Office de tourisme de Mandelieu. 

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Until 17th March cagnes-sur-mer Meeting d’Hiver the Hippodrome de la Côte d’Azur has a frequent programme of equestrian events that will please all fans of horse riding talent. Check the website for timings. Free entertainment for children. Entry 4.5€. hippodrome-cotedazur.com 7th January grasse Truffle market Delve into the mysterious world of truffles at the annual market at the bastide Saint Antoine. Sample gourmet delights and regional produce, and watch the truffling dogs in action at a demonstration. All day long. Free. grasse.fr 8th January nice Prom’Classic 10km run It’s the first run of the year and for 2017, there’s a depart from the usual course along the Promenade des Anglais. Instead, runners will discover the streets of the city and pass by many of its landmarks and cultural sites such as the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, the théâtre National de Nice and the Palais des Congrès. Racing begins at 9am. promclassic.com 8th January cannes Orchestre de Cannes performance A celebration of the new year, the Orchestre de Cannes PACA will perform alongside soloists and choirs from the Compagnie Lyrique Madame Croche at the théâtre Croisette. palaisdesfestivals.com 13th January cannes Khatia and Gvantsa Buniatishvili For benjamin Levy’s first post as chief conductor, Georgian pianist Khatia buniatishvili will perform with the Orchestre de Cannes accompanied by her sister Gvantsa. the duo will perform Concerto No.10 by Mozart. From 8.30pm. palaisdesfestivals.com

14th January cannes The Naked Clown Romance, acrobatics, comedy, melancholy, drama, beauty… Is there anything this performance can’t provide? the performance by the budapest group Recirquel, directed by bence Vági, will seduce all of your sensations with its unique circus style. From 7.30pm. palaisdesfestivals.com 15th January le roureT Truffle market Just as in Grasse, the world of truffles descends on Le Rouret for a traditional festival around this illustrious produce. All day long. Free. mairie-lerouret.fr

19th January monaco Club Vivanova Head to the Wine Palace Monte Carlo at the yacht Club de Monaco for a New year champagne reception. clubvivanova.com 19th to 29th January monaco International Monte-Carlo Circus Festival Prepare to be amazed! Circus acts from around the world are converging in Monte Carlo to compete for the top prize: the Clown d’Or. Expect dynamic acrobatic performances and impressive animal shows. At the Espace Fontvieille. Read more about it on our festivals pages. tickets from 30€. montecarlofestivals.com

16th 22nd January monaco 85th Rallye Automobile MonteCarlo touring the region will be the teams of the 85th Monte-Carlo Automobile Rally. Read more about it and where you can catch the action on our sports page. acm.mc

20th to 27th January monaco Manon Opera A production by the Opéra de Lausane and with music by Jules Massenet, the Opéra de MonteCarlo choir and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. Various schedules. tickets from 40€. opera.mc

17th & 18th January nice Disney on Ice Rediscover Disney at the Palais Nikaïa. More than 50 ice skating dancing will play out 14 of Disney’s most popular stories to a new soundtrack. Perfect for families. three shows. tickets from 33.5€. nikaia.fr

21st & 22nd January nice Marriage & wedding exhibition two days of all things matrimony at the Palais des Congrès NiceAcropolis. sean-acropolis.com

17th to 22nd January grasse Festival Méditerranéen Babel Impro Improvisation at the théâtre de Grasse! Artists from around the Mediterranean - Spain, France, Israel, Italy and Morocco - will be combatting on stage for title of the quickest and wittiest. theatredegrasse.com 18th to 24th January nice Tosca Opera Enjoy this classic opera by Puccini with a new production by the Opéra de Marseille. At the Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur. tickets from 12€. opera-nice.org

25th January to 1st February monaco Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo Historique Some of the finest vintage and classic rally cars will be hitting the roads of Monaco and the surrounding area. Organised by the Automobile Club de Monaco. acm.mc 26th January monaco Club Vivanova: New Year Champagne and Australia Day Celebration the popular expat and business networking club is welcoming in the new year as well as Australia’s national day with a reception at the thirty Nine Monte-Carlo private members’ club. the event is a complimentary date in the calendar for members of Club Vivanova. clubvivanova.com

2nd February mougins Club Vivanova An entire evening dedicated to New Zealand’s finest Sauvignon blanc and oysters at Le Moulin de Mougins. Delicious! clubvivanova.com 10th February cannes A night of American music From 8.30pm, the théâtre Croisette will be abuzz with the very best of Americana, jazz and blues. tickets from 23€. palaisdesfestivals.com 11th to 15th February anTiBes Pain, amour et chocolat Fresh bread, cakes, chocolate and entertainment… What’s more to love?! It’s the perfect occasion running up to Saint Valentine’s Day. taking place on the new esplanade near Port Vauban. From 10am to 7pm. amourchocolat.fr 11th to 26th February nice Carnaval de Nice A festival favourite, it’s the Nice Carnival. there’s been a slight, geographical change to the festival this year, but the parades, fireworks and dancing will still offer the same traditional excitement. the theme this year is Roi de l’Energie (King of Energy). Read more about it on our festivals pages. nicecarnaval.com 11th February to 1st March menTon Fête du Citron the traditional celebration of Menton’s signature citrus produce. there’ll be parades, floats and gigantic structures of orange of lemon. this year’s theme is broadway. Read more about it on our festivals pages. fete-du-citron.com 11th February to 1st March menTon Orchid Festival As part of the Fête du Citron, the Palais de l’Europe will be presenting a beautiful orchid festival in conjunction with the Association des Orchidophiles et Epiphytophiles de France. menton.fr

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12th February cannes Titanium Duo Rojas & Rodriguez have created a unique show that combines elements of flamenco, breakdancing, hip hop and rock. From 4pm. At the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. tickets from 10€. palaisdesfestivals.com

4th March cannes Break the Floor International An exceptional display of urban dance skill with dozens of teams battling it out on the stage of the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès’ grand auditorium. From 8pm. tickets from 10€. palaisdesfestivals.com

15th to 22nd February manDelieu Fête du Mimosa A cultural highlight of the year, the Mimosa Festival is an explosion of colour and fragrance. Read more about it on our festivals pages. ot-mandelieu.fr

4th & 5th March TourreTTes-sur-loup Violet festival Rediscover the flower in all its forms. there’ll be exhibitions, art, entertainment, concerts, dining and a free bouquet for everyone who spends over 10€! tourrettessurloup.com

21st February BioT Farmers’ market the town’s weekly fresh produce market begins this tuesday and will continue every tuesday throughout the year. Fruit, vegetables, cheeses, meats and many other produce from Provence. biot.fr

11th March monaco Club Vivanova: 2017 Gala Join Club Vivanova, Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, VIP partners, political ambassadors, distinguished business leaders and friends for a black-tie charity dinner at one of Monte Carlo’s leading luxury hotels: the Fairmont. Club Vivanova’s luxury car partner will present a supercar at the Fairmont lobby from where over 400 VIPs and guests will be escorted across a red carpet entrance (with a professional photocall) to the Salle d’Or ballroom. An exceptional Meilleur Ouvrier de France five-course dinner by Philippe Joannès will be paired with five internationallyacclaimed wines selected by chef sommelier Massimo Sacco. the gala will also showcase selected luxury VIP partners along with a contemporary art exhibition including local and international artists and sculptors followed by a hautecouture fashion show and a jewellery and diamond presentation. A charity auction will be held with donations from our partners for the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco and DJ Franco Jannone will provide the soundtrack to the party that is expected to go on late into the night. clubvivanova.com

24th to 26th February cannes Festival International des Jeux Are you a key gamer? Join the world’s gaming community at the International Game Festival in the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès for games of all kinds from traditional chess to the very latest in video gaming. you can ever have your future read! festivaldesjeux-cannes.com 25th February cagnes-sur-mer Défi du Galop A ‘charity mile’ initiative, launched by the Hippodrome de la Côte d'Azur in collaboration with Princess Charlene of Monaco, seeks to raise funds for the protection of animals. the princess’ father is already a part of a similar charity event in South Africa, which has raised more than 300,000 euros in recent years. hippodrome-cotedazur.fr 25th & 26th February TourreTTes-sur-loup Violet festival Rediscover the flower in all its forms. there’ll be exhibitions, art, entertainment, concerts, dining and a free bouquet for everyone who spends over 10€! tourrettessurloup.com

11th & 12th March nice Paris-Nice Race Watch amateur cyclists take on the final stage of the Paris-Nice race the day before the professionals arrive! letour.fr/paris-nice

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Menton Tourist Office | +33 4 92 41 76 76 | www.feteducitron.com

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COMPETITIONS Win tickets to the upcoming

siam 2017 the very first Monaco International Motor Show from 16th to 19th February. Head to the competitions section of our website for your chance to win a pair of tickets.

Best of luck! www.rivierapress.fr

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prince alBerT ii’s official leTTer To Trump

Trains halTeD ouT of grasse No connections available until the end of 2017 ntil December at the end of this year, the Grasse railway station will be closed with no trains serving the city or any of the other stops on the line to Cannes. 12 months of renovations and modernisation began in late 2016 as part of essential works that were supposed to start three years ago. Following the tragic train derailment in brétigny-sur-Orge in July 2013, which killed seven people and injured up to 200 more, all maintenance works planned prior to the crash were abandoned to fund the verification of the brétigny track, according to PACA project manager Frédéric Chatelais. these included the funds for works on the Cannes-Grasse line, which were reallocated to the crash site by the French government. Upon finally launching the works in December 2016, president of the PACA region Christian Estrosi sent a firm message to France’s national and state-owned railway operator SNCF, stating publicly, “I will not accept any delays in the delivery of this operation and I refuse to put up with any extra costs or overspending during this time period.” He also took the opportunity to weigh in on SNCF PACA’s poor track record of service, saying, “there were 89 days of train strikes in 2016. How can passengers be held hostage in this way?” this region’s tER service is the worst in the country with less than 85% of its trains being on time (it’s worth noting that a train is only counted as being delayed

if that delay is over five minutes or over 15 minutes for trains travelling longer than three hours). the toulonMarseille and Cannes-NiceMonaco-Vintimille lines both came in the top three worst routes in France for reliability. there has even been criticism regarding the transparency SNCF PACA’s figures such as by consumer association UFCQue-choisir who claim the statistics don’t match up to the struggles felt daily by train users. the works between Cannes and Grasse are expected to be completed by 10th December 2017. Until then, users will have to make use of the buses put in place between Cannes and Grasse. A direct link with no stops will depart every 30 minutes from Grasse between the hours of 6.20am and 7.20am then 4.20pm and 5.50pm Monday to Friday. Leaving from Cannes, the buses will be available every half hour from 6.30am to 8.05 am then 5.30pm and 7pm on weekdays. those travelling outside of peak times and at weekends will have to use the 600 and 610 buses. those travelling to and from the other stations on the line - Le bosquet, La Frayère, Ranguin and Mouans-Sartoux - will also have to use the existing bus network. the project is costing 37.5 million euros, 28% of which is coming from the PACA region’s own coffers. the works will improve the frequency of trains on the track, increase the capacity of the trains themselves and add 80 CCtV cameras to stations along the line. 

SOVEREIGn URGES COMMITMEnT TO FIGHTInG CLIMATE CHAnGE n a letter addressed in his own hand to the president-elect, Monaco’s Prince Albert II has sent a carefully worded note of ‘best wishes’ to Donald trump. Interestingly, the lukewarm letter names neither trump nor his third wife Melania and seems almost wistful in parts of the past relationship shared by the two nations. “Mr President-elect,” writes Prince Albert. “On the occasion of the announcement of your election as 45th President of the United States, I would like to express to you my best wishes for the success of your action over the next four years. I have no doubt that the warm re-

lationship that has existed between our two countries over the years will continue to grow and strengthen. Rest assured that my country, the Principality of Monaco, will be at the United States’ side in promoting the values we have always shared in the past. I want to believe that you will show your determination in preserving our efforts to lead on environmental protection in particular the commitments to fight against climate change, with a special consideration for our oceans. Princess Charlene joins me in conveying to you and the First Lady our highest consideration and our best personal regards. Sincerely, Albert de Monaco” 

monaco traffic alerts Easing travel in the principality aunched six months ago by Monaco Minister for Infrastructure, Environment and Urban Living Marie-Pierre Gramaglia, the online portal infochantiers.mc, which detailed construction works and diversions for drivers and pedestrians, has received an update to become infotrafic.mc. In addition to the features it held in version 1.0, the new site also allows residents and visitors to access information on the state of traffic in the principality in real time. Using

the filter ‘trafic’, drivers can observe the best routes to take to avoid heavy congestion. Green signifies fluid traffic flow while orange and red note areas in which traffic is dense and saturated. Users can also use the app to learn of disruptions caused to the roads because of events and works as well as the large construction sites. Car parking has also been added to the interactive map, enabling drivers to choose the most suitable facilities and identify which are full or how many spaces are available. 

suspension of flighTs from ouTsiDe The schengen zone

SAInT-TROPEz AnD LE CASTELLET AIRPORTS AFFECTED n late 2016, a decision by the French government refused to allow the Var airports of Le Castellet and Le Môle (Saint-tropez) to manage flights arriving from or departing to destinations outside of the Schengen Zone. Vice president of the Conseil Départmental for the Var, Françoise Dumont, who is also in charge of tourism, has now released an open letter to the state requesting the suspension is removed. Claiming the decision had caused ‘great panic and serious worry’, Dumont’s

letter states, “this incoherent and one-sided decision is contrary to all of the efforts and policies put in place for essential economic development. the entire tourism industry riskS being affected by this decision, which has been motioned without discussion with local politicians, professionals and authorities.” Dumont has requested the assistance of PACA president Christian Estrosi as well as the president of the region’s tourism committee, David Lisnard. the ban remained in place as we went to print. 

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one life, one Tree The next generation he birth of the next generation is always an emotional time for families, but those in Monaco will forever remember the moment thanks to the principality’s 1 naissance = 1 arbre initiative. For each new child welcomed into

the bosom of Monaco, a tree is ceremoniously planted in their honour. this year has seen a record number of seedlings planted - more than 1,000 - in the hills above Monaco. Families and their little ones met on Route de la tête de Chien in

Living on the h French F Riviera. Everything you need to know about living in, or moving to the French Riviera in English.

Visit angloinfo.com/riviera

November 2016 to plant their trees alongside mayor Georges Marsan, his deputy Jacques Pastor, counsellor Claude bollati, La turbie mayor Jean-Jacques Raffaelle, green spaces delegate Marc traphagen and mayor of Cap d’Ail xavier beck. Following speeches

from the National Office of Forestry and Monaco’s mayor, the planation ceremony began in which 1,067 trees were planted in the honour of Monaco’s newborns - more than any other year since the initiative began in 2008. the total is now 8,887 trees. 

angloinfo.frenchriviera nchriviera @Ai_Riviera AngloInfo

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 ExPAt FOCUS

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TonY sTouT The man behind progressive yachting information app YACHTNEEDS

Tony Stout has accomplished a lot in the short space of time. Since starting his app two years ago, YACHTNEEDS has quickly grown into a hugely successful enterprise and one that his clients say they’ve been waiting years for. Riviera Insider quizzes Tony on his work and where he likes to spend his time away from the desk…

hat first brought you to W the French Riviera? Sun, warm winters, good wine and… superyachts. I’m originally from New Zealand and I arrived in the French Riviera in 2010. yachting was not so well known at home at the time, but I had a friend that had worked on yachts and they said, “It’s the best way to earn a great living and see the world from a different perspective!” I'd already done a bit of travelling and this ticked all my boxes. As I already had itchy feet for more travel, I did the relevant courses at Mahurangi tech in Auckland and then took the long flight out to Nice, based myself in Antibes and started the hunt.

How did YACHTNEEDS come about? yACHtNEEDS came about when I was on my last boat, Zoom Zoom Zoom, and we pulled into the very small and quiet port of PortVendres (France-Spain border). We had the owners arriving in 30 minutes and we needed to find the local supermarket. the pressure was on and Google was no help what so ever so I had to do a mad sprint through the small town, eventually finding the supermarket with hardly any time to spare. I thought there HAS to be a more efficient way to find information in unfamiliar ports for yachties - this was not the first time this had occurred. the plan was to work on the app while I was still onboard, but it gained momentum so quickly that I took the leap and left yachting to work on this project full-time. My business partner had already seen the gap in the market and, combined with his entrepreneurial skills, talents, persistence and perseverance, yACHtNEEDS was born. You’ve had a very successful year. Where do you see your company going in the next few years? thank you - it’s been a crazy year and we experienced a massive escalation in the last six months of 2016. It’s been a great feeling watching downloads of the app, user numbers and companies working with us grow so quickly. Our success so far is down to four things: top class developers; the growth of our team - a good proportion of us are ex-crew so we understand the good and bad points of doing the job; the fact that superyacht and luxury companies see the potential in the future-proof media we offer; and the timing! I think we launched at the right time and the experience of my team is definitely a leading factor to the position we are sitting in today. I anticipate that 2016 was just the start for yACHtNEEDS and we will continue to see more of the same in the next 12 months: more downloads; more offers and deals for captains and crew; and more jobs and training/career

development. We also have some amazing functions on the app and other platforms currently in development - I won’t go into details right now, but they are pretty incredible! Do you think the yachting industry is changing to suit a more connected world? yachting is a very unique industry. We have some of the most technologically advanced vessels on the ocean, which are getting larger and larger, and at the same time, captains and crew are getting younger and younger, and have a millennial approach to instant communication through their mobile phones. Up until recently, this has been hindered by the cost of mobile roaming charges in the EU, but by using local SIM cards and the cheap roaming packages now offered, we have seen huge growth in the use of mobile phones. Luckily for us - and the crew - the EU roaming charges will be abolished by the start of the Mediterranean yachting season, allowing them to use their mobiles to get information without any real cost implications. A few people we work with in the industry already recognise this by providing 3G/4G roaming packages for yachts so I would say that the industry is already changing to suit and is ready to accept this change provided it is done carefully. the merge to a fully technologically connected world is already happening and it’s great for us and our users. When you’re not busy running your company, where are your favourite places to spend time in the Côte d’Azur? I’m sure anyone who has set up a start-up company will understand this... I literally have to get dragged away from the computer to take time out and leave yACHtNEEDS alone for a few hours. It’s like a pet that you just can’t leave alone! When I do get the rare opportunity to head out, a great Italian restaurant in Dolceacqua is always on the list and I do like to get back to my roots and head to Antibes where it all began and catch up with good friends. Antibes never changes and has a real sense of home for me. 

Publishing Director SEbAStIEN FRAISSE s.fraisse@riviera-press.fr Managing Director JAMES ROLLAND j.rolland@riviera-press.fr Editor in chief PEtRA HALL p.hall@riviera-press.fr Editor ELSA CARPENtER e.carpenter@riviera-press.fr Creative Director VINCENt ARtUS vincent.artus@wanadoo.fr Advertising & PR KARINE bALAGNy tel: +33 (0)4 97 00 11 29 marketing@riviera-press.fr Advertising & PR DOMINIQUE FREULON tel: +33 (0)4 97 00 11 22 d.freulon@riviera-press.fr Contributors Sarah Hyde, Christine Maack, Aila Stöckmann, Julian Nundy, Jörg Langer, Susanne Altweger-Minet, Raimund theobald Secretary CAROLE HEbERt contact@riviera-press.fr Distribution SUPERyACHt DIStRIbUtION Manuscripts and photos will not be returned unless previously agreed. Articles do not represent the opinion of the Editor. the publishing house is not responsible for the correct contents of ads. © 2017 - by Riviera Press s.a.r.l.

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