Blake - Fixing the supports

We're back at Blake's Monaco studio today.  Here he is fixing the metal rods that will hold the various parts of the sculpture together.  When this is completed, it will be sent to the foundry in Italy to be cast in bronze.

Mulberries

We're in Cap d'Ail today at the Pointe des Douaniers.  The restaurant, Le Cabanon, is behind us, the car park off to the right - Monaco is to our left.  I think these are mulberry trees - they form a wonderful horizontal canopy of shade in summer.  I'm not sure of the name though - perhaps someone knows?

The Yacht Club of Monaco rises ...

The new Yacht Club of Monaco is getting nearer and nearer to completion. As you can see it's beginning to look like a yacht iself. It's due to be finished at the end of this year with a grand opening in summer 2014.  You can see another photo by clicking on the link. The design is by Lord Norman Foster.

Bistrot le Bouchon

A table is being prepared at Bistrot le Bouchon on Avenue Princesse Grace.  Super ambiance, good French bistrot food. You can check their 17 euro menu on Facebook each day (click link).

Bikes

A bike is a good way to get around when you crew on a yacht - or if you own one ...

The Buzz of the Port

This is a longer shot of the diveboat we saw yesterday. (see small pic) 

There's something so relaxing about wandering around amongst the boats -  look at their names, look at the reflections in the water, look at the people working on the big yachts.  You don't have to own a yacht to enjoy the buzz of Port Hercule.

Dive Boat

Get the wet suit ready ...

Triplets

Identical boats in Port Hercule.

Watch your Step - 2

We saw this man the other day hanging over the other end of his boat - he's doing it again! Life on the water ... in Port Hercule.

Lunch

Pizza delivery.

Telling Tales: The Art of Creating Stories in Images and Words

Yesterday was the 5th and last day of a superb Photography/Writing Workshop in Monaco called:
 
Telling Tales: The Art of Creating Stories in Images and Words

With Nick Danziger, award-winning photojournalist, author and documentary filmmaker and Rory MacLean, best-selling author.

It was fabulous, inspiring, exhausting - we each worked on a specific project and left with the tools to put it into practice.  This is probably the only course where writing and photography are combined. It was such a privilege to be taught by and work with Nick and Rory - they really cared about us and our projects and that we should learn as grow as the course progressed.  Do click on the links above to read about the work of Nick and Rory.

There will be another workshop, I believe in September, in Monaco, so if anyone gets the chance, I'd say --- don't miss it!   Click on the link where you'll find contact details to reach Nick. Note - the workshop is in English.

Thank you Nick and Rory for a truly great workshop.

And thankyou to my fellow participants, wonderful talented photographer Tiziana from Monaco who cooked a regu to die for one evening.  To Jon (that's going to be a wonderful book!)  and Claire from the UK and her photographs representing poetry and to beautiful Elisa from Hongkong who has an old soul and will enchant us with her future work. 

The first photo was taken by Nick Danziger.  The one below by me.

Watch your Step!

Port Hercule

Careful, Monsieur ...

Stars 'n' Bars - Legs Eleven

Well, not quite eleven, but isn't this fun. 

Cloud Roll

We have the most glorious weather at the moment but suddenly, a couple of days ago around 10h30,  this low cloud rolled in and hung just above the water.  And then it went ...

Blake - the Wax Creation

Today Blake is pouring warmed wax into a mould that is the beginning of a new Angel creation.  Later he will join the delicate pieces together along with internal rods to hold the sculpture together.  Then it will be sent to the foundry in Italy to be cast in bronze. We'll see more of these processes another time.

Click on the link to see the beauty of a finished Angel by Blake.

The Tender Touch

Such a gentle and tender touch from a beautiful young woman to a little Westie, who is lunching at a neighbouring table at Bistrot le Bouchon.

Blake - and Bling

It's always such a treat for me when celebrated Canadian sculptor Blake invites me to his Monaco studio to take photos of work in progress. 

In the main photo, you see Blake's assistant, a sculptor herself, applying gold leaf to the interior of this sculpture in his new series, Phantom.  The first in the series, 'Phantom Sky' was exhibited at the recent Monaco-Japan exhibition. (see photo below)

Blake has written about the Phantom series:

'We have gone Las Vegas!
Bling has entered into the realm of the Phantoms!
This new series of sculptures place great value on the interior space within us, it is an exploration of our inner selves and the ideas of our emotional and spiritual psyche. By bring the interior to our attention I place a high value on this area of our intellect and emotional being, by covering it in gold I add physical, symbolic and material value to the work.'

Instant Summer

Miami Plage, Larvotto

We seem to have suddenly gone from a long wet, chilly winter to instant summer - notice I'm not complaining.  This guy is preparing mats on the beach.

Cherry Blossom 2

Cherry blossom in Monaco. Yesterday, we saw it from a distance, set against the backdrop of the sea.  Today, up close and personal.

Cherry Blossom

Cherry blossom outside the Japanese gardens on Avenue Princesse Grace.

People Watching ...

Walking the dog ...

La Note Bleue - Anemones

You'll always find beautiful flowers on the bar of La Note Bleue on Larvotto Beach. Here - bright red anemones.

Could this be Spring at last?

After all the rain and wind and chilly days, this was Monaco yesterday - glorious sunshine that made us all wonder if spring has finally arrived.

This photo shows the far end of the beach - in the background you see Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and beyond that Menton and Italy.

Eze Village and Cap Ferrat

I walked down from the village and along the Moyenne Corniche to get this shot.  Although I was quite a long way away, the 24-70 mm lens did pretty well.  The strip of land you see out to sea, is Cap Ferrat. Someset Maughan used to  love there.  in 2012 Cap Ferrat was named the second most expensive place to live in the world - after Monaco!

Eze Village - Donkeys

These two donkeys are usually to be found half way up the main slope that leads to the village. Presumably this is their winter grazing - it's just below the village.

Let's hope the restaurant behind them doesn't decide to serve donkey in their 'brochettes.'  As if ...

Eze Village - Restoration

All the streets in Eze village are beautifully restored like this. It really is an enchanting place - although my personal preference is for a more authentic, and dare I say it, less touristy village.  You are more likely to bump into a foreigner in Eze than a Frenchman - certainly in summer. But of course that is because it is so beautiful and it draws the visitors. And of course without the appreciation of its beauty it might never have been restored - and crumbled as other villages have -  so there are always two ways of looking at things. Like life ...

This archway includes the entrance to the gorgeous Chèvre d'Or.

Eze Village - Pause Café

This bar/restaurant is just inside the archway that leads to the old village.

Eze Village - Grab the Moment!

Any work that needs doing in Eze Village involves lugging the materials and the tools up the narrow streets and then lugging everything, including any waste materials, back again.

As I walked up this little street, the guy with the beard who is plastering under the sign 'le troubadour' looked right at me. He has a marvellous face and I should have taken his photo at that moment but I thought I'd do it on the way back down.  But by then he'd gone. Grab the moment! Applies to everything in life, doesn't it?

Eze Village - The Old Auberge

This  wall with its wondrous colour and worn out sign never fails to entrance me.

Eze Village - Notre Dame de l'Assomption 2

The interior of the beautiful Eglise Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption in Eze Village.