Cathedral by night

Monaco's cathedral at night.  This is where HSH Prince Rainier III and HSH Princess Grace are buried.

The Palace and Happy 2014!

The Prince's Palace on le rocher.  Wishing you all a happy and peaceful and healthy 2014. Thanks so much for all the kind and encouraging comments on my photos over the last year (blogs and Facebook). It means a lot to me.. Thank you!

A Walk on 'le rocher'

This was taken on le rocher - the palace is behind me and this couple are walking towards the barrier where they'll look down on the glorious view of Port Hercule and the yachts with the Christmas village and ice-rink alongside.

I couldn't decide if I liked it better in colour or black and white - so here are both!

The Palace at Christmas

The Prince's Palace at Christmas. 

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone.

Folon's The Fountain of the Birds

Jean-Michel Folon's La Fontaine aux Oiseaux is a sculpture I've always loved and we've seen it before but taken from the other side of this street - so here it is from back.  It stands on le rocher.

Concentration

I couldn't decide which photo to show you today so I'll show you a photo of a girl, at a bar on le rocher,  doing what we all spend too much time doing - staring at a computer screen.

Crocodile

A crocodile of young kids, probably on their way to the Oceanographic museum.

Oceanographic Museum - the Wonder of Fish

The wonder of fish at the Oceanographic Museum.

Biking

Bikes for hire on le rocher.

Written in Glass

These are the windows of the newly built Conseil National of Monaco on le Rocher - the Monagesque Parliament building.

Checking the Bill ...

Checking the bill?  Dividing the bill?  Foreign money is sometimes complicated ...

Tourism Movement

Visitors walk towards the lifts that will take them up to the Oceanographic Museum, the Palais and the Cathedral and all the delights of le rocher.

Tourism on le Rocher

The tiny ruelles on le rocher are enchanting if you can look past the tourist merchandise either end of a passageway.  Oh dear ...

The Open Air Cinema

Monaco's open air cinema. We've seen this on the blog before this is a slightly wider shot.  You can choose the type of seat you want to sit in - recliners, normal chairs etc and so prices vary. Great place to watch a film.

Nymphe Salmacis - F. J. Bosio

This sculpture is called Nymphe Salmacis and it's by the Monegasque sculptor, F. J. Bosio, who lives between 1768 and 1845. It stands in the forecourt of one of Monaco's public buildings on le rocher.

Petanque at the Palace - Red!

With the red and white flags of Monaco and the red t-shirts, we're not about to wonder where we are!

Petanque at the Palace - Sway!

Swaying pom-pom girls keep the crowd entertained as they wait for the next game of petanque.

Petanque at the Palace - the Pom Pom Girls

Meet the pom-pom girls - well, part of them. Tomorrow we'll see the rest.

Petanque at the Palace - the Throw

At the Petanque tournment in front of the Palace, this lady, who was playing with the Prince, has a pretty deft action, don't you think?

Petanque at the Palace - Daniel Elena

Another photo of H.S.H. Prince Albert II playing petanque and as you can see one of the other players is no less than Daniel Elena, who is Sebastien Loeb's co-driver in motor rallies. Between them they have won the World Rally Championship 9 times. Daniel Elena is Monegasque. 

The Prince's team won!