No Finish Line - Running in High Heels

At 18h each evening and as part of the 8-day No Finish Line run for charity, you can run in high heels on a pink carpet. Perfect for Monte Carlo Ladies! This is sponsored by a company promoting shoes that offer comfort and glamour. 

No Finish Line - Ouch!

No pain, no gain ... ouch!

Jetski

 We've left Plage Mala and are making our way back to Menton. This guy was having the best fun on his jetski in the seas off Monaco.

Plage Mala - Splash!

Here's what happens when you jump off a paddle board for a swim.  It stays attached ...

See yesterday's PHOTO.

Plage Mala - Walking on Water

The small beach at Plage Mala is surrounded by these beautiful rocks. Just the place to do some Stand Up Paddle Boarding which seems to be the rage at the moment.

We'll see how this works tomorrow ...

Les Thermes Marin de Monte Carlo - Windows

The massively tall windows at the Thermes Marin de Monte Carlo.

Ignore the sky - today it's a perfect Mediterranean blue and going to be hot again.

Les Thermes Marin de Monte Carlo

Les Thermes Marin de Monte Carlo is a beautiful spa, gym, pool and restaurant with stunning views over the port of Monaco. This is the entrance.

Davis Cup Monte Carlo - Allez les Bleus! Go USA!

Yesterday I went to the Grimaldi Forum to photograph ArtMonaco - the series was due to begin here today. However, I'd forgotten that the Davis Cup tennis was on. Finding a parking place was next to impossible although in the end got a place down by the port.

Much much later it was almost impossible to get past the Monte Carlo Tennis and out of Monaco. The cars crawled along and so I snapped these American ladies through the glass (then wished I'd remembered to roll it down). And later at Saint Roman, snapped the French - against the early evening light.

I couldn't tell who won yesterday as both the Americans and the French seemed to be having a ball.

Allez les Bleus! Go USA!

Pink Ribbon Monaco - Up and Away ...

Pink balloons soar up into the sky above Port Hercule. The Pink Ribbon Walk is over - a great success. All that remains is lunch...and a glass of bubbly.

Pink Ribbon Monaco - the Spirit of Sisterhood

Meet Natasha Frost (she's on the left) and is one half of the incredible energy behind Pink Ribbon Monaco. The lady on the right is Perrine Guyonnet, owner of Miss Rose by Perrine and creator of amazing floral arrangements - it was she who organised the fabulous flowers along with the band of helpers you see in the photo below. She also supplied what seemed like a trillion pink balloons.

Natasha and Julia Speri-Kaukonen founded Pink Ribbon Monaco in 2011.

Natasha lived in Los Angeles during her studies and was very much aware of the Pink Ribbon movement that has been such a big part of women's lives in all major anglophone cities for nearly 30 years. The spirit of sisterhood, women supporting other women through illness, treatment and the aftermath of the illness, as well as the celebration of the lives of the victims has always touched her.

Although the Monaco health department is very active in screening and development, she felt that what was lacking is this spirit of female unity that is found elsewhere, and after Julia told her about her mother's battle with cancer, she shared with her the dream of creating Pink Ribbon Monaco. As Natasha says, 'Without Julia, it wouldn't have become a reality.' Julia was not able to be there for the inaugural walk for family reasons, but her support was felt, and Natasha says that she is very aware and grateful that without her, none of this would have been possible. 'We complete each other as she is very practical and what we call a "dooer," while I am more of a dreamer!'

Here is a bio of these two great women:

Julia Sperl-Kaukonen: Born in Vienna, Austria in 1973, Julia becomes a Monaco resident in 2002 after pursuing a successful career in finances, in New York. Sadly, Julia's mother was diagnosed with cancer but is happy to say that her mother is a survivor, having got the “all clear” in 2010. Julia is a lawyer.

Natasha Frost: Born in London, Natasha moved to the Côte d’Azur aged five, over 30 years ago, where she pursued her education in French schools till moving to the United States to attend university. In California, she read history and literature. Throughout her studies and to the present day, she frequently volunteers in various community and charitable services, such as « California Soup Kitchen » (project in downtown Los Angeles to feed the homeless), a Women’s Centre on campus (crisis centre for women) and more recently «J’accède » in Monaco, a national movement to draw attention to the public on the difficulties of access to certain areas for people with limited mobility. Breast cancer is a sensitive issue as both her aunt and grandmother were victims. Her aunt is a survivor. Natasha is a translator-interpreter.

Pink Ribbon - the Walk

Following on from yesterday's post and the start of the 10 kilometre run, these 250+ ladies immediately followed in a blaze of pink for a leisurely 3 kilometre walk. Much more my style... They simply walked along the port, through the tunnel to Fontvieille, did a circuit around and then back to the port and all in aid on Monaco's first Pink Ribbon Walk for breast cancer awareness. And then many of them went off for a champagne lunch!

You can see what a dull old day it was and boy did they brighten things up.

Monaco 10 Kilometre Run - They're Off!

2,500 runners took part in the recent Monaco 10 kilometre run. And they came from 50 different countries. It's one second to the start and the really serious guys are ready to press the button on their watches.

And they are off...

The 'Warm-up' Man

The Pink Ribbon Walk wasn't the only event taking place on the port a week ago. At the same time - and a far bigger event in terms of numbers of people - was the annual 10 kilometre run.

Some of you know my computer died last week and this batch of photos were lost. Yesterday one of those fabulous Genius guys at the Apple Store in Nice retrieved them from the old hard drive and put them on a memory stick - so we are back with the Pink Parade and the 10 kilometre Run.

This guy is warming up the runners and you'll see that some of the 'pink' people joined in.

A Jenson Button and Jessica Michibata sort of day...

Yesterday was a glorious day - t-shirt weather.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a mad Formula One fan and never miss a race. Jenson Button is my favourite driver. He drives for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes with intelligence, sensitivity - he's brilliant - and there he was, running towards and then past me. Too late for a shot so I turned around and clicked. Jenson is in the red t-shirt in the smaller photo.

A few minutes later Flavio Briatore (ex director of the Renault F1 team) walked past La Rose des Vents.

And 15 mintes afer that, Jenson's beautiful girlfriend Jessica Michibata came along, running in the opposite direction. That's her in the main photo.

And after that - to make it a real Grand Prix Sunday - I went to lunch with my friend Sue, who is married to Roy Salvadori - another F1 driver from what is now a bygone era. My interest in Forumula One started years ago when I became friends with Roy and Sue.

The Frozen Swimming Pool

In winter the swimming pool on Port Hercule is turned into an ice rink.

No Finish Line - the Cavaliers

Apologies for an image not quite as sharp as usual but I wanted you to see these two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels walking for No Finish Line.

You can see, on the back foot of their owner, the No Finish Line tag and it is this that testifies how many kilometres have been covered. You can see that this lady takes it every bit as seriously as the runner in front of her, even if she doubtless didn't run as far.

Our last day at No Finish Line and congratulations to all the walkers, joggers and runners who raised money for charity over the 9 days.

No Finish Line - Going for the Burn

Some people stroll, some jog and some, like this guy, take it very seriously. Look at his face in the smaller photo. So far as I can make out he finished 5th over all and ran for 190 kilometres. Makes me tired to even think about it. Good for him - he'll have raised a ton of money for No Finish Line and the charities.

Show Jumping on Port Hercule

Just before we get into THE wedding preparations, here are a couple of shots of the show jumping on Port Hercule taken from le rocher. The setting by the yachts is spectacular.

For close-ups, see HERE and HERE from last year's show.

And to see a photo of the soon to be married couple - the wedding takes place this coming weekend - here are Prince Albert and Charlene Wittstock at the show jumping a few days ago.

Monte Carlo Tennis

This is the most my camera will see of the Monte Carlo tennis. It's impossible to park in Monaco at the moment with the tennis and also with Top Marques, the car show. I pulled up as I drove out of Monaco at an illegal place, pushed my camera under the bars of a metal barrier and grabbed these shots. Because of the barrier I couldn't get the angle to see the centre court but you can see the spectators watching the match taking place on it. In the smaller photo you see the clubhouse on the right.

The boat, by the way, is the Queen Mary II.

The Reflective Skater

Each winter the swimming pool on Port Hercule is turned into a skating rink. The reflections are tents put up for the 2011 Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique which arrived in Monaco last Saturday - pics start tomorrow...