Sophia Vari - exhibition

Each summer an exhibition of sculptures is presented in the Casino gardens. Last year it was on the subject of the environment and around 30 artists were represented. This year, the exhibition is devoted to the work on one artist, Sophia Vari.

To see a short video of this Greek sculptor - she speaks briefly - and to see many more of her monumental bronze polychrome sculptures in the gardens this year please click on the link below.

Monte Carlo Ladies - 19

A Monte Carlo lady - chic, in jeans, I think. Many think jeans cannot be chic. What do you think?

She's standing at the entrance to the Metropole Shopping Centre which is opposite the Casino Gardens.

La Porte Rouge

The Red Gateway is named for its ochre colour. You can see an alternative view in the smaller photo. It's situated between Boulevard Suisse and Avenue de la Costa, which is an area very near to the Hôtel Hermitage. Originally it was the entrance to an enormous private domain called Roqueville. The gate was built in 1819 by the son of the owner.

Nowadays, no domain - all is urbanisation - but the Porte Rouge remains.

The Headless Horse

A pretty niche above a gate (see the smaller photograph) - with a sculpture that has known better days.

This was taken on the Boulevard du Jardin Exotique. Walk up the steps to the left and you are in Beausoleil, France.

Petite Pool

A small pool for a large block of apartments. The setting is gorgeous - look over the edge and you see the beautiful church of Sainte Devote - and ahead the harbour of Monaco, where there is an enormous pool if you want to do lengths.

A Monte Carlo Summer - the Fireworks Competition

Each year Monaco holds its Concours International de Feux d'Artifice Pyromélodiques. 4 or 5 'firework and music nights' are held throughout the summer and for each one, Monte Carlo is packed to the gills. You can't park, you can't get a meal in a restaurant unless you've booked well in advance. The festival has been running since 1966 and a win in Monaco is enormously prestigious. The five judges consider the style of the display, the quality of the colours, the quantity and effects and also that the fireworks synchonise with the music.

This year the contestents were Great Britain, Poland, Austria and Denmark - you see part of their presentation in these photo. Notice the lady's hand in the lower photograph.

When the fireworks start, all the lights around the harbour are extinquished - there's quiet and then suddenly - it all begins -it really is exciting.

And the winner? Austria who presented their display on the 11th August. They take away a cheque for 100,000 euros although the displays probably cost not much less than that.

You can see the photograph from last year's competition by clicking on the link.

A Monte Carlo Summer - the Bathrobe

No, you don't often see a gentleman walking about Monte Carlo in a bathrobe. He's probably been to the Thermes Marin de Monte Carlo - the Monte Carlo Spa - which is a fabulous gym/pool/everything for health and well-being - and is connected to the Hotel Hermitage, and I think, to the Hotel de Paris too, by an underground tunnel. He is about to cross the road at the level crossing you see to his left - this would lead to the Hermitage. So doubtless he decided to take the above-street route today.

A Monte Carlo Summer - August

Monte Carlo in August - A Ferrari, yachts and lots of visitors. Not that you don't see Ferraris and yachts all the year round - you do. More tourists though in July and August.

A Monte Carlo Summer - Black and White

For one second, I thought these three were real. They sit on a wall above the Park Palace shopping centre which is opposite the Casino Gardens.

A Monte Carlo Summer - la Gare

Monaco has a fairly new railway station. You can enter from various levels. Here is the view as you come down the escalator from the highest level - we are looking at the harbour from the St. Devote corner.

To get up or down involves escalators and lifts and happily, views like this. I look this standing on the moving escalator so am surprised the view remained pretty much in focus.

A Monte Carlo Summer - Le Louis XV

One day I'm going to rob a bank and eat here...

Alain Ducasse's Le Louis XV restaurant in the Hôtel de Paris on Casino Square is Monaco's most famous restaurant - 3 Michelin Stars. Mortgage your house to eat there. Drool, drool....

Click on the link and take the virtual tour. Don't forget the ceiling.

I'm told they have a camera hidden in the ceiling above each table so the waiters can see (from afar) when service is needed and the chefs know when to start preparing the next course. And anyway, don't you just hate a hovering waiter?

A Monte Carlo Summer - Silver

Take a stroll around the port - yes, it's opulent, big yachts, speedboats, trendy restaurants, you get the feel of wealth - but there is wonder just in the reflections on the water.

This silver sea took my breath away.

A Monte Carlo Summer - Hot Dogs

The young man had been carrying the girl around on his shoulders - he lowered her onto a plant stand by the port. She jumped off and immediately threw her arms around him - a flower above their heads.

Hot dogs in front of a hot dog stand!

To see The Barack Obama Dog please click on the live link to Riviera Dogs.

A Monte Carlo Summer - the Beach Cleaner

Monaco's beaches are not pristine by luck. Here you see one of the clean-up guys. It's early morning, already people are taking a dip but for this man, it's a working day on Larvotto Beach.

A Monte Carlo Summer - the Palm Fronds

If you tire of the beaches, you can always find peace and beauty in one of the many gardens in the Principality. Here we are in the Casino Gardens. These palm fronds entranced me. (Click on the small photo to see the palm)

I believe this is called Erythea Armata, a palm from California and sometimes known as the Blue Palm. If not, I hope the knowledgeable-on-all-things-horticultural, Tog of Coral Gables Daily Photo will correct me.

A Monte Carlo Summer - the Funfair - Boating

Are they practicing for the day they'll have a boat like Daddy's?

A Monte Carlo Summer - the Pool Man

Early morning and the young man is putting out the umbrellas ready for another hot day. We are at the swimming pool in Port Hercule.

This one is for you, Sally from Sydney Daily Photo. Sally swam in this pool when she and her family visited in June this year.

A Monte Carlo Summer - the Funfair - Waiting

These children are watching the bungee jumpers at the funfair on the port. Perhaps waiting their turn, perhaps just dreaming. What a mixture of faces and expressions. And how beautiful is that little boy on the left?

A Monte Carlo Summer - the Conversation

It's just gone 8 in the morning. These two guys are sitting, deep in conversation, at La Note Bleue, which is a jazz lounge, beach restaurant on Larvotto Beach.

A Monte Carlo Summer - the Opera House

A view of the Casino (in fact the back of it - ie the Opera House) taken from the far side of Port Hercule, which is way way below. This shot shows Monaco's setting in the hillside.