The Rowing Regatta

Yesterday, as you see was a glorious day - well until early afternoon when we lost the sun. It was the second day of a rowing regatta - the 6th edition of the Prince Albert II Challenge and this year teams have come from as far as Australia, Ukraine and Sweden.

Note the Palace which you can see top left hand corner.

Here you see some of the early preparations - come back tomorrow for more fun on the water.

A Bird for Abe

This dove - I 'think' it's a Eurasian Collared Dove - posed on a branch in the Saint Martin Gardens on le rocher. This is in homage to a real bird photographer, Abraham Lincoln (yes, he really is a descendant of THAT Abe) and is the most amazing bird photographer. Take a look at his My Birds Blog.

Walking the Dog...

Walking the dog...? Well, perhaps not, unless you have a chihuahua that gets walked in a handbag. If you can't resist these shoes, you'll find them available at the Philipp Plein shop in the Metropole Centre.

Ficus Repens

Ficus repens - the pretty creeping ivy that decorates the balustrades of this wall just below the Hôtel de Paris.

A Joyous Update: Thanks to Kim of Seattle Daily Photo for the great news that photo blogger Amir Sadeghi of Tehran 24 and Tehran Live has been freed from Evin prison in Tehran. Amir is free. What fabulous news!

The Monk

A trompe l'oeil artist has taken a break from his creation on the side wall of a building opposite the Palace. Looks like it's going to be really good, doesn't it?

The narrow street is called rue du Comte Felix Gastald. He was a descendant of one of the oldest families installed in Monaco before the XIIIth century. Comte Felix built the Chapel Saint-Laurent which was replaced in 1883 by the Eglise Saint-Charles.

The Glance

A sideways glance into Chanel's windows on Casino Square.

'I went window shopping today! I bought four windows.'

~ Tommy Cooper

Entrance to the Palace Museum

More artillery here - this time outside the Palace museum. Note the pebbles laid to create patterns on the ground. This is a beautiful area of the Rock - sun shines through the trees creating interesting light and shade.

Cannon

Aimed at those dastardly French, the cannon is displayed on le rocher, near to the Palace. In the smaller photo you see a clever way of displaying cannon balls.

Demure

This young girl stands in a recess near the lower entrance to the Residence Metropole.

Everytime I look at these two sculptures my arms and shoulders ache...

Fontvieille - 2

Here's a wide shot showing yesterday's plant growing out of the wall. We are looking further to the right than the wide shot of two days ago.

Life in the Wall

This plant grows out of the wall overlooking Fontvieille and its harbour - taken from a slightly different place to yesterday's wide shot. Plants can live in almost nothing...

Fontvieille

We're standing on le rocher near the Palace and looking down on the small and peaceful harbour of Fontvieille. All the buildings you see are built on land that once was sea. Quite incredible, don't you think? You can see the four points of the circus tent and beyond we see tall buildings - all are luxurious apartments. Beyond those buildings is Cap d'Ail, which is in France.

The Spirit of Ecstasy

Yesterday a Monte Carlo lady, today a Monte Carlo car - a Rolls Royce Corniche parked outside the Hôtel de Paris on Casino Square.

The famous Spirit of Ecstasy mascot you see on a Rolls Royce was the work of Charles Robinson Sykes. But who was his beautiful subject?

Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, a pioneer of the automobile movement, and editor of The Car magazine from 1902, had a secret love, Eleanor Velasco Thornton and she was the model for the emblem. Their love was to remain hidden for more than a decade. The reason for the secrecy was Eleanor's impoverished social and economic status, which was an obstacle to their love. Eventually Lord Montagu, succumbing to family pressures, married Lady Cecil Victoria Constance, but the secret love affair continued and Eleanore bore him a child. It seems Lady Montagu condoned the affair and even befriended Eleanor.

Eleanor died on 30 December 1915, going down with the SS Persia, when the ship was torpedoed off Crete by a German submarine. Eleanore had accompanied Lord Montagu on his journey to India, just four years after she had been immortalized as the Silver Lady. Lord Montagu survived, by clinging to an upturned life boat for 36 hours, Eleanor went down with the ship. Her body was never recovered.

Look out for Lord Attenborough's new film, due out next year and called The Silver Ghost, starring Christian Bale and based on this story. To read more detail about Eleanore and Lord Montague, click HERE.

These Boots are Meant for Walking?

Don't you love this Monte Carlo lady's high-heeled boots?

We're in the Saint Martin's Gardens which is below the cathedral. The building you see ahead is the Oceanographic Museum.

Her Own World

We're at the eastern end of Larvotto Beach - children play off to the left and beyond that is a busy beach restaurant. Here, in her own little world, a woman watches the sea hitting the breakwater.

Thanks so much for 3rd birthday wishes yesterday - so much appreciated.

3 Years of Monte Carlo Daily Photo - Paint the Town RED!

This is one of the Lanvin windows in Casino Square. They do great windows and that red dress seems just right to celebrate Monte Carlo Daily Photo's 3rd birthday - 365 posts each year and not a day missed. And the same again - on Menton Daily Photo.

Joining the City Daily Photo community has truly changed my life bringing a new field of creativity, so many new and valued friends and even a new job as journalist/photographer for CITYOUT Côte d'Azur. None of this would have happened without our dear Eric Tenin who started it all with Paris Daily Photo - thank you, Eric, and thank you to Demosthenes and Igor who keep us up and running every day.

Thanks to my fellow bloggers, some of whom I've been lucky enough to meet, others are valued friends from afar. So many of you, over these three years, have helped and encouraged me and even more of you inspire me. And thank you to everyone, blogger or not, who takes a look at my photographs each day.

I know I'm lucky to live in such a beautiful place and the pleasure for me in blogging is to share the place I love so much. Photography has changed the way I see the beauty around me. Once I used to just 'look' but now, thanks to seeing my world through the lens of a camera, I really 'see' it. How lucky I am.

How I wish I could offer you all a glass or two of champagne but please enjoy a virtual bottle of bubbly anyway!

The Festival of Sainte Dévote - the Choirboys

As I was photographing outside the cathedral a friend saw me and asked me to photograph her son who was one of the choirboys. 'Which one?' I asked. Her daughter ran over and told me he was 4th in line, so I waited a few seconds and snapped.

Do come back tomorrow and celebrate Monte Carlo Daily Photo's 3rd birthday.

The Festival of Sainte Dévote - the Blessing

The entire procession has moved from the Palace to the ramparts which overlook Port Hercule. Here, the Archbishop of Monaco holds the precious relic of the martyred Sainte Dévote whose body was washed up in a small boat on the shores of the Principality in the year 304.

As you can see I was shooting into the light but let's pretend I meant these shots to be 'arty' (I didn't!) - next time I'll know where to stand as per the official photographers you see in the main photograph. I still like the feeling of the photographs tho, showing the seriousness and sense of purpose of the participants on this Fête Day for Monaco's revered patron saint.

Do come back on Sunday when Monte Carlo Daily Photo celebrates its 3rd birthday.

The Festival of Sainte Dévote - the Clergy

A few members of the clergy, seen here in the Place du Palais. We met the Archbishop HERE.

The Festival of Sainte Dévote - the Relic

This is what the parade is all about - the relic of Saint Dévote. In the year 304, when the boat containing the body of the martyred body was washed up on the shore of Monaco, some fishermen stole a substantial fragment of bone. An angry mob burnt the thieves’ vessel, and ever since, a fishing boat has been symbolically burnt in memory not just of the saint but of the recovery of her remains.

Look carefully and you will see the relic of bone in the golden casket.