Messing about...

Not everyone in Monaco has an enormous yacht. Some have small boats that need work on the outboard motor.

'There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.'


~ Kenneth Graham ('Ratty' from Wind in the Willows)

A Read in the Park

The Casino Gardens, right by one of the fountains seems a good place to read the local rag, Nice-Matin - but not when the front page talks of a train strike.

Caption competition result from last week HERE - look at end of comments.

Theme Day: Passageway...through the Winter Sporting

The Winter Sporting is a building with an entrance on Avenue Princess Alice, opposite the Hotel Hermitage. The other entrance is on the Casino Gardens and these photos show the passageway from one to the other. The Sporting d'Hiver is an Art Deco building that houses Monaco's cinema, several art galleries, a coffee shop and so on. Recently there was talk of it being demolished but there was such a hue and cry that happily we've heard no more about it.

In the main photo we are looking towards the gardens and in the smaller photo, in the opposite direction, with the cinema - out of shot - to the left.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted today's theme please click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Lanvin in Sepia

Regular visitors to this blog will know I adore the Lanvin windows in Casino Square. You've seen them before HERE and HERE and HERE. Today - we see another in sepia.

The Rowing Regatta - Ready to Race

Last day of the regatta as the boats make their way to the open sea - including the boat you just see in the smaller photo - after the rower had retrieved his dropped oar, that is!

The boats make their way through the entrance to the harbour - ahead is Cap Martin and beyond is Menton. And then Italy.

There's still time to enter the Caption Competition - results on Tuesday. A postcard of Monaco to the winner.

The Rowing Regatta - Smiles and a Baby

The guys are from the Cannes-Mandelieu rowing club and ready to roll - well, ready to row.

And baby came too...

The Rowing Regatta - Talking Tactics

Some people sit around and talk tactics, whilst others launch a boat.

The Rowing Regatta - Caption Competition!

Caption this photograph! A postcard of Monte Carlo to the winner!

Cast your eyes down and you'll see the girl on the left has blood running down her hand. What is she saying to the two guys? These are all part of the Trieste team by the way. Winner will be chosen by a committee of three - me and my two dogs, Beau and Mia. In the case of a disagreement, Beau gets the final vote. Woof! (Winner announced on Tuesday)

And if you like caption competitions do visit The F-Stops Here...where Janet Kincaid of Ferney-Voltaire in France not only shows us beautiful photos but presents a caption contest each Monday.

The Rowing Regatta - Colour

Don't you love the colour on the water. The teams are ready and soon will out on the open sea to compete in the various categories.

But before we do that, tomorrow there will be a caption competition on Monte Carlo Daily Photo - do come back and see what it's all about...winner gets a postcard from Monaco.

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...