Fun and Games off Larvotto

It's that time of year again with the Med awash with luxury yachts. This is the Nero. In the main photo and the small one, she is moored opposite Larvotto Beach and in the last photo, she is near the entrance to the port of Beaulieu-sur-Mer.

Nero is 90.1 metre long (295.6 feet) and was built in China in 2008. She would cost you between 385,000 and 420,000 euros to hire for one week's fun and games on the Mediterraean.

Click on the link to see photos of this yacht's luxury interior.

White on the Red Carpet

We've popped back in time nearly two weeks to the Horse Jumping Show on the port and this good looking lady walking down the red carpet. Do all Monte Carlo ladies talk on their portable phones all the time?

Femme Habillée

A clothed Botero - whatever next! There are so many wonderful nude Boteros around Monaco so this one was a surprise. She stands on Port Hercule outside the Marlborough Gallery and not far from Stars n Bars. She was sculpted by the Columbian master in 2003.

Cool Dude

Don't you love the turquoise slippers...

The Hidden Beach

One of Monaco's surprises - this tiny beach which is below le rocher, between the Oceanographic Museum and the beginning of the new digue (pontoon). A lot of steps to walk down - and then up! - and perhaps with curious tourists looking down at you but why not...

Damien Hirst's Temple

You can hardly avoid Damien Hirst's sculptures in Monaco this summer - his Virgin Mother stands proudly in the port of Fontvieille and here, his 'Temple' stands outside the Oceanographic Museum on le rocher. So far 200,000 people have visited the exhibition of his work which includes various animals in formaldehyde.

Don't you love the woman on the bench in the lower photo - doing her crossword puzzle and totally oblivious to this gentleman's bright red equipment!

The Super Yacht Party - Phocea

Photographing a sailing yacht that is 246 feet long whilst she is wedged between other boats is impossible - at least it was for me - so this is the best I could do but do please click on the link to see the beauty of this wonderful sailing yacht at sea.

The Phocea was the host ship for the Super Yacht Party. She was built at the Toulon Naval Dockyard in 1976 for the well-reputed, single-handed yachtsman Alain Colas. Shortly after competing in the Observer Single Handed Transatlantic Race she was converted into the charter yacht Club Mediterrannee, and then in July 1997, she was purchased by her current owner, Lebanese Mouna Ayoub, ex-wife of Nasser Al-Rashid who owns the Lady Moura, one of the largest yachts in the harbour of Monaco. He partly paid for the $17 million refit of the Phocea, when he sold 'The Mouna', a 112 carat (22.4 g) record-breaking diamond.

The Phocea began her transformation into a luxury sailing yacht at Lurssen. Whilst retaining her unmistakable identity, she has undergone major interior and exterior upgrading. Her opulent interior includes some exquisite David Linley furniture. The Owner's suite, commanding fine views, is situated on the main deck whilst the VIP guest cabin and four other double cabins, all with full ensuite facilities, are located on the lower deck.

Phocea crashed into rocks off Sardinia in August 2005 while Prince and Princess Michael of Kent were aboard. Three people were seriously injured. The yacht was damaged below the waterline.

The Super Yacht Party

The Phocea, one of the largest sailing yachts in the world, played host last weekend to a get-together of the world's super yachts.

Tomorrow: the Phocea

Multi-tasking

We've not had a Monte Carlo lady for a while. This attractive lady seems to be multi-tasking with a vengeance. A phone under her ear, another in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

Summertime...and the livin' is easy!

Something tells me summer has arrived with a vengeance. Here we are on Larvotto Beach. The building in the distance is the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort.

Reverse Reflections

Reflections of the sea on the side of the boat - rather than the other way around! We're in the beautiful port of Beaulieu-sur-Mer.

Today is Theme Day in the City Daily Photo community. To see how others around the world have interpreted the theme of 'reflections' do click on the link. You won't be disappointed. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Water Sports

Last weekend saw the Festival of the Sea in Monaco although the water skiing you see is always available off Larvotto Beach. Another day, we'll see close-ups of this big ship and I'll tell you about her.

Show Jumping on the Port - the Riders

These two look like the heroines of a novel called Riders by Jilly Cooper. Rupert Campbell-Black (he was the lothario in the book) will surely walk into the scene any minute...

Show Jumping on the Port

Monaco had a busy weekend - Show Jumping in front of the port, the Festival of the Sea on another side of the port and a big weekend for the super yachts on the other side.

But first the show jumping. It's stunning to see these beautiful horses against the backdrop of the yachts in the harbour.

In the first and third photo, the horses are in the practice ring. The horse in red won its heat and came from the UK.

Interestingly, Charlotte Casiraghi, who is Princess Caroline's daughter, is a very keen and successful horsewoman and no doubt she would have been riding later in the day.

A Corner of Beaulieu's Port

Beaulieu-sur-Mer is such a pretty port with many beautiful Belle Epoque villas on the hillsides.

We'll be back in Monaco tomorrow as there is much going and lots to show you but we'll be back in Beaulieu, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Villefranche soon.

R.M.Elegant off Cap Ferrat

Take a quick look at yesterday's post and you'll see this mega yacht, built for charter in 2005, in the top left-hand corner.

RM Elegant is 72 metres (237 feet) long and flies the Greek flag. She has 15 cabins accommodating 30 guests with a crew of 31. For parties the yacht caters for 100 guests at anchor and 150 when berthed. There's a 12-person spa pool, a gym, massage room, a beauty salon, sauna and of course a helipad. She cruises the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Cost: 455,000 euros a week in high season and a mere 420,000 euros a week in the low season.

The Wake of a Boat

We've passed Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and are headed towards the port of Beaulieu-sur-Mer. There's something about the wake of a boat on the Mediterranean - or anywhere, come to that - that is simply fabulous.

Tomorrow - we'll take a look at the yacht in the top left of this shot.

Congratulations to Prince Albert II and Charlene Wittstock!

Yesterday the Palace announced that Prince Albert II is engaged to his long-term girl-friend, the South African Olympic swimmer, Charlene Wittstock. After months of speculation, everyone in the Principality is delighted.

The wedding, likely to take place in summer 2011, will surely be a lavish ceremony and perhaps similar to that amazing day when Prince Albert's mother - the American film actress Grace Kelly - married Prince Rainier III in 1956.

Regular readers of the blog will have seen these photographs before but no apologies - this is a great day in Monaco. I snapped the one of the Prince during No Finish Line last November. The smaller photo of the Prince and Charlene Wittstock was taken by Philippe Mazza during the Bain de Noel in December.

Isn't it exciting! Monte Carlo Daily Photo sends many congratulations to the happy couple. You can see the official photograph of Prince Albert and Charlene Wittstock in Monaco-Matin yesterday.

And you can read a detailed account in English, with several photos of Prince Albert and his beautiful lady by clicking on the Associated Press link.

Tomorrow - back to the boat trip!

Beaulieu-sur-Mer - La Réserve

Our boat trip continues. Today we are calling into the harbour of Beaulieu-sur-Mer - a beautiful town along the coast and not far from Nice.

Just before the port is La Réserve de Beaulieu - a 4-star hotel known as the 'pink palace' and one of the 'Leading Small Hotels of the World.' Click on the link to read more and to take a virtual tour.

The hotel's history dates back to the times of the Belle Epoque. It was founded in 1880 by Pierre Lottier, a restaurant owner from Nice. Originally a luxury seafood restaurant - 'La Reserve' was the nickname given to the live fish tank which Pierre Lottier had dug out in order to stock the local fishermen’s catch.

In 1905, La Réserve de Beaulieu added some ten prestigious rooms after which aristocrats, captains of industry and artists used to meet up : King Gustave V of Sweden, King Leopold II of Belgium, Leo Tolstoy, Sir Thomas Lipton, Gustave Eiffel and Mistinguet. The American press magnate and sports lover Gordon Bennett Jr became a great habitué of La Reserve and promoted it in his newspaper, The New York Herald.

La Réserve lived through the Belle Epoque, the Great War and the Roaring Twenties and at the end of the Second World War, the new owners built a large Florentine style villa adjoining the restaurant’s veranda. The hotel's celebrity guest book from this period and the following years is a compendium of illustrious guests from the fifties and the age of glamour such as Rita Hayworth, Clark Gable, Paul Newman, Charlie Chaplin, or Edith Piaf, Jean Marais, Frank Sinatra.

The hotel's current owners are Nicole and Jean-Claude Delion who continue the tradition of the 'pink palace' on the Côte d’Azur.

The Oceanographic Museum

Today we are a little nearer to the Oceanographic Museum. You can just see the Damien Hirst sculpture, The Virgin Mother on the far right. Click HERE and HERE to see her up close and personal.

The buildings on the left are those of Fontvieille (the area of Monaco reclaimed from the sea) with the helipad out in front.

Meanwhile, someone is having fun on the water.