Monaco Yacht Show - E.T.Come Home...

Steven Spielberg's yacht, the US$200 million Seven Seas, was on display this year.

She was moored way over the other side of the port near the Harbour Master. After fighting the crowds and heat to get there, I decided to take a boat back across the harbour. There are free shuttles all day to several pontoons around the show. The last photo was taken from the water.

Seven Seas is 86 metres long. She has an infinity pool with a 15-ft. glass wall that can also be used as a movie screen which means Mr. Spielberg can watch a movie and take a dip at the same time. There's also a helipad, a fully equiped gym, a spa, a massage room and an indoor cinema. The yacht accomodates 12 guests and 26 crew.

'E.T. come home...'

Monaco Yacht Show - the Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé

This is a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé which was on display amongst the Burgess yachts.

The round building is the Hotel de Paris and the two steeple-like structures to the right, are part of the beautiful casino building.

Monaco Yacht Show - the Girls

Have you noticed how pretty girls, especially those with great legs, seem to go with Super Yachts...?

Monaco Yacht Show

The Monaco Yacht Show started yesterday - wall to wall luxury yachts, thousands of people, a perfect sunny day.

Some of the yachts are so big they reflect several smaller ones.

Classic Week - the Cruise Ship

Even Classic Week doesn't stop the massive great cruise ships arriving in Monaco. This is the Ruby Princess, her decks crammed with passengers getting their first view of Monte Carlo.

Classic Week - the Bubble Car, Audrey Hepburn & 'Monte Carlo Baby'

This BMW Isetta or Bubble Car as they came to be known is moored alongside a yacht that displays a poster for an Audrey Hepburn film. Look behind the car and you can see the poster. Presumably the car appeared in the film?

Monte Carlo Baby was made in English and in French (Nous irons à Monte-Carlo) and Audrey Hepburn, who spoke fluent French, was the only actor who appeared in both versions. It's one of the earliest films Audrey Hepburn made (1953) and on the set she met Colette, who suggested her for a role in the stage production of Gigi, leading to the film version and the rest, as they say, is history.

Classic Week - Hospitality

Organising Classic Week takes a lot of staff. Here we see some of those involved in hospitality at the Yacht Club of Monaco.

Classic Week - 'The Yarn of the Nancy Bell'

How about this! A poem on a piece of kit. 'The Yarn of the Nancy Bell' is a well-known ballad by Sir William Schwenck Gilbert written in 1866 and rejected by the editor of Punch as ‘too cannibalistic.’ It has often been compared to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.' (1798).

You can read the whole poem by clicking on the link, but here's a taste - pardon, the pun...


'And then we murdered the bo'sun tight,
And he much resembled pig;
Then we wittled free, did the cook and me,
On the crew of the captain's gig.'

Classic Week - Flying the Flag on 'Tuiga'

This crew member has climbed Tuiga's massive mast to fly the flag of the Monaco Yacht Club. Tuiga, who celebrated her 100th birthday two years ago, is owned by the Club. You can read about this gaff cutter, a beautiful maritime ambassador for the Principality - HERE. There is even a club in Monaco for her admirers called 'Spirit of Tuiga.'

In the photo below you can see how far the sailor has had to climb - not a job for the scaredy-cats amongst us...

Classic Week - Happy 100th Birthday to Mariquita

Mariquita (Ladybird in Spanish), is a 38 metre gaff cutter and is the only survivor of this class of racing yacht, which disappeared after the Great War. This year she is 100 years old. From 1911 to 1913, Mariquita raced 69 times, winning 35 regattas - no small feat. After the war she went to Norway, was renamed Maud IV, then came back across the North Sea in 1924 to sail under the flag of her new co-owners: Sir Edward Illife and Alan Messer. Then, in 1939, Mariquita's history took a dramatic turn - once again she was sold and literally dismembered and remained for more than fifty years in a boathouse. She was saved from her Pin Mill mud berth in 1991. Restored by Fairlie Restoration, and launched again in 2004, Mariquita immediately took up racing in line with her glorious past and successes.

It takes a dozen strong sailors to haul Mariquita's 500-pound gaff to the top of the mainmast, dragging hundreds of pounds of sailcloth up with it. (see first photo) Today Mariquita is rigged with synthetic fiber rope, but otherwise the yacht is sailed just as she was when she left the Scottish shipyard of William Fife & Sons in 1911.

Classic Week at Port Hercule

Monaco's fabulous Classic Week started yesterday - real boats that sail...

We'll take a closer look over the next few days.

Bang Bang

You'll find this wonderful old cannon on the promenade overlooking the port of St. Jean.

Wedding at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat - Waiting

A young wedding guest sits at the base of the war memorial outside the Mairie, waiting for the ceremony to be over.

Wedding at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

There were two weddings in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on Saturday - maybe more - I saw two. This one was a relaxed affair with standing room only. It took place at the Mairie (Town Hall) - such a pretty building.

A peek through the window (last pic) shows one of the dignitaries who presided over the ceremony.

Breakfast at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrrat

Baguette, Nice-Matin, a cigarette - taking home breakfast in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

Colour in La Turbie

'Man needs colour to live; it's just as necessary an element as fire and water.' ~ Fernand Leger

La Turbie - Reflections

Reflections in a restaurant window in La Turbie.

Ayrton Senna's McLaren

Not often you see a Formula One car in Monaco, except during the Grand Prix of course. Here's a very special one. This is Ayrton Senna's McLaren in which he won the 1993 Monaco Grand Prix. It's on display in the new McLaren showroom on Avenue Princesse Grace.

I photographed it through the window, hence the reflection of palms and then saw the door was open so was able to get up close and personal.

Scene at Dusk

Early evening on the forecourt of the Grimaldi Forum. The light is fading fast although the sun still shines on Cap Martin in the distance.

And a small boy does what small boys do...

Watersport

Parasailing off Larvotto Beach - have you done this?