No Finish Line - the Dog too...

...and the dogs walk or run for charity too. They have a No Finish Line tag attached to their collar.

No Finish Line - the Convict

You don't often see a convict, with a ball and chain, running around Port Hercule but this is No Finish Line and for that, anything can happen! No Finish Line is a charitable event where people walk, run, stroll around a circuit created at the port.

You can do as many circuits you like or as few and at any time of the day or night and it runs for 9 days. You have an electronic tag attached to your foot and for every kilometre run money goes to charity. Some people walk with friends and chat, others take it really seriously and aim to beat records. There is even a special 24 hour run for the most kilometres during that time - last year's winner ran 248 kilometres in this category.

The record for the most kilometres run by an individual over the 9 days has just been beaten and now stands at 200 ks.

For a full explanation go to the website - NO FINISH LINE - you can see the runners' times in real time. Today is the last day but I took these shots a few days ago. More tomorrow...

A Boatload of Kids

I wonder if these children appreciate how privileged they are to go out on the water at Port Hercule as part of their education.

November at Port Hercule - Sailing Lessons

Some of the children sail in their tiny boats alone.

November at Port Hercule

You don't need a super yacht to have fun in Port Hercule.

Riviera Palace - Balustrades

Our last day at the Riviera Palace and just a couple more details to show you. These balustrades are all that remain on this particular level. This is a colour you see often in the south of France.

And don't you think it interesting, in the small photo, to see the slope of the staircase and balustrades in the brickwork. Attention to detail that meant anyone walking up or down the stairs never lost the view.

Thanks to everyone who has come along on this visit with me.

Riviera Palace - Through a Glass Lightly

A few last images of the inside of the magificent Riviera Palace. The main photo is taken through glass.

Riviera Palace - the View from a Balcony

If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you'll see a fair amount of wear and tear, yet isn't this the prettiest place? Imagine living in one of these apartments and looking out from your balcony onto the Winter Garden.

Riviera Palace - the Cupola

If you want to see a part of the cupola from the outside you have to clamber up rather dodgy steps and then walk along this little path.

Each year in September, France opens up its historic buildings on their Journées du Patrimoine and often, on these days, there is no guide - as there wasn't on the day I took these photos. I'm sure if there was a guide there we'd not have been allowed to walk here - it was really quite slippery and difficult getting back down again.

Riviera Palace - the Apartments

The renovation of the cupola was completed in 2003, paid for by the proprietors of the apartments, the Conseil General and the town of Beausoleil. In 2004 it won a special Jury Prize awarded by the Association of Historic French Houses. The gardens are cared for by student gardeners.

In 1989 the Riviera Palace was listed as a 'Monument Historique' and the price paid for living in such a beautiful building (imagine owning one of these apartments with a balcony overlooking this Winter Garden) - is that you have a regular flow of visitors on guided tours.

Riviera Palace - the Winter Garden

The Winter Garden is the heart of the Riviera Palace. These photos only show a part of it - more to come!

It covers 900 square metres and is 20 metres high at the centre of the dome. The architecture of the Winter Palace is attibuted to Gustave Eiffel who built the beautiful glass dome in the Hermitage Hotel in Monaco and of course the Tour Eiffel in Paris.

More on the restoration of the Winter Garden tomorrow...

Riviera Palace - the Staircase Windows

These beautiful windows line the main staircase of the Riviera Palace. Is that a goose or a swan?

High Seas in Monaco

We've taking a one-day break from our visit to the Riviera Palace to bring you a weather report...

There's been a massive rain amount of rain in the south of France and Monaco - really awful flooding in the Var with hundreds of people being evacuated and tragically two deaths.

Here's the beach near to the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel yesterday. I snapped it looking down from the main road to Menton which is above the tennis courts.

Tomorrow: back to the Riviera Palace...

Riviera Palace - the Lift

This lovely old lift reminds me of those in old Paris hotels and apartment buildings.

Riviera Palace - the Concierge

The old Concierge's office looks unchanged since the building was opened in 1903.

Look at those beautiful old black letters - they look like an Art Nouveau design in wrought iron. (Click the small photo to enlarge).

Riviera Palace - the Facade

The beautiful facade of the Riviera Palace. But look carefully (see last photo) and you'll see the plaster is crumbling and iron supports have rusted under the balconies.

This beautiful building was a hotel for the rich and famous from 1903 until the beginning of the great war in 1914 when it was used as a military hospital. It was closed in 1932/33 but in 1936 was transformed into apartments.

Tours of some parts of the building, such as the beautiful Winter Garden, are available to the public.

Rviera Palace - the Drain Pipe

Even the drainpipes are interesting...

Riviera Palace - Now

It's very hard to get the whole building in one shot without an amazing wide-angle lens which I don't have. Take a look at yesterday's photos of old postcards. In those days, there were no other buildings to get in the way of a good shot!

The building is based on designs by George Paul Chedanne (he designed the Palace Hotel on the Champs Elysée and the Hotel Mercedes 0n Rue du Presbourg in Paris.)

The Riviera Palace was finished in 1903 and soon welcomed King Leopold II of the Belgians, the imperial family of Russia, the Shah of Persia - also distinguished names in the arts such as Diagilev, Nijinski, Stravinsky and Colette. Winston Churchill was a regular visitor too.

Tomorrow - the details...

Riviera Palace - the Old Postcards

These are the signs that great you as you approach the Riviera Palace and it's good to be reminded of how it looked when it was first built at the turn of the last century. You can see the posts and chains I showed yesterday in the lower half of the photo below.

From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 1914-18 war, the French Riviera was where artists and writers and members of the European aristocracy and bourgeoisie spent their winters, hence the building of this Belle Epoque hotel.

In 1898, when Camile Blanc was president of the SBM and future Mayor of Beausoleil, he founded the Real Estate Company of Monte Carlo Superior. He also owned the train company and the mythic Orient Express. He built a funicular railway that ran from the Cremaillère, way down the hillside in Monaco, to the Riviera Palace Railway Station.

Riviera Palace - Railings

We have a treat in store. We are going to visit the Riviera Palace in Beausoleil. This is a celebrated and beautiful Belle Epoque palace with its stunning winter gardens, built high above Monaco between 1891 and 1903 on behalf of the famous Cie des Wagons-Lits.

Today - a part of the railings.