Merry Monaco Christmas Gifts

If you're anything like me, you'll be panicking this week because suddenly, Christmas is only a few days away. It's easy enough to get the tree and tinsel up, and I've got a stack of cards stamped and ready to send. What about the gifts 'tho? The Man and I usually exchange bottles of wine and boxes of Puyricard chocolates, but for Secret Santa and for family, a bit more imagination is required. So over the weekend I toured the Metropole Shopping Centre and trawled the internet for ideas for Monaco themed gifts. Here's what I found:

Chocolates
Established in 1920, the Chocolaterie de Monaco has a cafe and shop on the Rock (20 Rue Princesse Marie de Lorraine), and sells online too. You can buy individual chocs in a box (1.80 euros) or, if you're expecting family, friends, neighbours, Father Christmas and all his elves, you might be justified in purchasing the 2570 g Coffret Princier (229.90 euros). For something less ostentatious:

• Declaration, three chocs in a heart-shaped box, 7.90 euros
• Revelation, six crown-shaped pralines, 14.90 euros

Booze
For an authentic taste of Monaco, L'Orangerie uses bitter oranges harvested from the trees that line the Principality's streets to make its liqueur. We visited the boutique and workshop in September and were treated to a Monaco Spritz, which uses the orange liqueur as its base. For Christmas lunch, splash some on your pud or drink it straight, over ice to enjoy as a digestif.

• 500 ml bottle in gift box, 28 euros
• pack of three 50 cl bottles, 18 euros (if you're flying home, suitable for hand luggage)

Buy from l'Orangerie de Monaco's online store or visit the shop at 9 Rue de la Turbie.

Baubles
Last year I made the mistake of buying a Monaco FC home kit for my nephew, whose father is a huge fan of Newcastle United. If the intended recipient is not so partisan, the club's pack of two Christmas tree baubles (15 euros) is pretty and decorative. One is white, the other red, and each is stamped with a gold Monaco FC crest. Buy from the club's online store or visit the shop at Promenade Honore II.

Books, Music, Movies
Louis Vuitton's Fashion Eye albums are coffee table books for lovers of travel, fashion and photography. The Monaco edition takes a tour of the Principality through the eyes of Helmut Newton, the German-Austrian fashion photographer. His erotic, stylised images featured primarily in Vogue magazine.

• Monte Carlo: Helmut Newton, 50 euros

Available in Fnac Monaco (in the Metropole Shopping Centre) and on Amazon.

Plenty of fictional stories use Monaco and Monte Carlo Casino as settings. One of my favourites is a lesser known 1955 novella by Graham Greene, Loser Takes All. It was written as an "entertainment" by Greene, who is considered to be one of the greatest English writers of the 20th century. Available from Amazon for Kindle (5.13 euros) or in paperback (17.23 euros).

Classical music connoisseurs might prefer a CD released by Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra on its OPMC Classics label. The album contains Stravinsky's The Firebird, Pulcinella, The Rite of Spring, and Petrushka (50.50 euros from Amazon). Russian born, American Yakov Kreizberg conducts the orchestra.

Or how about a DVD of the 1972 documentary Weekend of a Champion (7.98 euros from Amazon). Directed by Roman Polanski, the movie follows Jackie Stewart around Monaco as he prepares to compete in the Grand Prix.

Motoring Memorabilia
Monaco's fame is largely spread around the world by its annual automobile competitions. Monte Carlo Rally was first organized in 1911, and the Grand Prix in 1929. So my final suggestions are for a couple of knick-knacks that draw on the motoring history of the Principality:

• Monte Carlo Rally mouse mat, 8 euros
• F1 tyre key ring, 14 euros

Available in the Automobile Club de Monaco's online store or from the boutique at 46 Rue Grimaldi.

The Gesualdo Six, bringing music of great joy to Monaco

Every year during Advent, the Direction des Affaires Culturelles de Monaco organizes two free concerts of Baroque music. This year, for the first time, The Man and I got ourselves organized to attend one of them, on Tuesday evening, 4 December.

The program included Gregorian chant, Renaissance and modern music, all performed by The Gesualdo Six, who are actually seven men: countertenors Guy James and Alexander Chance, tenors Joseph Wicks and Josh Cooter, baritone Michael Craddock, bass Sam Mitchell, and musical director Owain Park, who also sings bass.

We arrived at the Chapel of the Visitation with twenty minutes to spare, but most of the seats were already taken or reserved for VIPs. There were spaces on the back row bench, which turned out to be a much better position than we had first thought. When the concert began, the ensemble sang the first piece at the back of the chapel, within arm's reach of us. It was a suitably festive hymn, Veni, veni Emmanuel, just the thing to put us into the Christmas spirit. After this, the choir processed up the aisle to the altar, where, for most of the evening they sang under the gaze of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

It was a glorious concert of deeply emotional music. Each voice possessed strength and clarity, yet blended as one harmonious whole. The basses seemed to catch at your heart and tug it from your chest, the baritone and tenors carried it along the nave as if on a breeze, until the counter-tenors caught it up and sent it soaring to the rafters. It was almost an out-of-body experience.

The ensemble's rendering of Tallis's painfully beautiful dissonances in Videte Miraculum (16th century) was exquisite. It was a pleasure to discover Estonian Arvo Pärt's work, Morning Star (2007), which was outstanding. Another high point was Phos hilaron (2015), composed by the consort's own musical director, Owain Park. This was performed with individual singers placed around the chapel, giving us a live version of surround-sound.

At the end of the evening, we headed home with joyful steps, feeling as if we had heard the glad singing of a host of angels.

Programme

Veni, veni Emmanuel, trad. arr. Lawson
Rorate caeli, anon
Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland, Michael Praetorius
Videte Miraculum, Thomas Tallis
The Promised Light of Life, Cheryl Frances-Hoad
Quem vidistis pastores, Floriano Canale
Canite tuba, Jacob Handl
Laetentur caeli, anon
Morning Star, Arvo Part
Audivi vocem de caelo, John Taverner
Phos hilaron, Owain Park
Puer natus est, anon
Tribus Miraculis, Hans Leo Hassler
Love came down at Christmas, Eleanor Daley
Hodie Christus natus est, Andrea Gabrieli
Encore: The Oxen, Jonathan Rathbone

Find out more

• The Gesualdo Six

New Orleans Christmas in Monaco

Monaco Christmas Village was officially opened yesterday afternoon by Mayor Georges Marsan. Young members of La Palladienne de Monaco folk group danced for us, then we took a tour of the stalls, and followed it with a tasting of some of the delicious food that can be purchased from them.

This 19th edition of the market has a New Orleans theme (Noël à la Nouvelle Orleans), marking the 300th anniversary of the Louisiana town. Chalets have been constructed in the style of Creole townhouses of the French quarter, and a seating area for diners has been built to look like a Mississippi paddle boat.

As for the dining choices, savoury favourites include fish and chips, and the regional snacks, socca and barbajuans. For something sweet, we were pleased to see the return of the delicious Boules Mousse chocolate-covered soft meringues. Drinks include mulled wine, hot chocolate and Christmas beer.

Chalets are also selling festive decorations, and lots of items suitable for Christmas gifts. The big wheel and the carousel are back, and there are two new attractions for the very young, a little train and duck fishing.

As the Mayor said in his speech, the village and skating rink bring "spectacle and magic" (féérie et magie) to both the Principality and surrounding communities, as well as providing entertainment for the young and the not so young. Enjoy!

More information

• Christmas village open daily from 7 December to 6 January
• Ice rink open daily from 7 December to 3 March:
  20 Dec at 19:00, concert by Blah Blah
  22 Dec at 17:30, Christmas show on ice
  2 Mar, Monaco Ice-Skating competition

Electro Deluxe and Manu Katché

On Thursday evening (29 November) The Man and I put on our glad rags for a visit to the Salle Garnier, not for the opera, but for the jazz.

It was a concert of two halves. First up, Electro Deluxe. Under the gaze of gilded cherubs, white spotlights swept the stage and a voice crackled in the darkness, "Down goes Frazier!" The French band entered the ring with a track from their latest album, Circle. K.O. is a funky, upbeat tune, and was performed with full-on energy by drummer, three-man brass section, keyboard player, bassist, and Three of Hearts backing singers. Up front, singer James Copley was slick, suave and professional, like a bearded, musical George Clooney. They entertained us for about an hour, unfazed by what appeared to be some dodgy in-ear monitors. Infectious enthusiasm encouraged our reticent Monaco audience to their feet, and we danced, sang and clapped along to the music.

The second half of the evening featured French drummer Manu Katché, who has played with Peter Gabriel, Sting, Dire Straits and many more. Over the past decade or so, the 60 year-old musician has also released a number of solo albums, which I had imagined contained hard-core free-form jazz improvisation interspersed with "boring" (in the words of ex-drummer of The Who, Keith Moon "The Loon") drum solos. I couldn't have been more wrong. His last album, 2016's Unstatic, is great.

Much of the recent hoo-ha tho' has been about the forthcoming album, The Scope, due to be released on 1 February 2019 in Paris. The online teaser suggests he's been influenced by reggae, and shortly after 10pm, when the virtuoso took up his seat, his leather rasta cap seemed to confirm it.

Katché remained hidden behind his kit for most of the set. We got a plug for the new album and an introduction to the band: Jim Henderson on keyboards, Jerome Regard on bass, Patrick Manouguian on guitar. But what were the names of the tracks we were listening to? One was indeed too free-form for my taste, but some had a laid back, prog-rock feel to them, and a couple of tuneful melodies included pleasing vocals by Jim Henderson. The bassist produced weird sci-fi sounds in one track by stroking his fret board with his palm, another tune took me back to Sunday evening soul on the radio. No reggae tho'.

All four of the band are accomplished musicians, but half way through the set we were ready leave. The Man whispered, "I may not be able to take much more - that f*cking snare is driving me nuts." It was also driving Katché nuts, because during a bass guitar solo, he unscrewed the offending drum from its stand and carried it off stage. From the wings there was the muffled sound of breaking crockery, and then he reappeared with a different one.

After this there was a huge improvement, but too many times a technician would run onto the stage and fiddle about with the amps. At one point a cymbal flopped loose from its bracket, surely unforgivable for a drummer-led band. It was like sitting in on a rehearsal rather than a professional gig. Still, with two months before The Scope is released, there should be plenty of scope for improvement.

Find out more

• Manu Katché website
• Electro Deluxe website

A peachy exhibition 🍑🍑🍑

Olivia Brazier's new exhibition, Les Pêcheuses (fisherwomen), uses witty French wordplay to link the fruity subject of the art (peaches / pêches) with the name of the venue, the Galerie des Pêcheurs (fishermen). As with her November 2017 show in Monaco, Olivia's current collection uses collage and painting techniques to create images that explore the link between the female body and language used to describe it. In this exhibition cut-outs of women taken from porn magazines have been paired with peaches.

The larger works have been transferred onto silk, the smaller ones onto tile-sized wooden blocks. Some have a slightly fuzzy, distressed finish, giving the impression that they have been rescued from a deserted Italian villa. A peach-coloured palette, with earthy umbers, ochres and siennas suggests warm, balmy days.

There are images of hands and arms adorned with jewellery which appear to be tied to the fruit with lines, giving a sense of constraint. But we also see subjects surrounded by foliage and flowers, enjoying freedom and sensuality, the type of women who are certainly not fishes in the sea, waiting for fishermen to reel them in.

Check out Olivia Brazier's work at:

• Olivia Brazier website
• brazinraizin on instagram

Les Pêcheuses exhibition, 16 November-30 January 2019:

• Galeries des Pêcheurs
  Parking des Pêcheurs, levels 1 and 2

Open 24/7, accessible from down escalators at 4 avenue St Martin and from car park at Chemin des Pêcheurs

Walk with me in Monaco

Visitors to Monaco would be forgiven for thinking that Ferraris and mopeds are the only means of navigating its streets. But there are roads and paths with little traffic, where it is possible to enjoy a quiet, peaceful stroll. Let me take you around a thirty minute route that I walk most days.

Whatever time I set off, there are groups of hard-hatted, hi-vis-shirted builders eating baguettes at the sandwich shop across the road. In the cafe around the corner, elegant ladies sip coffee, and bankers in Italian suits make deals. I wave at the waiter as I pass by. This street is relatively traffic-free and takes me past the rear entrance of the Hermitage Hotel. Perhaps this evening I shall have a whisky at the Crystal Bar? A rare treat.

Continuing downhill, I pass the synagogue, which seems to have been modelled on a clifftop bunker. I turn left through a car park barrier and left again into a small public garden. Parents chat, their kids squeal with delight on the climbing frame and slides. Behind them I glimpse the sea. One of Monaco's wormhole elevators takes me down to the port, and after crossing the road I am on the quayside, which is lined with enormous yachts. Who owns them and why do they never seem to leave the harbour? The Bateau Bus is just casting off, ferrying passengers to the far side of the port, and up ahead sits the Yacht Club, built to resemble a cruise ship. At its western end there is a wine bar that serves platters of cheese and charcuterie and sells a remarkably cheap bottle of Condrieu. Along its quay, dinghies jostle for space and members of the rowing club haul their boats onto dry land.

Steps then ascend to a jetty marking the end of the harbour, and from here there is a good view of the monstrous cruise ships. On the next level up I take another elevator to the terraces behind Monte Carlo Casino. It is a delightful spot in the early morning. I nod "bonjour" to dog-walkers and joggers, and on a clear day I linger, watching the rising sun balance on the horizon, silhouetting the coastal mountains towards Italy.

On summer afternoons my steps fall in line with the thumping rhythms from Nikki Beach, or the laid back beats drifting out of Buddha Bar. Now comes my least favourite section of the walk, where the morning calm is broken by leaf blowers and delivery vans and I must splash through streams of water where street cleaners hose down the paving. In the afternoon the sun's glare blinds me, its heat intensifies as it radiates from the stones. The crowd of sightseers in Casino Square is impenetrable and I push on quickly to reach the gardens that lead uphill and back home. Here, shaded by banana trees and palms, ducks nibble the grass and office workers take a break, and if I am very lucky, I hear the birds singing.

Agreement to support Monaco entrepreneurs

On Monday 24th September, media representatives, business leaders and entrepreneurs gathered to witness the signing of an agreement between MonacoTech business incubator, and Monaco Impact, an organization that promotes the Principality through supporting responsible and social entrepreneurs.

Fabrice Marquet, Director of MonacoTech, welcomed us and gave a brief tour, before he and Peter Kutemann, President and Founder of Monaco Impact, signed the agreement. Mr Kutemann hopes that through this partnership, members of Monaco Impact, who have achieved their own business successes, can give something back to society by mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs.

After the signing, Mr Marquet gave a short presentation about MonacoTech. He explained that, in line with the Principality's vision and strategy, the enterprise aims to promote entrepreneurs who have strong values. In contrast to "startup factories", MonacoTech does not view entrepreneurs as merely a commodity through which investors can make money. The Monaco model places less emphasis on quantity, preferring to advocate quality by working to make every company profitable. This requires entrepreneurs to be committed equally to a hands-on role within the team and to having a clear understanding of the business's proposition.

Out of an initial selection of 24 ideas, 17 are still in the program. Four successful enterprises gave brief presentations: Coraliotech marine bio-tech company is developing products for cosmetics, pharma and biotech industries; Orbital Solutions Monaco's nano-satellite technology is set to democratise space and is currently looking for a clean manufacturing space in the Principality; Tamanoir has developed a smart canula to detect abnormal tissues and liquid during surgery; ONHYS's crowd simulation technology is helping urban planners to develop human-centric solutions to car pollution.

Following the presentations there was an opportunity to meet more of MonacoTech's entrepreneurs and to network over a cocktail.

The event took place at MonacoTech's premises on the 7th floor of a Fontvieille office building. A floor to ceiling automatic glass entrance door swishes open into a workspace that is sometimes shared with students of the International University of Monaco. In a nod to Silicon Valley there are one or two perspex rocking chairs and beanbags, but this is clearly a place for working, not relaxing.

Find out more

Websites:

• MonacoTech
• Monaco Impact