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Top Marques
Monaco 2013, the supercar and luxury brand
show took place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco 18th - 21st
April 2013. This year it celebrated its 10th anniversary with a
James Bond theme to celebrate the popular movie series 50th
anniversary. AgustaWestland unveiled a special Bond themed
helicopter. There were seven major launches including all new
supercars from Mazzanti, Vencer and Soleil.
RivieraLife.tv correspondent Andrew Burroughs takes you on a
virtual tour of this 'market of excellence.' |
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The World
Premiere of the portrait of Princess Grace by innovative German
artist Marco Mehn in front of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco at
the Top Marques Monaco event in
April 2012. Marco Mehn demonstrates his 'Space Frame' and
patented 4D painting techniques including remote controlled LED
lighting. |
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The Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters took place 13 - 21 April 13 in
the Monte-Carlo Country Club. It is the first major European
tournament to open the clay season. 7 out of the top 10 ATP
players participated including eight times consecutive
winner and current champion Rafael Nadal, Monaco resident and
no.1 world player Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried
Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Jeremy Chardy, Julien Benneteau and
Benoit Paire. Catch up with all of the news from this years
event and watch highlights of the exciting final between the
winner Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. |
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RivieraLife.tv's new book section features news, reviews
and interviews on the latest books about the Riviera and an
online bookshop featuring new and older Riviera titles. Sir
Roger Moore KBE talks about his latest book 'Bond on Bond'
with exclusive insights and behind the scenes photos over 50
years of the James Bond movie franchise;
From Mark Mills, a riveting tale of passion and murder set on the French Riviera in the
1930s; Four wives fall foul of French law after a guilty weekend in
Monte Carlo in James Patterson's novel 'Guilty Wives'. |
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Status
Quo played the Pinede Gould Arena in Antibes / Juan-les-Pins on
Monday 30th July as part of The Riviera Rock Festival. On the
eve of the concert, RivieraLife.tv's Mark Dezzani
interviewed Quo founder member, guitarist, vocalist and
songwriter Francis Rossi OBE about the bands history and their
latest projects including a new movie and a documentary. |
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From Mark Mills, the no.1 bestselling author of The Savage Garden, a
riveting tale of passion and murder set on the French Riviera in the
1930s. France, 1935: At the poor man’s end of the Riviera sits Le Rayol,
a haven for artists, expatriates and refugees. Here, a world away from
the rumblings of a continent heading towards war, Tom Nash has rebuilt
his life after a turbulent career in the Secret Intelligence Service.
His past, though, is less willing to leave him behind. |
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Top Marques Monaco 2012 took place in the Grimaldi Forum Monaco 19 - 22
April. It is the most exclusive supercar show in the world,
and at its 9th edition in 2012 its successful format of also
showcasing superboats, limited series watches and bespoke
luxury artistry, was reinforced. Visionary craftsmanship is
a running theme and of course performance was a major
feature on the road, on the sea and this year, in space too!
Formula 1 legend Eddie Jordan visited the show and was
impressed by developments in the electric supercar category. |
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Emmy and
British Academy Award winning composer John Altman has
worked with many musical greats including Jimi Hendrix,
Bob Marley, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and Bjork.
We caught up with him at the Angel Film Awards in Monaco
where he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award. His
movie soundtrack work includes arrangements for Monty Python's
Life of Brian
and
James Cameron's epic
Titanic.
John Altman is the musical arranger and conductor for the Titanic Memorial Concert
in Belfast on Sat 14 Apr 12. |
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Life coach Nicole Petschek hails from
New York and has strong connections with the Cote d'Azur.
Whilst growing up, Nicole holidayed each summer in her
father's villa on St. Jean Cap Ferrat. She returned often to
play polo, her lifelong passion. When she hung up her polo
sticks, she turned to coaching for success, teaching how to
tap the vast unused resources of the human brain to achieve
your goals. In this interview with RivieraLife.tv,
Nicole talks about her passion for polo and how it set her
up to become successful in her new career as a life coach. |
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Singer/songwriter
TJ Bilham
is on the fast track for stardom. TJ
honed his talent on the French Riviera and Monaco where he
grew up, but he has returned to his roots in Glasgow to work
with accomplished Producer / Songwriter John
McLaughlin
(McFly / Busted / Mark Owen / Shane McGowan). In this report by
RivieraLife.tv's Mark Dezzani,
we meet TJ in Monaco to catch up with his latest news and
get a preview of some of his news songs including 'One More
Kiss' and 'Close Your Eyes'.
We also take a trip in his personalised Lotus
around the Monaco F1 circuit. |
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The
International artists community of Bussana
Vecchia,
near San Remo, was established in 1959. The village had
been abandoned following the 23 Feb 1887 6.0 earthquake
that hit the Riviera and killed 57 of the village's 800
residents. Since 1979 the artists have been fighting a
legal battle with the Italian authorities that wanted to
evict them. Although many have now reached an occupancy
agreement, a few are holding out for their rights to
ownership after 20 years uncontested occupancy. Watch a
video report on this aesthetic village from BBC World. |
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Seborga
Art Expo took place in the Ancient Principality of
Seborga in the Palazzo Vecchio 16-27 Feb 12. Nestled in
the maritime Alps just over the border with Italy, this
beautiful medieval village celebrates its independence
through art and culture. In this video postcard we take
a tour through the medieval streets and piazzas of
Seborga, visit the handcraft doll shop, the museum of
antique instruments and mechanical music reproducing
machines. We get a glimpse of the coronation of Prince
Marcello and see medieval pageantry on Seborga's
national day. |
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Set
against a deepening recession, 2011 seemed to be the year when
things went wrong. Monaco's royal wedding
was overshadowed by rumours of discord. The G20 summit in Cannes was
spoiled by Greece. A spate of
jewellery shop hold-ups culminated in a tragic shooting. An
influx of Tunisian immigrants. Freak floods, light airplane accidents and a local manufacturer of dodgy breast implants
caused a global health scare. We also remember those from this region that passed away in 2011.
Check out our News Review of 2011. |
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Our video report
on this years Angel Film Awards
(AFA) in Monaco features interviews with actor Timothy Spall,
singer/songwriter Donovan
and composer/arranger John Altman.
Spall won the best actor award for his role in Stephen Cookson's
heartwarming directorial debut
My Angel.
Honorary AFA President Donovan distills the spirit of this
unique festival for non-violent movies with wise words and song
and the composer of the Titanic soundtrack John Altman, who won
a lifetime achievement award, opines on the state of movie
soundtracks. |
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Winner of
the Best Short Documentary Film and the Independent
Spirit Award at the 2010 Angel Film Awards,
Radio
Geronimo - Monte Carlo & Bust
tells the story of a hippie outfit that took over the
midnight airwaves of Radio Monte Carlo in 1970. For nine
months of that tumultuous year they blasted good vibes
and cosmic music across Europe. Radio Geronimo was
sponsored by band manager Tony Secunda (The Move, Marc
Bolan) and Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller. Key
staff tell the story of this most avant-garde and
ambitious radio venture. |
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Poly Implant Prothèses (PIP), based in La Seyne sur Mer in the
Var, shut its doors for business in 2010 after French
authorities discovered that the company had been using
industrial grade silicone, unfit for medical purposes, in its
breast implants. With tens of thousands of woman around the
world having PIP implants, the news of the death of Cannes
resident Edwige Ligoneche from cancer in November 2011 has
triggered a global health scare. PIP founder Jean-Claude Mas
remains unrepentant.
Check out our archived news with the
latest updates on the PIP scandal. |
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An
extra-tropical storm system that developed over the Mediterranean in
early November 2011 brought heavy rains, strong winds and flooding to
the Alpes Maritimes and Var. Several were killed and there was several
hundred million euros worth of damage. The Var, Loup, Siagne and Brague
rivers swelled and coastal roads between Antibes and Villeneuve Loubet,
Menton and the Promenade des Anglais were flooded and strewn with debris.
Winds off of the Porquerelles Island gusted to 150km/h.
We archive all of the news with video reports here. |
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Leaders from the
most powerful countries in the world congregated
in Cannes 03-04 Nov 11 for the G20 summit in the midst of one of
the most serious economic crisis ever. Cannes faced an
almost total shut down for security reasons. The summit's goals
were blown apart by the Greek Prime Ministers decision to call a
referendum on his country's EU rescue package. A decision that
was swiftly reversed under international pressure, causing even
more indecision as Greece faced an internal political crisis.
Visit our special G20 page for news & videos from this historic event. |
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From the first
announcement in June last year, through the preparations, to the
actual event in July 2011; follow how the world's media covered
this major event in the life of the Principality of Monaco with
articles and video reports. Prince Albert II
of Monaco
married the South African Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock
1st & 2nd July 2011. Concerts from The Eagles
and
Jean-Michel Jarre
and a spectacular fireworks display accompanied the civil and
religious ceremonies, whilst the media speculated over
allegations about Prince Albert's private life. |
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The
8th edition of Top Marques Monaco took place at the Grimaldi Forum,
Monaco 14-17 Apr 11. It is the world's only live supercar show,
and this year six new models were premiered.
RivieraLife.tv correspondent Richard McCreery reports on
Pagani's
new Huayra, Fisker's
new hybrid Karma
4 door saloon,
Soleil Motors
proto-type, he takes a spin in the handbuilt Noble 600
and meets Paolo
Spada from the
renowned family of leading supercar designers. BBC TV & Radio presenter Chris Evans
unveils a model by
Dante of his own Ferrari 250 GTO. |
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The Sunny Bank Charitable Association
opened its long awaited new retirement home, Victoria in
Mouans-Sartoux in May 2010. It is managed by the Group EMERA.
Sunny Bank has been helping expatriates in need for over a
century and founded an English speaking hospital in Cannes in
1892. One year after its launch,
RivieraLife.tv's David Rowe
went along to the Victoria Retirement Home
in Mouans-Sartoux where he interviewed Sunny Bank’s treasurer Anthony Vyvyan
and President Stuart Bateman. |
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Last October in Toronto, Monaco based sculptor
Blake staged an art happening to demonstrate the power of performance
art to bring oppression closer to public consciousness. A Buddha
sculpture by Blake was set on fire and filmed. Blake has now dedicated
the film to the protestors struggling for freedom in North Africa and
the Middle East. These revolutions were sparked off in Tunisia following
the self-immolation by fire of street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi to whom
this moving film has been dedicated. |
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Peace, Love & Grooviness
is a fun 'Pop-Up' art exhibition in the Ancient Principality
of Seborga Feb 4 - 28 2011. Featuring many artists from the
French and Italian Riviera and Monaco. Randall &
Cindy Kehrig of Kehrig Fine Art
re-opened the Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace) of the late
Prince Giorgio I of Seborga for the art exhibition which
featured work from sculptors Blake and Polo and artists Tim
Johnson, Raphael Gyllenbjorn, David Brooks, André Durand and
Susan Nevelson. The event is sponsored by RivieraLife.tv. |
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2010 was a tumultuous year with economic strife and cataclysmic
weather events including tragic floods, snowstorms, destructive
waves and even a tsunami off of our coast. Nice celebrated 150
years since joining France and hosted an African summit and the
Chinese President. Monaco announced a royal wedding and Cannes
hosted an almost washed out Film Festival.
Check out our round up of major 2010 regional news events. |
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Sir
David Jason OBE
attended the 8th
Angel Film Awards Monaco
2nd-5th December 2010 as director of the short movie
'All The Way Up'.
The movie scooped 6 Angel Awards. Sir David was also honoured with the
Angel Lifetime
Achievement Award.
In this interview with
RivieraLife TV's Andrew Burroughs,
David Jason talks about All The Way Up, how he became involved, his
appreciation of the values of the Angel Film Awards, his shooting in
Monaco of an
Only Fools & Horses
special and the influence of his
Open All Hours
co-star Ronnie
Barker. |
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The
8th annual Angel
Film Awards
took place 2nd-5th December 2010 in the
Art Novo
Theatre, Novotel, Monaco.
The festival features non-violent movies. In this report for
RivieraLife.tv,
Andrew
Burroughs
looks at a selection of movies screened and talks to their
directors including
Sir David
Jason OBE
who directed the short movie
'All The Way Up',
Mohy Quandour,
Writer/Director of the Best Movie winner
'Cherkess',
Kinshirou Ogino,
Director of 'Asakusa Daydreams' and
Paul Petersen,
Director of
'Simon Sez'. |
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Sunday
31 Oct 10 saw the first gathering of the Autumn/Winter 2010/11 season
for the International Club
of the Riviera.
The theme was
Showtime! A Taste of Broadway
with musical performances from Colette Marx-Nielsen
and Cisco Kid.
Funds from the raffle benefited the Arogya Agam
charity that cares for Dalit (so called Untouchables) and HIV positive
children in Tamil Nadu, Southern India. The charity founder John Dalton
was there and spoke to RivieraLife.tv about his life mission. |
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Gridlock in Nice,
15km jams on the A8 motorway and protests were some of the
results of China President Hu Jintao's visit to Nice Fri 05 &
Sat 06 Nov 10. Accompanied on his state visit by French
President Nicolas Sarkozy, there were business and political
benefits. After years of diplomatic awkwardness between China &
France for the latter's stand on human rights, is this an issue
too far in these days of economic uncertainty? Check out our
video report on the visit. |
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After
negotiating travel disuptions, fuel shortages and
other strike strife, its time to have a laugh! The
Riviera Comedy Club comes to the rescue 07-11 Nov 10 in
Monaco/Cannes/Antibes and Nice with another stellar
line up of top comedians. Back by popular demand,
Canadian funny man
Phil Nichols, joined by
Steve
Hall (a Catholic in a Jewish body!) and half Irish -
half Iranian comedian
Patrick Monahan ("We spent
most of our holidays in customs!") . Check out our
preview video
featuring clips from each of the comedians. |
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Almost
two months ago Lorgues resident Sally Perigo discovered that an old
limestone quarry, literally on her doorstep was to be reactivated and
started investigating.
Local
residents, have been fighting a campaign to get the project
cancelled. 22nd July they demonstrated with a peaceful march up the
small country chemin, which the quarry company propose to use for 20 ton
lorries.
Anita Rieu-Sicart,
Editor of the Var Village Voice
reports for RivieraLife.tv. |
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On Wednesday 16th June
2010, the region around Draguignan in the Var was submerged by a 2 metre
wave of flood water following record rainfall of 14 inches of rain in a
just a few hours. At least 25 were killed in this natural tragedy and
many homes and businesses destoyed. We have collected global news
reports and videos about the disaster, and
RivieraLife.tv correspondent
David Rowe
has compiled a video of the aftermath. |
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The first Art
Monaco exposition took place in the Diahilev Hall of the
Grimaldi Forum, Monaco 29th April - 2nd May 2010. 100 galleries
from around the world exhibited. RivieraLife.tv
correspondent Kerry MacGregor reports and interviews Tanya
Baxter of London's Kings Road Gallery, Monaco based Canadian
sculptor Blake and Art Monaco President Johnessco Rodriguez. |
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Following his Fragments
project that received global media attention, Monaco based
Canadian sculptor Blake
reveals a new series of marble sculptures at Art Monaco '10.
With his
Fragments
project,
Blake
poignantly applied the classical partial body form to
benefit a cause that aims to avoid the further maiming of bodies
caused by the legacy of landmines.
Blake's
elegant new series, sculptured in Carrara marble, were debuted at
Art Monaco '10 Contempoary Art Salon 29 Apr - 02 May 10. |
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The 7th edition of Top Marques Monaco
took place at the
Grimaldi Forum,
Monaco 15-18 Apr
10. It is the world's only live supercar show, described as a showcase
for the haute couture of the motor industry.
RivieraLife.tv
correspondent
Andrew Burroughs
reports on this years show featuring the worlds most expensive car; the
most powerful car at the show; an electric supercar; a no frills sports
car from Nahr; the worlds most expensive golf cart and a bling bling
motor that would even startle the makers of
MTV's 'Pimp My Ride'! |
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To raise funds for his
foundation's charities and for BBC TV's Sport Relief 2010 Lawrence Dallaglio, captain of England's World Cup winning Rugby team in 2003, organised the
Dallaglio Cycle
Slam. 30 cyclists
travel through all of the countries in Rugby's Six Nations Tournament.
The charity cycle adventure started in Rome and ends in Edinburgh. Last week the cyclists passed
through the Cote d'Azur.
RivieraLife.tv
reporter David Rowe
caught up with them. |
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Snow chaos seized the Cote d'Azur Thursday 11th Feb 10 as up to 20cm
covered the region. The A8 motorway shut down, cars abandoned, 111
flights were cancelled at Nice Airport and the Cannes-Grasse rail link
and penetrante road were shut down. The snowfall subsided Thursday night
& the A8 motorway reopened. Intrepid
RivieraLife.tv
reporter Mark
Dezzani ventured
out onto the terrace to see what all the fuss was about! |
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The
International Club
of the Riviera
with the Actors Abroad
Company
presents the
Old Time Music
Hall.
Directed by Liz Morgan
it is 'an
extraordinary extravaganza with artistes brought at great
expense' to the Antibea Theatre. Sponsored by Events
by George,
this nostalgia fest starred Liz Morgan,
Johnny
Dennis,
Peter Reeves,
Helen Patrick,
Frank Kovacs,
Samantha Z
and maestro Stuart Barham.
Watch our video report on this truly magniloquent musical. |
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For the second year
running, Monaco rally legend Jean-Louis Schlesser
won the
Africa Eco Race 2010,
a raid rally that crosses Morocco & Mauritania; destination Dakar in
Senegal. Schlesser has also won two Paris-Dakar rallys in 1999 & 2000.
The Africa Eco Race 2010 took place 29 Dec 09 - 10 Jan 10. RivieraLife.tv's Mark
Dezzani is the
international TV commentator for the rally and compiled this video
report on this year's exciting event. |
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The
Christmas concerts by the
Riviera
International Singers
at St.
Blaise Church in Valbonne
has become an annual tradition, setting the atmosphere for
Christmas and raising significant funds for charity. Meet the choir's Music Director
Jo
Walker,
President David
Sidney
and founder members Beryl Arnould and
Pamela
Flower OBE and sample the atmosphere of this magical local Christmas event
in this video report presented by
Christine
Davis. |
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A new
monument was unveiled in Frejus 02 Dec 09, the 50th
anniversary of the Malpasset dam disaster. The monument
stands by the Roman arena in Frejus and commemorates the 423
who died on that tragic night in 1959 when the dam burst. RivieraLife.tv's David Rowe reports on the commemorations
and speculates about some of the reasons for this tragic
disaster. |
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Giorgio
Carbone, known as 'His Tremendousness' Prince Giorgio the
1st of Seborga died Wed 25 Nov 09 aged 73, after a two
year illness. Prince Giorgio was the elected Prince of the
unrecognised 'Principality of Seborga', a territory situated
14km inland and perched 500m up in the Ligurian maritime Alps of Italy.
200 mourners turned out at the memorial service for Prince
Giorgio I of Seborga at 11am 05 Dec 09. |
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On the 70th
anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, the Forces
Sweetheart
Dame Vera Lynn
topped the UK album charts and re-issued her autobiography
Some
Sunny Day.
On Friday 18th September Dame Vera, a regular visitor to the
Cote d'Azur, was guest of honour at Heidi's English
Bookshop
in Antibes, where she signed almost 100 copies of her memoir.
Local journalist
Liz Morgan
and
David Rowe
produced this video report for RivieraLife.tv. |
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The 65th anniversary of
the liberation of the South of France from Nazi occupation by allied
forces was celebrated August 09 in Cavalaire-sur-Mer. The 'Glorious
G.I.s' from the U.S. were aided by Canadian, British and French
Resistance forces. Originally called Operation Anvil, the landings were
re-named Operation Dragoon. RivieraLife.tv's
David Rowe reports on this lesser known but significant episode of World
War II. |
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July
5th, we got on our bikes and back pedaled to the famous Stars'n'Bars where Stephen Grant told us what Monaco has in common
with a teenage boy. Lucy Porter revealed what connects Anne Widdicombe
with a closet gay Dad and Milton Jones (pic) explained
how the Grand Old Duke of York suffered from manic depression.
See all this and more in our highlights video of the July
edition of The Riviera Comedy Club. |
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Astronaut
Buzz Aldrin was guest of honour at a garden party hosted by the Prince
Albert II of Monaco Foundation in July. On the 40th anniversary of his
pioneering mission to the moon, Aldrin whose lunar landing vehicle was
called 'The Eagle', helped to celebrate an exhibition of Eagle
sculptures around Monaco, organised by Eco Art International to benefit
Prince Albert II's environmental projects.
RivieraLife.tv was there, check out our video report. |
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The Riviera
Comedy Club in June had another stellar line-up of top
comedians, and not just on the stage. In the audience at The
Hop Store in Antibes was a famous British TV comedian. Watch
our video to savour highlights from headline act Ian Moore,
support act Carl Connelly and MC Rufus Hound. They had the
audience howling with laughter with topics ranging from
language learning to 'Lotus Eaters.' |
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One of the highlights of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival was the
debut of Terry Gilliam's new movie The Imaginarium of
Doctor Parnassus starring the late Heath Ledger. In this
interview with Riviera Life's Mark Dezzani, Terry Gilliam
reflects on the 60s, Monty Python and the essence of his
film-making. |
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RivieraLife.tv took our cameras to the Akathor pub in the old town of Nice for round 2 of the Riviera Comedy
Club. The gig clashed with the Chelsea v. Barcelona
European Championship semi-final that saw the London
club painfully exit. The venue
was packed with punters who were distracted with ace sets from comedians Gordon Southern, George Egg and compere Dan Evans. Watch the hilarious highlights here! |
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The
world's only Live Supercar Show, Top Marques Monaco took place at the Grimaldi Forum April 16th-19th. Although predominantly luxury, sports
and supercars, the show includes Top Marques Watches, yacht brokers and
even art. We report on this years event in which environmentally
friendly hybrid supercars were strongly represented.
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The
debut of the Riviera Comedy Club early April 2009, was a riotous success with
much laughter and good attendance. RivieraLife.tv
attended the Cannes event at Morrison's Irish Pub. Compère
Andrew Bird and comedians Ben Norris & Simon Evans had
the audience in fits. Check-out our video report. |
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The English
language monthly newspaper
Riviera Times
& its German language sister paper
Riviera Cote d'Azur Zeitung
are an essential part of expatriate life. Both titles recently launched new web-sites. Now you can access regularly
updated news and information inbetween their monthly appearance
on the news-stands. This video takes you behind the scenes where
we meet the principle players behind these two titles.
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The Angel Film Awards takes place each December in Monaco
and features non-violent movies. The 2008 event featured a
groundbreaking co-production 'Jun-Ai' between China and
Japan. The movie sought reconciliation between these
two nations on the 70th anniversary of the Nanking massacre
following the Japanese invasion of China in 1937.
Together with BBC Correspondent Andrew
Burroughs, our parent company
Europa
Productions produced this report for BBC World's
Asia Today
programme from the Angel Film Awards 2008 in Monaco. |
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November 11th 2008
was the 90th anniversary of the end of World War 1, Since then
millions more soldiers have scarificed their lives in conflicts
around the world. This video report records the 90th anniversary
ceremony at the Bordighera British
Cemetery on
the Italian Riviera. The Rev. Douglas Bean,
Chaplain of St. John's Anglican Church in Menton conducted the
ceremony. |
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RivieraLife.tv
reveals the fun rituals of the Riviera branch of the famous
global running, drinking and dining club; the Hash House
Harriers. Discover how they tackled the trails, drinking
'circle' and the Ristorante Coniglio in the Ancient
Principality of Seborga. |
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Riviera Radio's mix of news, music and local information in
English has been a vital part of everyday life on the Cote
d'Azur for more than 21 years. Now you can see the faces
behind the microphone. |
