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The Argentin restaurant in the Fairmont Hotel has extended its opening hours to include lunch. Business lunch to be precise. For 44 euros, you can be collected from your office door, taken to the restaurant, enjoy a starter, main dish and coffee (or main dish, dessert and coffee), and taken back to your office afterwards. For the busy executive, your meal is guaranteed to take no more than an hour, or the whole thing is on the house.

The International Fair of Monaco is like an up-market version of the Ideal Home Exhibition (for those of you from the UK). There are stalls showing furniture for the house and garden, clothes, health and fitness products, and of course food and drink. It's a great way to spend an hour or so, getting ideas for the house, trying out PowerPlate type machines, tasting cheese, charcuterie and wines.

Two concerts today by the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, one at 11.00 and one at 17.00. including Bach's Cantata 59 "Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten", Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus, and Haydn's Harmony Mass.

Plans to refurbish the Condamine Market are progressing. There's been talk about improvements for at least 2 years, and it seems that work may finally start in 2009. The market is located on the port side of Place d'Armes, under the shadow of the Rock.

You may have noticed some activity in the Costa Cremaillere building on boulevard Princesse Charlotte recently. We've been watching the comings and goings over the past few months and can now report that it will be opening its doors again very soon to the public. It looks like they'll be serving coffee, beer and snacks in the newly refurbished cafe, just below the old terminus of the La Turbie to Monte Carlo railway.

Located on the new pedestrian walkway, between rue de la Turbie and avenue Prince Pierre, to the right of the station entrance.

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Work begins in Novermber to demolish the Hotel Balmoral, which has been closed since before maBoum arrived in Monte Carlo. In its place, a new 7 storey luxury residence will be built, scheduled for completion in 2010. The news was announced at the extraordinary general meeting of Monte Carlo SBM last Friday, along with two other projects: one to add a conference space to the Hotel Hermitage, the other to re-develop the Sporting d'Hiver, which many locals think is an eyesore.

l'Opera de Monte-Carlo presents Mozart's The Magic Flute. Visit the official www.opera.mc web site for more information.

The video clip below is Oksana Krovytska Bartered Bride - not The Magic Flute, but should give you a flavour of the Opera de Monte Carlo

In La Salle Belle Epoque.
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