Fram is back in Monte-Carlo….

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So many emotions as I drive through the turns, roundabouts, and new roads in Fontvieille… It might be my first visit to the Squash Club and the Monte-Carlo Classic, but it’s far from being my first visit to the Principauté…

A “few” years ago, mid-70s, I was noticed by the Monte-Carlo Ballet, Marika Besobrasova in a little ballet competition.

Marika met with my parents and proposed that I come and study at her Academie Princesse Grace. I was 14 when I made the opening of the magnificent villa, a gift from Princess Grace to Marika.

I still have that memory of the Princess carrying a huge armchair to help as we were all moving in!!! I thought Marika was going to have a heart attack…

I then spent a few years in that magic incredible place, loving every single day spent in that extraordinary cocoon.

At the time of the opening, the boarding school was not opened yet – it opened I think 3 years later -and I was living at the top of the Catholic School, we used to call it “Chez les Soeurs du Rocher”, studying on my own with mail schooling, and doing my 6 hours of training minimum per day at the Academy.

I was lucky enough to see and work in classes along with dancers like Noureev, Margot Fonteyn, Mikhaïl Barychnikov, and I was incredibly lucky to dance with the Monte-Carlo Ballet at the Monte-Carlo Opera, with incredible dancers like Noella Pontois, Attilio Labis and Yoko Morishita.  Incredible memory that forged my feel and love of performing, as you well imagine.

Years later, in 1989, I came back to Monte-Carlo, this time at the Theatre Princesse Grace, with a Touring Play, based on a Ray Cooney play, with a very famous French actor, Jacques Villeret. I was so proud to show my colleagues the Monte-Carlo I knew and love so much.

I often come back in the Principauté, every time I have friends who come to visit me. So it’s a great pleasure to be back, this time for squash…

We are staying in the Columbus Hotel, a lovely little hotel on the seaside, and everybody has made us feel welcome, a hotel which has the great bonus of being a short walk away from the club.

Looking forward to spend a week watching some great squash, and telling you all about it… Stay Tuned….