Picture Credits:
1. Fabulous fireworks for the Red Cross Gala Monte Carlo
2. See if you recognise any of the famous line up at the Gala
3. Champaignand sandwiches a very civilised pick nick inAntibes
4. At the Hotel d'Parris in my £15 dress
5. Prince Albert and his glamorous girlfriend Charlene Wittstock. Will they marry everyone is asking?
I was in a Fairytale
Or so it looks now, sitting for the last few weeks with occasional nice days and seeing winter coats in August. I am thinking back to the wonderful time I had in the fairytale city of Monaco. The constant blue skies we had for the month I was there and the giddiness of the spectacular views around the Cote d'Azur where it is so difficult to choose which city or town to go to. Menton, nestled between Monaco,France and Italy, is like old England but with sunshine, clear blue skies and sea, with the classical architecture from the turn of the century. So different from thevillage of Eze, high in the hills with a fabulous world-class restaurant the Chev d'Or with its magnificent views. Well worth every penny or euro you spend. Each is wonderful in its own way.
Then there are Nice, Antibesand Cannes - so many choices - and all within a short train ride. The food is splendid with the prices about the same as London. In Antibes there is a cute sandwich place that you can take gourmand specialties to the beach for a picnic. The owner casually says he has a ½ bottle of chilled Champagne if you would like it. So very civilised! In Nice I was told in the quaint English Library that you can rent a very large bourgeois apartment with spacious rooms for 2,500 euros a month as no one wants the old places now. In most of the towns you can get some organic (bio) food (unfortunately like the UK not the restaurants) but Nice seems to have the most choice with organic outdoor markets and stores.
And of course there is our favourite -Monaco. So lovely and safe, probably the safest place in the world. The night life is as social as you can take with gallery openings, cocktail parties and private dinners in sumptuous houses and glamorous balls, or you can just casually stroll along the many walks and ports and act like a tourist. There is something for everyone.
However, if you really want to see something spectacular then the Red Cross Gala is a must. It is held at the Sporting Club on the first Friday in August. It costs around 600 euros per ticket but as you can see from the pictures above it had really spectacular fireworks, reminding me of the Beijing Olympics bonanza, and for just a ball that is pretty good.
I had a rather distressing first few days when I arrived to find all my summer clothes that I had left with a friend in France for safe-keeping had been stolen by some of her guests. These clothes of course were my favourites that I had hunted for them over a long period of time to get my wardrobe together and I was looking forward to wearing them. I was so disappointed that I just went to some markets and bought some cheap chiffon dresses (now in fashion) and tops. I was lucky to find some bargains as I really didn't feel like spending on designer clothes when it wasn't in my budget; it just seemed such a waste of money to buy in haste.
It proved you can go to the South of France and be on a low budget. I was so distracted that I hadn't chased up my invite to the Red Cross Ball. However, I made time to go to the Hotel de Paris, where many of the guests from abroad were staying. It is a place to people watch from especially reserved seats in the American bar or the foyer. The drinks are very expensive with a round of three drinks costing £80 for this special occasion. The celebrities gather in the massive foyer, where the TV cameras are roaming, ready to climb into their limos for the short trip to the fantastic Sporting Club were the roof slides back so you can see the sky and watch the fantastic firework display. I felt much better wearing my little £15 dress when I was escorted by the Maitre d' to a very special seat even without a reservation while others were tuned away. It was a special occasion for the hotel and all seats were reserved but the Maitre d' made way for me. Since I was only wearing the dress I bought from the market for £15 in comparison to the expensive dresses surrounding me, I felt pretty good. The Rose Ball in April is the other event of the year – it's a good idea to check it out. There are lots of sumptuous places to stay, from £60-£300 depending on your budget and for a real treat a wish list of hotels would be Hermitage, Metropole and Hotel de Paris.
Pills! Pills! And more Pills!
Would You Rather be FAT than Blind?
Another wonder drug, or a nightmare?
The unhealthy way to slim, stop binge drinking and quit hard drugs? The newest fad is to take a pill for losing weight or binge drinking, or to even stop a drug habit. But at what price to your health? The new pill that promises to make you slim was intended for epileptics but unfortunately these types of pills have had some very serious side effects. Vigabatrin, the 'new kid on the block' in epileptic pills, currently being marketed for losing weight (and stopping binge drinking) has shown to cause serious eyesight problems so I would give it a miss. I think I would rather be fat than lose my sight.
The research was based on rats losing 12-20% of their weight after 40 days of Vigabatrin injections according to U.S government research published in the journal Synapse. Could it be because they were too ill to eat? However the Royal College of Ophthalmologists reported in March that the drug can affect sight, reducing peripheral vision and limiting the field of vision and could be irreversible.
The drug is now being tested on humans to treat cocaine and methamphetamine addiction before the trials for binge eating and binge drinking. However, anti-epilepsy drugs do not have a good record when used for other purposes.
Surgeon tells why, "I'll never eat a fry-up again"
In London's Heart Hospital at University College London where the first heart transplant was performed in 1968 another strange operation was being performed. A man whose diet included Ghee (clarified butter in which many Asian dishes are drenched) was having a triple bypass. It was unusual because he was only 48 and didn't smoke or drink but just had this very unhealthy diet. Ghee is composed of almost entirely saturated fat and the restaurant where he worked as a waiter would probably have used vegetable ghee, a trans-fat dripping in artery-clogging LDL cholesterol. When they pulled the heart out of the body, the surgeon Dr Kolverkar said "the fat is so thick we can't even see the artery." Sadly this is all too common now and each month there seem to be even more obese people that find it so difficult to eat normally now their bodies have been chemically altered.
Because experts have warned that unless urgent action is taken an entire generation faces an old age blighted by heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases brought on by obesity, it has opened the flood gates for drugs instead of common sense. However, the experts do not mention that the food producers need to be held responsible for putting chemicals in the food that subsequently put the body into chaos
Rather than blame the food producers and bring out new laws to stop them killing us with chemicals, obese children will be taken into care, so if you are a parent you may consider educating your children to eat healthily. It can be done albeit with difficulty, but the results are peace of mind and a healthy child with a prospect of longevity.
So lets get real and eat properly and exercise to keep ourselves healthy and young. It might sound boring but it works and it's safe.
Tips:
It's a struggle to find real food and even organic bread that doesn't contain vegetable oil (and even worse, palm oil) or corn syrup as a sweetner, which is far more dangerous to the system than actual sugar. Consequently, they can pretend that there is no sugar in the ingredients which is very misleading. The vegetable oil enables the product to have a longer shelf life. I have found a nice little market in Hammersmith on a Thursday (on King Street opposite Marks and Spenser's) that includes two organic stands that sell organic bread. One does contain oil whilst the other asks, "why would you use oil in bread anyway?". I will have to check the salt content from their website before I buy but at least a good start.
Planet Organic off Tottenham Court Road is worth visiting. All organic food and it tastes great.
Have to admit that my organic food went down to about 65% just recently as I have been travelling and it shows. We are really have to be strict or the hidden salt in the restaurant food blows us up.Thank you for reading my page. You can e-mail me at: valerieaustinhyp@aol.com
Please visit my website at www.valerieaustin.com
Valerie Austin Training (founded 1989)
Validated (GHR, GHSC) Hypnosis Training courses at foundation & practitioner level in business and medical hypnotherapy.
Valerie Austin is author of six successful self-help books including SELF HYPNOSIS published by Thorsons
Founder of UKRAH (1992) The UK Register of Advanced Hypnotherapy.
Eds Note: VALERIE AUSTIN is an author, journalist and trainer with an international reputation in the field of hypnosis. Her best selling books and training help people achieve their full potential. She founded the Austin Corporate Stress Management Company focusing on reducing stress and anxiety amongst executives and CEO's. She also worked as a consultant in hypnosis at the Priory Hospital, the UK's equivalent to The Betty Ford Clinic, which specialises in food addiction and alcohol abuse. Valerie's work in the film industry (Hollywood) interviewing movers and shakers, producing TV news segments and publishing celebrity magazines in London gave her invaluable experience for her current Harley Street practice. |
