Monaco Grand Prix 2010

The Glamorous Good Life… with

Pippa Lister + Christine Gibson + Katherine Scott

Girls of the Grand Prix experience the mesmerizing magic and mystery of Monte Carlo… not to mention the race.

Fasten your seat belts for the ride of your life. An experience that lends new meaning to the term hairpin bend! Rest assured, you are going to need to be strapped in for this ride! Ready? Let's go...

Any expert driver knows that it is essential to have a good team in place; each individual performing their function in perfect harmony and with lightening precision; each player with a purpose, a unique skill, a holistic role contributing to the sum of the parts- all the elements of the engine working together to propel that vehicle faster along the road. When the parts come together seamlessly the journey is bliss. We all win the race. We all live the good life – and in style to boot!

This is the possibly the most apt metaphor to describe my experience of a week in Monaco and is at the same time, a relevant philosophy for life. Two of my dearest friends, Pippa Lister and Christine Gibson, and I embarked on an exhilarating journey to the south of France for a week. We were immediately immersed in a festival of fun, light colour and fireworks. For a short time, allowed a glimpse into an ethereal world, literally fizzing with possibility and excitement. Like Goldie Locks, Snow White and Cinderella were we to the glorious kingdom of Monte Carlo!

Immaculate and graceful, Pippa Lister is Cinderella. The Queen of Hearts in the world of match-making, her passion lies in making sure the shoe fits and that the prince finds his true princess. She wields an invisible magic wand that unites hearts destined to find each other and possesses an extraordinary ability to realize true love in a sometime trying world. Pippa is the founder of Synergy Matchmaking, an international and highly discreet matchmaking service for successful, discerning and sophisticated men and women. She pro-actively searches for your perfect partner by carefully selecting from the most discerning bachelors and intelligent, beautiful women from around the world.

Her clients are typically high profile executives burdened by overwhelmingly busy lives, who utilise her to accelerate the process of finding a truly exceptional partner with matching goals, values and aspirations for life. Friends playfully refer to her as Miss Network; a nickname earned over the years by her exceptional ability to bring people who touch each other's lives together. Her intuitive skill for uniting souls has resulted in a string of successful business and romantic introductions - including marriages for several of her girlfriends! An angel worthy of a throne in heaven!

Coming to Monaco was an ideal time for Pippa to engage with some future and existing clients. It was also an ideal place for her to look out for sophisticated women worthy of her altruistic cause. We were close to flummoxed by her uncanny ability to evaluate and understand the psychological dynamic of all those she encountered.

www.synergymatchmaking.com

Christine Gibson, with her flowing blonde mane and teeny tiny frame is Goldie Locks.Testament to the “don't judge a book by it's cover” adage, Christine holds an Honors Degree in Actuarial Statistics and Finance and has made her mark in the fixed income derivative structuring business, focusing on South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa while working for a prestigious South African investment bank for the past four years. Her incredible intellect aside, she has made many hearts melt in her golden wake. She deals each day with the perplexing problem of being simultaneously beautiful and exceptionally bright. A challenge not for the faint of heart or meager of wit.

The elite and well heeled assemble each year along the glorious coastline of Monaco and Cannes to bask in the luminescent fizz that envelops the Grand Prix and the Cannes Film Festival. There is buzz - electricity in the air that is palpable. When one is subsumed by that intoxicating bubble, it is as though reality is suspended and the world is transformed into a magical playground for adults. I felt like a wide-eyed kid at the blissful heart of happy play. In the place of jungle gyms, jumping castles and merry-go-rounds we were surrounded by mammoth, gleaming yachts, sport cars, helicopters and private jets.

Each individual we encountered along the way added more radiant colour to what was no doubt the ultimate adult fairytale; each with their own role to play, donning a valiant suit of armor. Our glamorous attire took the form of items for sale in the glittering, luxury stores that lined the cobbled streets… inconceivable sparkling shoes and fitted gowns Grace Kelly would have been proud to wear. Diamonds sparkle brighter, smiles shone surreally, Jimmy Choo stilettos clacked in unison and just like a child is able to recreate reality in vivid colour in their imagination, we like fairytale characters were suddenly able to weave our dreams into an intoxicatingly real world we never imagined existed. Dream; believe – the impossible can happen!

The first night we were invited aboard the Indian Empress for a night of Indian glamour and sparkle. Aboard the boat we were surprised by how many people we new. It felt surreal to be so far away from home yet have everyone together as though we were a global family, all making a special trip to be reunited for a week. This feeling continued throughout the week with endless seemly random encounters with people connected to more people. Each encounter leading to more introductions and encounters, like a woven tapestry that may appear chaotic on one side but if you turn it over it makes a perfect pattern, every stitch is in the place it was meant to be.

On Sunday 16^th, the day of the Grand Prix, we watched the races from the rooftop of the historic Fairmont Hotel. This idyllic location is the prime spot to watch the cars speed around the very hairy hairpin bend. Lunch was held on the roof top terrace with a group of friends from around the world. It was a splendid spread of delicious delicacies. There was a heady excitement and much laughter. All of us swapping stories, business plans and brimming with ideas on what to do next… there was a party at the Sea Lounge… heard it was good… so let's head down!

I have to let it be known that this way the BEST party I have ever been to! EVER! We arrived just after 6pm while the light was still sparkling. A glowing pink hue painted onto a backdrop of an ocean drifting with super yachts. We walked into a sea of ecstatic energy and beautiful people; the beachside terrace boasting over-sized bottles of Cristal on ice, the floor vibrating with the electric rhythmic sounds of Europe’s best DJ's. Super models, Billionaires, bankers and Euro trash all escaping for one night of fantasy. More indulgence than ones eyes could soak in at once. I was swimming in sea of decadence and splendor. Lapping up every moment, listening to shrieks of joy as another shower of Champagne rained down. Everywhere we looked there was more and more… more excitement, more indulgence, more happiness. Some would say it was frankly irresponsible!

Just as the party reached the crest of the wave, we where whisked away in a beast of Bentley to board the illustrious Lady Lola. We were going to dinner with Paris Hilton and her parents! This was the point in which I started to believe in fairytales. The boat was covered in 20,000 red and white roses. I couldn’t resist but had to play amongst them like a real Snow White. We then dined on lobster while the boat sailed to Cannes to watch the fireworks. As the bright flames littered the sky like stars, Kathy Hilton and I discussed fashion and told me she liked my earrings! As hard as it was to tear myself away from my new- found friend and an equally profound conversation on fashion, we had to leave before we turned into a pumpkin for the finale night at the legendary Billionaires Club in the Fairmont Hotel. It is the epicentre of Monaco. The heart beat of fun where we would celebrate the last day of our Monaco adventure, but only the beginning of our journey.

All good fairytales must end with a happy ending…. so may all the princes find their princesses, may we all be dealt good cards, may we all win the race, walk the red carpet, pop the Champagne and live the glamorous good life!

Me on the Red carpet in Cannes!!!

With love.... Lady K