As I was taking photos on this walk the other day, I bumped into friends - we'd met when a mutual friend invited us to the Cellars of the
Hôtel de Paris in Monaco - what a great experience that was. I disgress...
Gerard asked if I knew of the tomb of the young girl. 'No,' I said, 'where is it?' Gerard pointed in the distance and I saw an area of concrete and nothing more. 'We have to get to the front, as the tomb faces the sea,' he said. This led to much clambering over pointed dangerous rocks in front of the Villa Cypris you saw yesterday. At times I was on all fours and Gerard had to take my camera and camera bag. His wife, Ulla - sensibly! - chose not to walk with us. She'd done it
before and knew better...
Jeanne Marie Andrée Poitier was born in 1899 and was the gardener's daughter at the Villa Cypris. When she was 17 she was made pregnant by Olympe Hériot, the owner of the house. Unable to bear the shame she threw herself off the rocks and drowned. This is her tomb.
So many people must walk the Promenade le Corbusier and don't know this sad story. Thank you so much to Gerard and Ulla... even though I did have sore legs the next day!
~~~~~
Alors que je prenais des photos sur cette marche, l'autre jour, j'ai rencontré des amis. Nous avions fait connaissance à l'occassion de la visite des Caves de l'Hôtel de Paris organisée par un ami commun, ce qui fut une belle expérience . Mais je m'éloigne du sujet ...Gérard m'a demandé si je connaissais la tombe de la jeune fille. "Non", lui dis-je," Où est-elle? " Gérard a montré sa direction , j'ai vu une zone de béton et rien de plus. "Nous devons allez devant car la tombe est face à la mer" dit-il. Cela nous a conduit à nous déplacer sur des rochers dangereux en face de la Villa Cypris que vous avez vue hier. Parfois, j'étais à quatre pattes et Gérard a dû prendre mon appareil photo et ma saccoche . Sa femme, Ulla - intelligemment! - choisit de ne pas venir avec nous. Elle l'avait fait auparavant, et connaissait déjà... Jeanne Marie Andrée Poitier était née en 1899 et c' était la fille du jardinier de la Villa Cypris. Quand elle avait 17 ans, elle fut mise enceinte par Olympe Hériot, le propriétaire de la maison. Incapable de supporter la honte, elle se jeta sur les rochers et se noya. Il s'agit de sa tombe. Tant de gens doivent marcher sur la Promenade Le Corbusier sans connaitre cette triste histoire. Merci beaucoup à Gérard et Ulla ... même si j'ai eu mal aux jambes le lendemain!
(In this photo you can see the tomb in the rocks - in relation to the building we saw yesterday).
I wonder if she knows how utterly beautiful she is.
'What the world really needs is more love and less paper work.' ~ Pearl Bailey
The colours of Menton are glorious in sunshine and in rain - just the photographer gets wet...
The sun doesn't always shine in Menton but it did for me when Brattcat and Mr. Brattcat came to stay. Today they leave Menton and will be visiting with our mutual and dear friend Malyss in Nice.
A fragment of a fresco from 1606 in Ventimiglia's beautiful church in Ventimiglia Alta. Ventimiglia is just across the Italian border from Menton.
We've completed half the walk and finally we've reached Le Corbusier's famous cabanon. You descend these steps and see the tiny building ahead. Swiss architect, Le Corbusier (real name Charles-Édouard Jeanneret), built the cabanon in the 1952 as an exercise in minimal habitation but also as a birthday present for his wife. Thereafter they spent their holidays at Cap Martin until Le Corbusier drowned off the rocks in 1965. He is buried in the old village of Roquebrune.
As I was taking photos on this walk the other day, I bumped into friends - we'd met when a mutual friend invited us to the Cellars of the Hôtel de Paris in Monaco - what a great experience that was. I disgress...
Cap Martin has many incredible villas, one of which is Villa Cypris which was owned by Olympe Hériot, owner of the Grands Magasins du Louvre in Paris. Emile Zola's famous novel 'Au bonheur des dames' was based on the daily life of a department store at the end of the 19th century and was inspired by Heriot's department store.
Look across the bay and there is Monaco. I love the contrast - the rocks, the trees, the wildness of the walk compared to the razzmattazz of Monte Carlo. It always astounds me how easy it is to find a natural environment so near to the Principality.
This part of the walk, as you can see is attached to a wall with quite steep steps at one end. The railway line is above.
Naughty, naughty... apparently you are not allowed to camp on the beaches or the rocks. These people chose a soft spot of sand between rocks with a view of Monaco across the bay.
Some walls grow trees...
Of course, you might pass an artist painting the mountain above Monaco and then on the way back, you'll pass her again as she chats with friends.
And of course many people - and their dogs - like to run or walk fast. If you are on an amble, you have to get out of the way of the runners as this coastal path is narrow in places.
Sometimes it's good to stop walking, look down and watch the sea rushing over stone steps.
Written on the sign you see the distances given in terms of time but you'd need to be walking pretty briskly to get to Monaco in under two hours. The path is narrow, there are steps up and down, there are people to meet and greet, dogs to pat, views to behold - yes, give yourself a lot longer.
This sculpture of Le Corbusier, the legendary Swiss-born architect, famed for his minimalist style, stands at the beginning of the Promenade le Corbusier at the point of Cap Martin. This invigorating 2 hour walk to Monaco used to be called the Sentier des Douaniers (the Coastguard's Path). A few years ago vandals attacked this sculpture by Arlette Somazzi and threw the head into the sea. Fortunately it was eventually retrieved and replaced on the plinth.
