Balzi Rossi - the Beach

I popped across the Italian border yesterday to shop at Latte, which is midway between Menton and Ventimiglia. On the way back a walk along the beach at Balzi Rossi seemed a good idea.

Balzi Rossi is at the border itself, on the Italian side. It's famous for its prehistoric caves - read about those by clicking on the link.

This gentleman is bravely testing the waters but he decided against a swim and turned back.

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Hier, j'ai traversé la frontière italienne pour faire mes courses à Latte qui se trouve à mi-chemin entre Menton et Vintimille. Sur le chemin du retour une promenade le long de la plage des Balzi Rossi me semblait une bonne idée.

Les Balzi Rossi se situent à la frontière elle-même, du côté italien. Ils sont célèbres pour leurs grottes préhistoriques- en savoir plus sur elles-ci en cliquant sur ​​le lien.

Ce monsieur teste courageusement l'eau, mais il renonce au bain et s'en retourne.

The caves of Balzi Rossi - 7

Our last day - perhaps not a spectacular photograph but I wanted to show you how far we've walked. We started at the museum itself, which is the cream coloured, flat-roofed building you see on the left of the photo, nearest to camera - then we walked up the ramp and crossed the railway lines - and then up steps, up slopes, up more steps and more slopes - the end of which you can see on the right of this photograph. So didn't we do well? You'll see another photo of the first of the two museum buildings below and, of course, you see Menton in the background. Thank you so much to everyone who has taken this little tour with me. Tomorrow we'll cross the border as we make our way back to Menton.

The caves of Balzi Rossi - 6

This is the Bauma Grande cave where the famous 'triple burial' was discovered - you can't visit this cave though.

The Grimaldi Venus, fashioned in serpentine and depicting a pregnant woman.

Horse engraving in one of the caves

This is the last of our visit to the Balzi Rossi caves - however, I've just one more photograph that shows you just how far we've walked. So come back tomorrow - and after that - we'll go back to Menton!

The caves of Balzi Rossi - 5

We've passed the sandy entrance to the cave now. Here's where you climb in to a deep dark scary place. As I wrote in 'Postcards from Pension Milou' I didn't have a torch or a dog to protect me from the ghosts of the prehistoric creatures, so I bottled out...


Between 1883 and 1895, Louis Alexandre Jullien discovered fifteen figurines at the Balzi Rossi. This is the largest series ever found in one place in Western Europe, and the pieces can be traced back to the Gravettian chronology and culture. Seven of the figurines were displayed in an exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Civilization (Ottawa) in 1995. In most cases, the figurines are miniature sculptures of well-rounded female nudes, fashioned - depending on the region - from ivory, antler or soft stone, and sometimes even clay, which was later fired. The treatment seems to have followed certain rules, the most obvious being an overemphasis of the fleshy parts of the body (buttocks, stomach and chest) and, at times, an explicit portrayal of various sexual attributes.

There's more - come back tomorrow and don't forget to join me for 'A Night out in Monte Carlo' which started yesterday and will continue for several more days.

The caves of Balzi Rossi - 4

Finally we've reached the entrance to the Grotta di Florestano - Florestano's Cave. Tomorrow we'll walk further inside and see what we see.

There are in fact seven caves at Balzi Rossi but only two can be visited, Florestan's Cave and Caviglioni's Cave. In another cave, the Barma Grande, the famous 'triple burial' -skeletons of a Cro-Magnon adult male, girl and young boy, were discovered. These are on display in a glass case in the museum.


As I mentioned yesterday, I've written a personal account of my visit to the Caves of Balzi Rossi on my writing blog.

...and on a completely different subject, if you fancy a Night Out in Monte Carlo - a series which starts today - please click on Monte Carlo Daily Photo.

The caves of Balzi Rossi - 3

Prehistoric man didn't have these steps to walk up, but I'm sure he was considerably more nimble of foot than us. No matter, we are nearly there and we'll be at the entrance to one of the caves soon.

The Balzi Rossi caves are at the southern limit of the hilly massif of the Alps, which extends to the sea along the coast, separating the Italian territory of Liguria to the east from Provence and the basin of the Rhône River in France to the west. This particular topography meant that the caves were en route - as well as a convenient stopping point - for those who travelled through or lived in this region over the millennia. During the Upper Paleolithic period, the obstacle of the Alpine glaciers made a stop at the caves obligatory. Man was present here from the time of the Riss glaciations (which began 240,000 years ago) until the Mesolithic.

The Grotta del Principe yielded a fragment of thin bone belonging to a pre-Neanderthal woman who walked erect. This is the oldest human fragment ever found in Italy.

(I need to say that almost all of the facts I'm giving you in these postings, I gleaned from material at the Museum. A few though are from the Internet. So if any scholar happens upon this blog and I'm in error, do please let me know and I'll be happy to correct it)

I mentioned yesterday I'd talk about the guides. Well, I decided to write a personal - and hopefully slightly humorous account - of my visit to the Balzi Rossi caves, including my take on the guides, and hope to get that up and published in my writing blog tomorrow. When it's done I'll give you the relevant link.

See you tomorrow.

The caves of Balzi Rossi - 2

We are still walking toward the caves. If you look at yesterday's post, you'll see we left the first museum building and walked up the ramp. At the top of the ramp, you saw a covered bridge. Well here is that bridge, taken from the other direction. As you see it runs over the railway lines linking the French and Italian Rivieras. At the beginning of the bridge there was a locked iron gate, which the guide opened (I'll explain about the guides tomorrow but you should know there were three guides for one solitary visitor - me! - talk about over-staffed). Once the gate was unlocked I was permitted to walk on and discover the caves alone.

Don't worry, I know that bridge looks rickety but I assure you it's fine.

Come back tomorrow. We are getting nearer...

The caves of Balzi Rossi - 1

As a photograph I appreciate this is rather messy, with bits of buildings left and right. However, it's the best way to show you how one gets to visit the limestone caves of Balzi Rossi. The caves (one of which you can clearly see) get their name (Red Rocks) from the colour of the cliffs that surround them.

We've now walked on a few yards from the restaurant you saw yesterday. On the left is a small museum (lower left painted in stripes). First you go into the museum, which was founded in 1898 by Sir Thomas Hanbury. (The Hanbury Gardens just a little further into Italy at La Mortola is one of the true wonders of this part of the world. A future treat, I promise you). Later you visit the caves themselves, and after that, you can see more displays in the second museum building which you see on the lower right.

The museum houses extraordinary displays of a prehistoric Mediterranean. Diggings began in the second half of the 19th century as well as in 1928 and during the post-war period fossils of great importance were discovered, including late Paleolithic human burials, fossils of elephants, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, reindeer, and groundhogs. All have provided precious information on the anthropological development of man (from Homoerectus to the man of Cro-magnon).

Tomorrow I'll take you on the walk you see - up that ramp and across the iron bridge (which, by the way, crosses the main railway line that runs along the Côte d'Azur and into Liguria) - and then we'll visit one of the caves. Do come back tomorrow - and tomorrow and tomorrow - this visit will take us a few days.

Ristorante Balzi Rossi

This is theRestaurant Balzi Rossi - it's on the way to the area of sea and rocks you saw yesterday and the day before. The view is wonderful, of course, because it looks back on Menton - the beautiful facade of the Old Town (see banner at top of page) and the port of Garavan - and the food is fabulous! Fortunately, I speak from experience...

Tomorrow, we'll visit the Balzi Rossi caves dating back to the Palaeolithic Era.

Near Balzi Rossi - 2

A closer look at one of those rocks you saw yesterday. I wonder what species of bird?

Near Balzi Rossi

We are in Italy today. I parked at the frontière and walked past the Balzi Rossi restaurant, past the Balzi Rossi Caves and Museum of Prehistory (will show you these wonders another day) and sat and enjoyed the sea crashing against the rocks. Don't you love the wildness of the coast on the Italian side of the border? I do.