Each November Photo-Menton holds an exhibition at the Palais de l'Europe and each year more and more photographers take part. This year 86 amateur and professional photographers' work was on display.
There are several awards as well as one voted by the public. Entry is 3 euros and with your ticket you are given a small voting form to choose your favourite photographer.
Click to see Nice-Matin's reportage and photograph of this event.
Menton is built over rivers (perhaps too large a word - streams?) - you'd not know it as you walk along the promenade but at the base of every valley the water pouring off the mountains, after rain, has to go somewhere and of course, that is to the sea.
Here you see water from the Torrent de Gorbio where it meets the sea. The smaller photograph shows that same river taken from the opposite direction. You see the bridge - part of the promenade that joins Roquebrune-Cap-Martin to Menton. You can also see some of the rubbish thrown up by the storms. (Click to enlarge)
Recently, the Carei, the river running along the Route de Sospel (the road that runs from the sea to the autoroute) has been built over at vast cost and now the main road runs over it. And in Nice-Matin the other day, I read millions of euros are to be spent doing repair work over the river that brings water down another valley - the Borrigo.
We're looking at just one part of the Route de Gorbio. In the main photograph, the medieval hill village of Gorbio is about 4 kilometres behind us - we are en route to Menton on the road I take every time I drive down the valley.
At the moment there are about 5 or 6 blockages like this. Light falls this year and nothing to worry about. One year the road was cut for two months whilst two separate rock faces were made safe with retaining walls. During that time, we had to go the 'long way round' to get to Menton or Monaco.
Look carefully at the rock face (click to enlarge) - it's already been covered in heavy wire, fixed into the rock with bolts. Even so a bush has crashed and stones and very small rocks fall and tumble out. Further down the Route de Gorbio, larger rocks have hit the road waiting for the council to move them. When you drive out after any heavy rain, you have to keep a careful eye, as there are many sharp bends on the road and it's easy to hit a fallen rock which doesn't do a car much good.
The rain has stopped but water will continue to come off the mountains for days, even weeks - we've had so much of it.
We've had storms galore lately - they've gone on for about 10 days. Lightning, thunder and endless heavy rain - no electricity from Marseilles to Menton one day - fallen rocks and flooding.
Today I woke to rain again and then suddenly the rain stopped, the sun broke through and life on the French Riviera was back to normal again...
Here you see the sea crashing on the promenade where Roquebrune-cap-Martin meets Menton. You can see the Old Town of Menton in the distance. Part of this road along the sea has been cut for several days - the sea was coming over to the other side of the road - dangerous for cars and people.
Meet my dog, Beau - happy to loan one of his long ears to support Obama on this, America's election day.
Beau lived in a refuge in the Var for four years - he was called Bimbo then but I changed it to Beau the day we drove home together. He is a Bruno de Jura - a Swiss hunting dog - and the origin of the Bloodhound (you can see the resemblance I think). Three weeks after coming home Beau had both ear drums removed to try and cut down on the massive infections he had. He was four and a half hours on the table. He still gets abscesses from time to time but now he's a pretty healthy dog and this is his chair - which used to be 'my' chair. Huh! He's happy and so am I to have him here. He's a wonderful, funny dog with a howl you'd not believe. He's lived with me in Gorbio for 18 months and is probably about 10 years old although really no one knows his age or history. Taking him from the refuge was the best thing I ever did. Always rescue a dog from a refuge - there are so many and they reward you a trillion-fold. I adore this funny ol' boy.
Happy Election Day, America! Beau and I will be sitting up late and watching the results. If the polls are right, we want to be part of history in the making and welcome President Barack Obama, who I know is going to so good for America and the world. It's time for CHANGE!
See how you can vote with candies on Monte Carlo Daily Photo.
Games in Gorbio village. One of the best things about bringing up children in a village is that they can play safely. No cars in these medieval streets and no one to bother a child. No worries about strangers. Windows have eyes and everyone knows everyone else - someone would soon see if a stranger was talking to a village child.
In this photograph, the children have been playing with two others who have just disappeared down the steps.
Don't you love those red boots!
Alpha is cooling down in the area next to the wash-house in Gorbio. He's a Berger Blanc Suisse (White Swiss Shepherd Dog).
Lunch at the Beausejour in Gorbio. Two village cats are avidly hoping for left-overs. Given the chance they'd have grabbed something/anything/everything. What is it with cats? For any of you following Monte Carlo Daily Photo lately, you'll remember the cat at the Chèvre d'or in Eze village doing the same thing. (click on the link)
My computer guru and good friend, Anthony, had come over from Cannes to move files and folders from my PC to the new iMac - and this lunch was a sort of thankyou - he loves the Beausejour - and so do I.
You can see, in the small pic, how the plates looked before we demolished the food. Anthony ate the duck. Mine is the fish - a dorade. No comments about red wine not going with fish. It went just fine...
Bougainvillea in a Gorbio garden - an olive tree in the foreground - fallen olives on the steps.
The photograph was taken on the 11th October and it's still in flower today. Actually, the flowers you see are not flowers, but 'bracts.' The actual flower of the bougainvillea is small and generally white. Each cluster of three flowers is surrounded by three or six bracts in the bright colours associated with the plant - here a beautiful pinky/red.
The name comes from Louis Antoine de Bougainville, an admiral in the French Navy who discovered the plant in Brazil in 1768.
That's our horticultural lesson for today!
A shot of Gorbio village, with the sea beyond, taken from a friend's house.
This is about as autumnal as we get in the south of France. This creeper, now changing colour, covers a window and roof of a village house in Gorbio.
Everyone comes to the Fete. Here's one much-loved kitten on a lead. Youmi is 5 months old and was visiting from La Turbie, the hill village above Monaco.
Vide grenier - literally 'empty the attic.' Perhaps we'd call it a bric-a-brac sale or a garage sale.
Perhaps the strangest instrument. This lady is playing what I presume is a gourd. At the beginning of the day this group - Le Ravanet Club - walked all through the village, stopping at various places and playing to the sellers of cheeses, breads, olives etc - they played to the people running the bric-a-brac stands, they entered the village gift shop and played. All great fun.
Each October you'll find the Fête de la Branda in Gorbio village. Branda is the Provençal word for marc, the marc de Provence, which actually has two meanings: either the fermented grape pulp, seeds, and stems that remain after the grapes are pressed for their juice, or the actual potent distilled alcohol. You can read more by clicking on last year's link.
