View from Roquebrune village.
For the Christmas and New Year period, an ice rink had been installed in the Jardin Biovès. Alongside was a small children's training area - the surface wasn't ice but had a slippery surface.
Young children wear these skates - not ice skates, not roller blades but special training skates. I'd never seen these before. Have you?
The swimmers in the sea are surfers, one of whom we saw yesterday. We are looking towards the Old Town of Menton and Italy beyond.
Yesterday in Menton. After snow, weeks of rain, suddenly a joyous blue-skied day.
Whoever said the Mediterranean didn't have a tide didn't see yesterday's waves. Yes, I know, nothing compared to Australia's surf beaches but this guy was having the best fun.
Sadly - tragically - the high seas also brought drama to the south of France. In Marseilles two people drowned after being swept out to sea and in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, just along the coast from Monaco, a young woman died of a heart attack after being taken by a wave.
Christmas is over. In France you see decorations up for months so I'm not sure if there is a limit unlike in the UK where they stay up until 12th night - the 6th January - by which time they must be taken taken down.
I was going to continue this little series until the 6th January but today the sun is shining - it's glorious weather after snow and then endless rain - and so I've been out and taken some pics. So tomorrow, we'll see something else - thanks so much to everyone who has walked the village with me and visited these cribs. More next Christmas!
Theme Day this month is 'Changes' and this photograph, taken at Le Balico in Menton reminded me that Martini has changed the shape of its bottles. Remember the old Martini bottle? - you see it on the left. And below the new one. I love the old one, same as I love the old Martini poster in the photo. But everything changes unless we believe, 'Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.'
Henri-Louis Bergson, the French Philosopher who in 1927 won the Nobel prize for Literature wrote:
Giovanna is an artist who lives at the top of Roquebrune village, opposite the entrance to the medieval Château.
The red sign invites visitors to look through the French windows to the crib she has created but on the day I was there it was impossible to see due to lack of light. Nevertheless, I thought you might like to see her charming house with the lady at the upper window...
Happy New Year everyone!
Some of you will remember this beautiful 2,000 year old olive tree in Roquebrune village - particularly the bloggers who climbed it.
Here is it used to display a nativity in a bird cage. Hard to see the actual crib as the camera focused on the wire of the cage.
I walked right past this crib, thinking it was simply a Christmas door decoration.
Later, on my return, there it was - a bright red ring box displaying the tiniest nativity scene I've ever seen.
A crib in an oil drum? Don't you just love the imagination of the villagers? The last photo doesn't show the actual crib very well - but you get the idea...
Of the 150 cribs in Roquebrune village there are hardly any that are the same. This one, sitting on top of a wall, appears to be housed in carved wood - perhaps a gourd but I don't think so.
Here, tucked behind bars on a window sill are these painted Christmas decorations. An original creche, don't you think?
Wishing you and those you love the very best of Christmases!
I'm not sure if this is the village well or it's where the horses used to drink. Perhaps both. In any case it has been decorated for Christmas and is used to display two tiny cribs, one in a cage, one in a bread basket.
This must count a permanent crib as it's cemented to the gate post of this house. A modern interpretation of the nativity. I love it!
This post is dedicated to Chuckeroon of Richmond-upon-Thames Daily Photo who has had a bad fall on black ice, breaking his shoulder, hip and femur. He's currently in hospital and when home will need rest and physiotherapy. Do visit his blog and leave a message which he'll see when he gets home. Get well soon, dear Chuckeroon.
The medieval village of Roquebrune has many of these covered alleyways.
This charming and tiny nativity scene has been fixed to the stone wall, probably it is set back into a drainage hole.
To see Prince Albert II of Monaco and his companion, Charlene Wittstock, take to the icy sea for the traditional 'Bain de Noël' on Monte Carlo Daily Photo, please click on the link - you'll meet Woolite the sheep too!
Not sure where to put your crib? Perhaps an old mail box will do - and it does. Perched on top of a wall, it catches our eye as we wander through the village.
The pelargoniums (geraniums to you and me) are withered, the agapanthus looks decidedly out of sorts and the lily in the pot above probably won't recover.
No more snow overnight but it's still incredibly cold. The water in the dog bowls is frozen solid. Not south of France weather!
In the last photo, you see Daisy, an 8 month old labrador who is staying here for a few months - yesterday she saw her first snow and thought it was the best fun.
Snow is so rare on the Côte d'Azur that today we're taking a break from our walk through Roquebrune village.
Snow on the mountains in normal, but I've never had it settle in my garden before. Here you see snow on the Prickly Pears this morning. The steep track up the road is solid ice and snow, so for the moment I'm snowed in but the sun is shining and hopefully most of it will have melted before nightfall. Earlier I had no water - presumably the water counter at the top of the track was frozen but now - 11 a.m. - it's running again.
All very boring to anyone used to snow, but so unusual here. The dogs are mystified...and having the best fun.
To see snow in Casino Square in Monaco please click on the link - great photos thanks to my friend Maggie Calkins.
Don't you love this crib... a hole in the wall and covered with glass. Go on... click and blow up the smaller photograph and you'll see the creator of this nativity scene has gone to a lot of trouble.
Think of a nativity and multiply it by over 150 and that's what you'll find if you take the Chemin des Crèches (Walk of the Nativities) in the medieval village of Roquebrune. Each Christmas the villagers create their original nativity scenes and at the same time compete for much sought-after prizes.
Wander the winding alleyways of the village and discover over 150 cribs from the traditional santons of Provence to baroque interpretations and much else besides. Peer inside doorways and windows, look in a plant pot, a bird cage, a mailbox, a gourd, there are several in the village's old forge. There's one in a bin, another hangs from the famous 2000 year old olive tree. Some have musical accompaniment, others have lights. You'll find large and small displays - the smallest is little bigger than a diamond ring.
Over the next few days, let's explore...
The steeple changes colour depending on light and weather but it's always beautiful and it always fascinates me. The dangly bits in the foreground are a tiny part of the Christmas lights in Menton.
The first church on this site was constructed in 1302 when it was in the diocese of Vintimille. It was reconstructed in the baroque style during the 14th and 15th centuries and inaugurated in 1675.
Saint Michel is the patron saint of Menton. This beautiful church in his name was consecrated as a Basilica in 1999.
Wash day in Menton. An apartment tucked away above roofs in Place aux Herbes.
Almost a tiny island, in fact this small piece of land is man made, reclaimed from the sea and added to the bay you see in the smaller photograph. Add a few trees and you'd never know...well, perhaps you would.
Sign outside a shop on Avenue Edourd VII.
