Jewels in the Sun

The snow .... going, going, gone! The remains of a vine that hangs from the terrace roof slowly loses its gift of snow.

Come to the Sunny South of France!

Snow! Today is the first day of the Fête du Citron (the Lemon Festival) and yesterday we had 20 centimetres of snow. I'm snowbound in Gorbio. This is most unusual - come to the sunny south of France!

Yesterday, the majority of flights to and from Nice airport were cancelled and the motorways were closed in many sections. When I woke there was no water so the dogs have been drinking bottled Pellegrino.

Update - it's now melting...

The Fisherman

This man is fishing in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, almost exactly on the border of Roquebrune and Menton. You can see the steeples of the Old Town of Menton in the distance.

He was so involved in his fishing and doing whatever he was doing with the reel, he didn't notice me. He would seem to be a man who is completely comfortable in his skin, and with such a kind face.

Jonathan

Jonathan: I want to fly where no seagull has flow before. I want to know what there is to know about life!

Father, Mother: Son, this may not be the best life, but it's all we know.

Jonathan: There's got to be more to life than fighting for fish heads!

~ Jonathan Livingston Seagull

The Russian Orthodox Chapel - the Door Handles

A beautiful but damaged door handle, the wood, the stonework - everything will need restoration.

With 6 Princes of the Russian royal house buried here, it's fascinating to wonder how many hands - amd whose? - have touched these handles. The one of the left is jammed upright. I tried pulling it down so it swung loose to match the other, but it wouldn't budge.

The Russian Orthodox Chapel - Generosity

We saw the newly restored dome yesterday and here it is again - and in the smaller photo you get an idea of the amount of restoration needed on this beautiful Russian orthodox chapel.

It will be undertaken by a private and generous individual, the Russian architect, Andrei Smirnov. The dome was restored by Menton Council but the rest of the work will be at Mr. Smirnov's own expense.

This beautiful chapel contains the remains of Prince Troubetzkoy (1822-1892). It was built in memory of Alexandrine de Tapliakoff, who died in Menton in 1884. No less than 6 princes of the Russian royal house are buried in Menton.

Thanks so much for everyone for 3rd birthday wishes yesterday - I so appreciated it.

3 Years of Menton Daily Photo - Going for Gold!

The beautiful Russian chapel in the Cimetière du Vieux Château of Menton has just had its onion-shaped dome painted gold. It's my favourite building in the cemetery and so today - Menton Daily Photo's 3rd birthday - seems a good day to show it to you as it gleams in the sunshine. The photo below shows it before the paint job.

The chapel was built in 1886 by Count Protassov-Bechmetieff and is the final resting place of several Russian Princes. The building is crumbling in places and becoming dangerous for visitors but happily, the Russian architect Andrei Smirnov will undertake, at his own expense the remains of the restoration.

And so on this 3rd birthday - one post a day for three years and never a day missed and the same on Monte Carlo Daily Photo - I wish I could invite you all for a glass of champers but we'll have to do it 'virtually' - please open that bottle!

Joining the City Daily Photo community has truly changed my life bringing a new field of creativity, so many new and valued friends and even a new job as journalist/photographer for CITYOUT Côte d'Azur. None of this would have happened without our dear Eric Tenin who started it all with Paris Daily Photo - thank you, Eric, and thank you to Demosthenes and Igor who keep us up and running every day.

Thanks to my fellow bloggers, some of whom I've been lucky enough to meet, others are valued friends from afar. So many of you, over these three years, have helped and encouraged me and even more of you inspire me. And thank you to everyone, blogger or not, who takes a look at my photographs each day.

I know I'm lucky to live in such a beautiful place and the pleasure for me in blogging is to share the place I love so much. Photography has changed the way I see the beauty around me. Once I used to just 'look' but now, thanks to seeing my world through the lens of a camera, I really 'see' it. How lucky I am.

Wood: 6 - the Rubbish

Renovating a house in a medieval village is not for the faint-hearted.

Do come back tomorrow when Menton Daily Photo celebrates its 3rd birthday.

Wood: 5 - the Old Gate

This wooden gate in Gorbio village is never opened these days.

Note the tiny 1445 Chapelle des Pénitents Blanc, photographed last summer before it was repainted. Soon, we'll come back here for the Festival of the Pénitents Blancs which takes place at this little chapel in August. The photos have been waiting since then but there is always so much to show you and not enough days! Soon...

Meanwhile do come back on Sunday when Menton Daily Photo celebrates its 3rd birthday.

Wood: 4 - the Musical Instrument

The group is called Les Banès and they played at the Fête de la Branda in Gorbio village last October. I haven't a clue what this instrument is called - it would appear to be made of cowbells inserted into a peice of wood. It sounded good!

Wood: 3 - a Village Washing Line

If you live in a medieval village, you probably won't have a garden and if you don't have a garden, you won't have a washing line. So what do you do? Well it's obvious - you hang your washing out of the window and in this case on wooden shutters.

This post is for Margaret, my friend in Cumbria who paints beautiful water colours - often featuring a line of washing hanging out to dry.

Wood: 2 - the Yellow Door

Following on from yesterday's 'wood' theme, I thought I'd show you a few more.

This is a tiny door tucked away in the village of Gorbio. Note the weathered lintel peeking out from the stone. The door is probably the entrance to a cave or maybe the place where once the family pig was kept.

Theme Day - Wood: Henri's Walking Stick

Once again it's Theme Day in the CDP community and today's theme is 'wood.'

Meet Henri, who couldn't walk without his wooden walking stick. Henri is the last remaining member of the oldest family in Gorbio, the medieval village just above Menton. Henri can trace his family back hundreds and hundreds of years.

Note: Lest you should think that Henri is in need of a square meal and a bed for the night, rest assured - he is one of the biggest landowners in the village.

To see how City Daily Photo Bloggers around the world have interpreted today's theme please click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Wings

She sits in the old cemetery of Menton, forever looking down over the Mediterranean.

'Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.'

~ Victor Hugo

Residence du Louvre

We are in the centre of Menton today in the main street that runs up from the sea and the casino. This is where we find the Jardin Biovès and looking down a tiny side street, we see, amongst the palms and orange trees the top of the Résidence du Louvre, which is mostly used for conferences these days.

The Antique Dealer

Once a week in Menton there's an antique/bric-a-brac market outside the main food market and on the Place aux Herbes.

Here's one of the dealers taking advantage of a sofa until he hopefully sells it.

(This was taken in November with my old camera - the Lumix FZ18)

Place Honoré II

We are standing in Place Honoré II which is the tiny square by the entrance to the Old Town - Porte Saint-Antoine.

Is this a tiny room or more likely a walk-way from one part of the building to another?

This square is actually at the foot of the Basilique Saint Michel and is named for the Prince of Monaco (1597 - 1662) who was responsible for many of Menton's beautiful buildings, including the Basilica itself.

You can see a super photograph of the whole of this square taken by Chuckeroon of Richmond-upon-Thames DP by clicking HERE. Many of you know that Chuckeroon fell on black ice just before Christmas breaking his shoulder, hip and femur. He's now back home from hospital but confined to one room and is not able to put any weight his bones until the 4th February. Then he'll start six weeks of physiotherapy. Get well soon, Chuckeroon! We miss you.

Restaurant Le Petit Port

Doesn't it look inviting? This restaurant is at the foot of the Old Town and with the old port opposite. I've never eaten here but one day must do so.

The Seashore of the Mind

'Sit in reverie, and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind.'



~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)

Socks

Socks. Children's socks.

An old window frame - layers and layers of cream paint and note the putty to keep the glass in and the weather out. Old labels leave us a few letters to wonder what they once said. A ventilator in one pane of class. Lace curtains. A mish-mash of wiring yet fairly new shutters. Ancient stone walls with the vestiges of ivy still clinging on yet no life is left. And a couple of pots of succulents.

So much to see in just one small window in the Old Town of Menton.

Silver

A tiny boat, silver sea and steeples of the Old Town of Menton.

'Ou Niou'

A tile outside a house in the Old Town. I believed it said Lou Niou, which is possibly Mentonnais or perhaps Provençal. Lou means The. But I've since been corrected and had it confirmed that it's Ou, not Lou, and that Ou Niou means The Nest in English and Le Nid in French. Thanks to everyone who responded to this and to Dale who confirmed it is indeed Mentonnais.

Corny?

Reflection in a motor-bike mirror. Perhaps a corny image? I fear it is, but I quite liked the way the tree and blue sky stood out against the background.

You see the reality of the reflection in the smaller photo - a tree near the entrance to the cemetery. Just below the tree you'll always find one or more motorbikes parked - the Mairie has even provided iron rings, fixed into the ancient walls, ready for owners to secure their bikes with a chain.

Shutter Decoration

The majority of shutters in Menton are painted, often a pale turquoise. A stained shutter is less usual. This one in the Old Town, is brightened up with what is, I suppose, a Christmas decoration.

It's that time of year again...

...the oranges are on the trees. It can surprise a visitor to see the streets of Menton lined with orange trees. And not just the main roads but side streets like the one you see in the smaller photograph.

The Little Archway - 3

We've seen this particular scene in the Old Town of Menton before but I do like the way the sun lights up just one side of this little street. We also see the archway we saw the day before yesterday - and the day before that - but this time, photographed from the other side.

Subtle

Christmas decorations stay up a long time in Menton but the silver trees along the Promenade du Soleil will be removed eventually and lamps will replace them. Personally I like these trees - they are subtle which is sometimes how I think of Menton - it's not garish, not rah-rah-rah like some of the famous resorts further along the coast. Menton is quietly beautiful with its soft subtle colours.

The Little Archway - 2

Here we see yesterday's archway again but this time in context. The shadow of the lamp is for Nathalie (Avignon in Photos) from whom I learned to notice and see the wonder of shadows and reflections.

The Little Archway

These little archways join one side of a little street to another and are usual in medieval towns and villages. Many thanks to Dave and Graeme who explained in the comments that the archways are supports to prevent the walls of the houses falling out - like a flying buttress. I originally called this post 'The Little Bridge' but have since renamed it.

This one is in the Old Town of Menton.

Theme Day: Best Photo of 2009

Today is Theme Day when we get to choose our best photo of the previous year.

When I took this photo in the Old Town of Menton, I was focusing on the bike when suddenly this child walked into the picture. I like the dark into light effect.

But the photos I love to take most are close-ups of people - this adorable child on the left was playing peek a boo with me during the Fête Créole last summer.

To see the Best Photos of 2009 from around the world - what a treat today will be! - click here to view thumbnails for all participants.