So often in the medieval villages of France and Italy you'll find artists in residence - their ateliers open for business as you wander the narrow streets. Apricale goes one further and features art on some of the exterior walls. The man featured in the main photograph was a well-known villager and looks quite a character, doesn't he?
We're in the medieval hill village of Apricale. See yesterday's post for a long shot of the village showing the houses as they seems to tumble down the hillside.
I wonder many dogs have walked these same cobblestones over the centuries?
(Click on the link to see more of this dog on Riviera Dogs today.)
We're going on a little trip across the Italian border to the medieval village of Apricale.
It's only 38 ks from Monaco and about 28 ks from Menton. We simply drive through Ventimiglia, past the Roman ruins on our left and at the roundabout turn left up the Nervia valley. Apricale is 13 ks from the sea and stands at around 1000 feet above sea level.
The name Apricale comes from the Latin 'apricus' which means exposed to the sun. The first photo was taken in sunshine at the beginning of March when Peter from Paris was here. The smaller shot was taken last Sunday with Nathalie from Avignon when the sun had almost gone. It perhaps shows more detail as the sinuous cascade of houses tumbles down the hillside. (click to enlarge)
You drive a little way into the base of the village and park - and then you walk. That's it. No cars can get up the narrow medieval streets. Tomorrow we'll explore the village.
It was hot enough on the Sablettes to get sunburnt but the sea is still pretty chilly.
That azure blue Mediterranean, a beach, a palm, a glass or two of wine - this man would seem to be living the dream, wouldn't you say?
Guess who came to stay for the weekend? Yes, it's the divine Nathalie from Avignon in Photos and here she is doing what she does so beautifully - taking photographs. We went to the hill villages of Dolceacqua and Apricale in Italy on Saturday and yesterday spent the day in Menton and later, a quick trip to Gorbio.
We lunched by the beach at La Pergola, where I had the best risotto I've ever eaten - Nathalie had a plate of assorted fried fishes, which she declared to be excellent and all this washed down with a delicious pale rosé called Out of the Blue. Of course all this meant we had to walk it off and so, after lunch, we wandered along the Promenade de la Mer (Les Sablettes) where Nathalie noticed the caged birds at the Teranga Plage. Her photo is below.
Come back soon, dear Nathalie! Life is always the best fun when you are around.
Remember the wisteria the other day? This is another part of the same romantic garden.
The splash of pink is a Judas tree and in the foreground two beautiful water birds stand by one of the pools, hidden by the foliage in the foreground.
Today a long shot so we see not only the fabulous Créole dancers and their wonderful clothes but also some of the beautiful buildings that line the Place du Cap.
These shots were taken at the end of February during the Fête du Citron, but the Créole dancers weren't part of the official parade. This year the Ville de Menton arranged for all sorts of entertainment to take place at different times of the day and in different parts of the town. A great idea.
I was out shopping when I suddenly came upon this sea of Créole colour, music and dance. You never know what you will bump into in Menton.
Tomorrow - more Créole.
We're still at Le Clos du Peyronnet looking at the facade of the Old Town from William's belvedere. We see a hedge in the foreground because I'm short! Another time, I'll take a stool or ask William to unlock a nearby gate.
This was taken at 09.00h from a point very near to the Italian border. The mountain behind is the Tête du Chien which is above Monaco. The colours of the buildings are so much softer than we see in the bright light of midday.
Today, we are inside the wisteria-clad pergola at Le Clos du Peyronnet and so is Prickle, William Waterfield's little Jack Russell terrier. Prickle is on hand to welcome every visitor to this beautiful garden but at this moment, she's off for a nap...
Wisteria! When the wisteria is in bloom, then you know it's springtime in Menton.
Here you see the glorious wisteria covering the pergola of the Clos du Peyronnet, one of Menton's famous gardens. You can visit but as it's a private garden, you need to make an appointment. Click on the link above to read more and click HERE to read an interview with the owner William Waterfield. This romantic garden - I adore it - has been in the same family for three generations.
Thanks to Virginia who reminded me it is 'wisteria time' with her lovely photographs from Birmingham, Alabama Daily Photo.
The Old Town of Menton is like this - streets go off in all directions, downwards, upwards, under archways, round corners. We're standing on Place du Cap looking towards Rue Ciapietta.
The plastic cover on the left protects the terrace area of La Spaghetto, an Italian restaurant, during inclement weather. Not needed today - Spring is here!
Life goes on, probably much the same as it has for hundreds of years in the medieval village of Gorbio.
Not the usual pretty Menton picture today but the side of a house. And what is painted on it would seem to be a somewhat cross-eyed version of the Mona Lisa in Menton!
We are in Rue Partouneaux, not far from Avenue Boyer and the Jardins Biovès. I just happened to look up. Always look up, you never know what you will find.
It can't have been easy to get up there and paint this, can it?
Sometimes I wonder if there is anything better to eat than thinly sliced tomatoes, liberally covered (read drowned) in olive oil and topped with lashings of chopped basil. Add buffala mozzarella, some crusty wholemeal bread and a glass of Provence rosé - well, that's lunch!
The secret is to use huile d'olive basilique - they sell it in the Huilerie Saint Michel which is the olive oil shop just by the entrance to the Old Town. You only have to remove the cap and you are immersed in the joyous aromas of basil.
For a double whammy of basil, of course you use this oil as well as chopped basil leaves and leave it all to sit for a couple of hours.
This is Gorbio's famous elm tree planted in 1713. It's hollow as you can see and now, after a long cold winter, it's rushing back to life again. Not long and it will be in full leaf.
The reason it's such a happy and healthy tree is because an underground stream runs under the tree and the cobbles that surround it.
I imagine Gorbio will have a big celebration in three years time when the tree will be 300 years old.
At 'Allo Robert' the fun is in exploring, searching, wondering what will be around the next corner. Here you can see just one tiny section. The shop iself is spread out in many different directions and on two floors.
My sort of shop and the owners are SO nice and friendly too. They were closing for lunch and I'd lost the lens hood of my camera. They helped me look, turned on lights that had been turned off, delayed their lunch and then I found it where I'd put it for safety...gracing my forearm like a bracelet. Duh!
I wish someone would give this old horse a home. He's lost a leg but it's there - hanging off the frame. He's waiting...waiting...waiting...
We're back at the brocante shop, 'Allo Robert,' to see a row of old bottles on a windowsill. Through the not too clean window we see a little of Menton's glorious colours.
The smaller photo - taken with flash which I generally don't choose to use - shows more clearly what was once in those bottles.
'A Ricard, anyone?'
She wears red and on either side of her, she has admirers wearing red. I wish she had known...
Today is Theme Day in the City Daily Photo community. To see how around 100 bloggers from around the world have interpreted the theme of 'Red' please Click here to view thumbnails for all participants
And to see The Virgin Mother please click on the link.
Just up the Castellar road from the Nouvelles Galleries is a place of wonders. 'Hello Robert' sells brocante and antiquities.
Once inside, you have to fight your way through furniture, piles of antique leather suitcases, a couple of cars, tables, fairground figures, ancient bicycles, rocking horses galore, old tins, statues, paintings, it never stops and of course it's fabulous.
The ground floor seems to extend forever, most is undercover but at the far end it's open to the elements and that's where you'll find old tiles, decorated pots, garden furniture, bird cages and loads of plants, even a small grotto with running water. Tucked in a corner at the foot of a staircase is this mynah bird who talks but is marginally impolite at times! He also wolf whistles to make you feel beautiful and screeches when you walk up his escalier (stairscase).
In October last year my very special friend, Catherine - who lives in Paris and spends time in Menton - published a photo on Just the Five of Us of these very same padlocks on the bridge in Ventimiglia. Click on the link to see them. See how rusty they've gotten over the winter.
Yesterday, Rob posted a 'link lock' on North Metro Photo, which in turn led me to Valeria at Verona Daily Photo who posted Locks of Love which explains it all!
It seems it all started with a book by Federico Mocca called 'I want you', which was subsequently made into a film. The story was an inspiration to Roman lovers who copied the main characters and wrote their names on padlocks and fixed them to the Ponte Milvio lampposts - and so the idea spread. But there is more and for that you'll have to read this fascinating article in the New York Times.
Isn't it amazing what we learn from our blogging friends? Thanks everyone!
A sure sign of spring in the south of France is Clematis Armandii. It's a very happy plant in this climate and I'm all for happy plants. It originated in central and southern China and was introduced to Europe by Ernest Wilson and named in honour of the French missionary, Père Armand David (1826-1900).
This Clematis Armandii is in the famous Hanbury Gardens at La Mortola, just over the border in Italy. I have one in my garden too but it's taken off and has climbed way, way up into a tree, instead of gently trailing along a fence as it was supposed to do. No matter. I admire it from a distance.
We're back in Ventimiglia today. Remember the old lady eating a bowl of chocolate? Note her reflection in this old Martini advert. In the smaller photo, you see the hills above Ventimiglia.
