Pétanque or Boules? - 1

Forget the sterotype of an old man with a beret playing boules. Boules players come in all shapes and sizes - men and women, young and old. There was a pétanque contest in Gorbio on Fête day last Sunday - here's one of the competitors.

Perhaps one of our French contributors can tell me the difference between boules and pétanque. This contest was advertised as pétanque.

Dusk

Dusk. Says it all really - OR - you could write a novel about this scene, couldn't you? Who are they? What's their relationship? Where do they come from? What are their lives? Are they happy, sad? ... and on and on and on...

Boo!

Today it's the Fête Populaire in Gorbio village. And what do children who live in a medieval village do for fun? Why they play peek-a-boo through a gap in the village fountain.

There's a lot going on in the village today - first a free glass of kir for everyone, later petanque, chansons, a demonstration of French boxing, soupe au pistou, political debate - and tonight a rock concert.

L'Exocet

A metre or so to the left of this row of restaurant tables is the alligator you saw yesterday. L'Exocet is one of many restaurants by the beach. The main restaurants, of course, are the other side of the road, so waiters take chances running across the road with the food. However, the waiters and waitresses who work at this particular restaurant are lucky with the convenient zebra crossing. Others, further along are not so lucky.

I took this photo around 9 in the morning - the waiter and waitress are preparing for the day. The wind had some up so at this moment, there's a bit of a rush to fix down the tablecloths.

If you'd like to see what this area (but a little further along) looks like in February - click HERE.

An alligator in Menton?

An alligator in Menton? Silly! We don't have alligators in Menton. Can't you see this is a crocodile...she said confidently, not at all sure if this is an alligator or a crocodile...

So for Isabella, an allicroc or perhaps a crocogator, but enough to remind us of her beautiful Naples Daily Photo blog, where you'll find lots of real alligators. Go check it out today for the fishing and the pelicans - click HERE. Hmmmm...not seen any of those around here? Perhaps I'll take a look in the Vieille Ville - you never know what you'll find up there.

This sand sculpture was built next to the Christ figure. Remember him - see HERE? And he's still here, 7 weeks later! No rain for over a couple of months, so he's not washed away although perhaps someone keeps rebuilding him. And if you'd enjoy seeing really amazing sand sculptures go to Port Angeles Daily Photo HERE.

An alternative view

This is a view of Menton I've not shown before. You've seen the beautiful facade of the Old Town with its jumble of houses HERE. This photograph is taken from the other side - the steeples will give you your bearings. The long double-roofed building in the foreground is the Moorish style market - again, you can see details of that HERE.

In front of the market building - amongst all those palm trees is where the Menton Boules Club have their premises. There is much consternation at the moment because this area is where the Mairie plan to build a Museum to Jean Cocteau following a generous bequest by (I believe) an American collector. The Boules club is waiting to hear of an alternative site for their club.

Come back tomorrow when you'll see a gift I have for Isabella from Naples Daily Photo. Don't forget!

Daily Photo Theme Day: A Typical Breakfast

First buy your croissant! This lady runs my favourite bakery in Menton. Not only is the bread great but she never stops smiling. Below you'll find a photograph of breakfast possibles - personally I love the brioches sucrés. (You can buy cheaper elsewhere but not as good!) I've never been sure that the French really do eat croissants every day, so do visit Eric in Paris where you'll get confirmation of this and can also click on a link to read all about croissants.

Today is Daily Photo Theme Day. 99 Daily Photo bloggers from cities all around the world will be presenting their Typical Breakfasts today. Do click on their blogs and enjoy their offerings:

Saint Paul (MN), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - New York City (NY), USA - Tel Aviv, Israel - Hyde, UK - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Mainz, Germany - Stockholm, Sweden - Paderborn, Germany - Singapore, Singapore - Haninge, Sweden - Nottingham, UK - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Manila, Philippines - Boston (MA), USA - Seoul, Korea - Singapore, Singapore - Joplin (MO), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Paris, France - Sequim (WA), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Boston (MA), USA - Chennai, India - Madison (WI), USA - Baton Rouge (LA), USA - Toulouse, France - Seattle (WA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - La Antigua, Guatemala - Selma (AL), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Sheki, Azerbaijan - Sydney, Australia - Mumbai, India - Seoul, South Korea - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - New Orleans (LA), USA - Budapest, Hungary - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Austin (TX), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Villigen, Switzerland - Montréal (QC), Canada - Stayton (OR), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Moscow, Russia - Springfield (MO), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - Arlington (VA), USA - Cologne (NRW), Germany - Anderson (SC), USA - Oslo, Norway - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Manila, Philippines - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Bandung (West Java), Indonesia - Stavanger, Norway - Bastia, France - Hong Kong, China - Wailea (HI), USA - St. Louis (MO), USA - Chicago (IL), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Sydney, Australia - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Kansas City (MO), USA - Grenoble, France - Paris, France - Evry, France - Saigon, Vietnam - Prague, Czech Republic - Cape Town, South Africa - Brookville (OH), USA - Brussels, Belgium - San Diego (CA), USA - Wellington, New Zealand - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Shanghai, China - Zurich, Switzerland - North Bay (ON), Canada - Lyon, France - Naples (FL), USA

Danger!

After shopping this morning, I walked along the sea as I wanted to photograph a particular statue for you - one I'll show you another day. It's really windy today which is no bad thing in the current heat of summer. So I thought you'd like to see the danger flag going up on the beach. Not that I noticed the life guard, you understand - just the flag! This is on the beach opposite the main market - the beautiful Old Town rises up above it. The coast line you see in the background is Cap Martin. Beyond it, you come to Monaco.

John Wayne?

This silver Roy Rogers, or whoever he is, doesn't seem to be getting much interest and his silver dish is empty. Perhaps the ladies on the left have seen it all before?

Auberge Provençale

Looks like I'm on an 'eating out in Menton, summer holidays' sort of roll. The truth is I don't often get out in summer but since taking photographs for Menton DP and Monte Carlo DP, I've re-arranged things a little so I can get out for a few hours a little more often - leaving dogs at home to await my return.

Many locals complain about summer - they shop very early before the visitors are up - and then you don't see them again. I have to say I'm loving this - every time I go down to Menton and mill about with all the tourists, I feel as if I'm on holiday. And of course I am...

This is the Auberge Provençale - I've never eaten here but have good friends who eat here regularly and say it's very good. So that's one for the future.

See the curved archway just beyond the last umbrella on the right? Well you can see that doorway here.

Summer Nights

High summer in Menton. It's 11.00 p.m. and the streets are crowded, as are the bars and restaurants. This was taken in a pretty square in the middle of the walking street.

(I changed the camera setting from 800 ISO to 1600 - to allow for a night shot, but it's come out grainy so perhaps that wasn't such a good idea.)

Seafood at Le Lido

Early evening and this restaurant, Le Lido in La Place aux Herbes is almost full. This used to be simply a bar/tabac and slowly over the years it's evolved into a successful seafood restaurant. See the couple of the foreground? - the man with the hat and the lady in red - well if you'd like to see what is hidden behind them, please click on this link - you won't regret it!

Portrait of a Lady

It's high summer in Menton. The streets are crowded, the restaurants packed, shops are open till late, there are night markets. This was taken just before 8 p.m. I hope the artist doesn't make this pretty lady look like one of his caricatures. Take a look below - looks good so far.

A Walk to Chapel Saint Lazare - 8

Here are two photographs, peering thru the windows of the chapel. Unfortunately the light reflected back and half of each photograph showed the country outside - so I had to trim that off. Such a simple little chapel but I hope you like it. Thanks so much to everyone who came on this walk with me. Meanwhile, back to the village and a drink and right, something to eat. I forgot the food! All on me!

There are a few more photographs taken on this walk (the mill, another old gate and so on) - I'll show them in the future but for tomorrow - back to Menton.

A Walk to Chapel Saint Lazare - 7

We've reached the chapel. It's taken a long time. In reality, of course, this walk is really quite short - about 15 or so minutes - but we stopped and looked and absorbed and chatted, didn't we? If we continued past the chapel, (which we won't) we'd come to the Cime du Baudon, which is where climbers spent happy hours with their crampons climbing that mountain in the background. If you walk below and look up, they appears as tiny dots way above but sometimes you hear the climbers calling to each other. And it looks very dangerous. Before climbing, they have to go to the Mairie in the village to get a licence. And if we walked even further, we'd end up in St. Agnes, which is the highest village in the whole of the Côte d'Azur with a view of the sea. We'll be visiting St. Agnes one day in the future. There are so many hill villages I'd love to show you... Castellar, Roquebrune, La Turbie, Sospel, Castillon, St. Agnes...

So before us stands the chapel and on the left, a cross - we pass it and walk through the arches of the chapel - and we look up. You can see the ancient stonework has much-needed metal supports - hardly surprising as it was built in the XIIth century.

Tomorrow, we'll take a peek inside and then it's time to head back to the village for that cold drink.

A Walk to Chapel Saint Lazare - 6

At last we can see the little chapel. The track gets a bit bumpy here but don't worry we're not on the edge of the track anymore. Tomorrow I'll show you some details of this XII century chapel.

Each year there is a procession of the Pénitents Blancs of Gorbio to the Chapelle St. Lazare, giving thanks that the village escaped the Great Plague of Middle Ages.

A Walk to Chapel Saint Lazare - 5

Here's our dragon but somewhat rustier than he used to be, as is the horse. And take a look at the gate posts. On the left you see a skeleton and on the right, why - it's our teacup tit lady! You can see a closer version of her below. The third photograph shows the decorated house.

I started taking this walk about 8 years with my dog Milou (you can read about Milou here). We used to walk way past the chapel, down to the stream, cut back along the base of the mountain and come back down past the derelict mill. (Fear not, we are only going as far as the chapel on this trip). When I first saw this house, the dragon and the horse and the decorated gateposts looked fairly new. Now they've deteriorated but they still delight me - nothing is what you'd expect to see so near to a medieval village. Don't you love the unexpected?

Tomorrow, onward to the chapel with perhaps a glance back at the old village as we go.

A Walk to Chapel Saint Lazare - 4

I promised you a knight in shining armour - and a horse. Here they are on a gate just past the mausoleum you saw yesterday. I'd love to know who lives in this house, wouldn't you?

Tomorrow, we'll meet a dragon and I'll introduce you to the tea-cup tit lady. After that, we really must get on - the chapel awaits and there's much to show you.

A Walk to Chapel Saint Lazare - 3

Just to the left of our walk, there's a tiny track that runs steeply uphill. On one corner is an old mill, currently undergoing restoration - and opposite is this rusty gate. Peer through and what you see is in the photograph below. It looks like a very small mausoleum, don't you think? There is no sign, nothing to indicate who is buried here, if indeed anyone is. I'd think it too small for a chapel and if it's a mausoleum, why isn't it in the cemetery which is at the other end of the village? The third photograph shows this tiny building from a different angle. What do you think it is?

You'd perhaps like to see the old mill? We will, we will. But tomorrow you'll see a knight in shining armour - on a horse, bien sûr.

A Walk to Chapel Saint Lazare - 2

We continue walking and once we get past a few houses on the right of the chemin, (they sit below the track, of course) - we look to our right and see this view. If we look slightly further to our right, we see the beautiful medieval village rising on its hill. I'll post that view another day. The motorway is so far below us that there is no sound - at least not today. Occasionally, depending on the weather, you might hear the slightest buzz - but normally, in the village, you simply don't hear it.

Watch your step! Someone is working on a house below the track and there is no barrier where we are standing. We don't want anyone falling into the garden below.

Note: I found a photograph today of the actual beginning of this walk and have posted it (second photo) on yesterday's posting - click here.

Tomorrow I'll show what lies behind an almost hidden rusty gate.