Waves

Another photograph from yesterday. Today's Nice-Matin talks about a 'spectaculaire coup de mer' - with the wind reaching 125 kilometres per hour. That's unusual for us, hence front page news in Nice-Matin today!

In fact, today's weather, whilst still cold, is wonderful. Bluest sky again, hardly any wind, so tomorrow - back to the beach in Roquebrune and those paragliders.

Brrrrrr...

You were promised a paraglider landing on the Plage du Golfe Bleu but as you can see there's been a hiccup in the weather. (I'll show that photograph another day). This is for anyone who thinks Menton always has perfect weather. Today it is very cold with a bitter wind. There's snow on the mountains above Gorbio and as you can see the road along the sea has been closed to traffic.

Plage du Golfe Bleu - 3

The reason I came down to this particular beach was to photograph the paragliders landing. You may recall I posted some photographs a while back, under the heading Come Fly with Me - those were taken from one of the roads above. Do come back tomorrow and the next day to see a close-up of a landing.

In this photograph you can see some guys packing up their parachutes ready for the long hike back to the van that will take them way, way up to Mont Agel for another flight. Getting to the beach is a hike. You park near to the railway station of Roquebrune-cap-Martin, you walk down a long flight of steps and then under the railway lines and alongside what looks like it was once a river until you get to the beach. And those parachutes, once packed up into rucksacks, look very heavy to me.

Plage du Golfe Bleu - 2

Messing about in boats...

Plage du Golfe Bleu - 1

Forget the Christmas shopping! Come and spend a few days on the beach. This is the Plage du Golfe Bleu at Roquebrune-cap-Martin - that's the Pointe of Cap Martin in the distance. Menton is the other side of Cap Martin. Monte Carlo is behind us.

I drove down to the beach this morning because I wanted to photograph some of the paragliders landing - and whilst waiting, just enjoyed the beach. Come back for more tomorrow, won't you?

Christmas Fair - Honey

The Christmas Fair is a great place to buy gifts, the majority of which are created by artisans. You'll not find mass production here. Many stall holders are specialists - here you see part of the honey stall.

Which flavour of honey do you prefer?

Telethon 2007 - 2

Another event put on by the Pompiers of Menton. I love the idea of being able to whizz down the rope from the top of the fort called the Bastion, which was constructed in 1636. Would you like to do this?

You can see the Firemen on top of the Bastion securing the ropes ready for the day's events.

Christmas Fair - Pots

You want a pot? Look no further. Come to Menton. Every December the area near to beach and the Bastion is covered in pots of every shape you could dream of - they come from north Africa - I think probably Morocco and are part of the Christmas Fair which is over to the right of these photographs and which I'll show you another day.

You can see Cap Martin in the distance in the first two photos and in the third photo, you'll recognise the steeples of the Old Town.

Téléthon 2007

Téléthon 2007 takes place today. Tonight there will be a programme on television to raise money for charity.

The other day I noticed these great mounds of sand had been dumped on the beach. Today I know why. The firemen of Menton were responsible for the sand and today they are giving disabled children very bumpy rides in their 4 x 4s. Whether or not the children you see in the front seat are disabled or not, I don't know, as this ride took place before the official opening.

Rue Longue - 7

This restaurant, A Braijade Meridiounale is at the restored end of rue Longue. Do click on the link to read more about this restaurant. I've not eaten there, but intend to rectify that soon! The menu sounds delicious. You can see a different shot of this restaurant in yesterday's post (on the left) which shows you its location in rue Longue, not far from Porte Saint-Julien.

Rue Longue - 6

Today we are looking back at the Porte Saint-Julien you saw yesterday. In this part of rue Longue the road works are finished and I see Father Christmas is attempting to get in on the right above the sign Le Palais des Princes.

Le Palais des Princes was built in the 15th century for Jean 1er Grimaldi and was totally restored in 1650 by Prince Honoré II of Monaco. The building was a replacement for the ancient citadelle which was destroyed in war. Later, in the 18th century, its use was transferred to the Palais Carnoles, which is now a museum with a beautiful garden specialising in citrus. This is over the other side of town and I'll be taking you there one of these fine days.

Tomorrow, we'll look at a restaurant in rue Longue.

Rue Longue - 5

This is the entrance to rue Longue and the Old Town, from the eastern end, Porte Saint-Julien. You can see the entrance at the south-western end, Porte Saint-Antoine, by clicking on the link. Rue Longue (in fact 270 metres long) is the main street of the Old Town and follows the old Roman road, originally called the Via Aurelia.

This end of rue Longue has been restored but the chaos we saw yesterday (out of shot in this photo) will continue till at least until summer 2008. Originally it was thought that the work would take 13 months but unsurprisingly it will take longer. Some of the underground channels date back to the early 1900s and when dug up, it was discovered that more specialists were needed to put them right. All this work, which is a continuation of restoration of another road, rue de Bréa, is at a cost of 1.7 million euros.

Tomorrow I'll show you more of the restored part of rue Longue.

Rue Longue - 4

Residents and visitors have to pass on the left. I know this horrifies some visitors, who come from countries where litigation appears to be the norm, but when you are used to walking on bumpy roads, I suppose we are just careful and if we fall, it's our fault for not watching out! As for all those cables - I'm assuming those will be hidden when the work is done, or, at least they'll be fixed properly to the walls.

I presume we are looking at sewerage construction here but not being an expert on the subject - she said, with relief - I really don't know. It did smell a little strange.

Tomorrow I'll show you the other end of Rue Longue where the work appears to be finished.

Rue Longue - 3

A longer shot of Rue Longue - as you can see, the underneath of the street has been opened up for new sewers, electrics, etc. I gather this is all part of bringing life to this street. There is a butcher, a couple of art galleries and two restaurants but the idea is for the street to become much more commercial.

Rue Longue - 2

Rue Longue is the street that runs the length of the Old Town. From this street rise all the little ruelles that make up this beautiful part of Menton. At the moment, Rue Longue is undergoing renovations. Residents have to walk on planks and sheets of wood to get around. I don't imagine anyone lives in this house or at least the door looks as if it's not been used for a long time. You can see another view of Rue Longue by clicking on the link.

Daily Photo Theme Day: Bridges

If you live in the south of France - towards Italy - where the Alpes come down to the sea, you can't avoid the autoroute. Endless tunnels, on both sides of the border, were cut through the mountains. Bridges were built to join tunnel to tunnel, such as this one which spans part of the Gorbio valley above Menton. The autoroute in the south of France was finished around 1977.

Hardly beautiful and not known as a bridge - just the autoroute - but as I said, part of life here and at least it keeps through traffic from clogging up the lower corniches more that it does. Also, an amazing feat of engineering.

Today is Theme Day for the Daily Photo Family with over 120 of us posting photographs of a bridge from our city or town. Do take time to visit and enjoy:

Boston (MA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Inverness (IL), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Stockholm, Sweden - Setúbal, Portugal - Brussels, Belgium - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Hyde, UK - Manila, Philippines - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - London, England - Austin (TX), USA - Toulouse, France - Weston (FL), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Selma (AL), USA - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Cleveland (OH), USA - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - North Bay (ON), Canada - Arradon, France - Paderborn, Germany - Durban, South Africa - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Portland (OR), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Wichita (Ks), USA - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Grenoble, France - New York City (NY), USA - Nottingham, UK - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Arlington (VA), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Cheltenham, UK - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Saratoga Spgs. (NY), USA - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Nashville (TN), USA - Toruń, Poland - New Orleans (LA), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Melbourne, Australia - Moscow, Russia - Trujillo, Peru - Château-Gontier, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Joplin (MO), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Brookville (OH), USAChateaubriant, France - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Baziège, France - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Detroit (MI), USA - Riga, Latvia - Nelson, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Cape Town, South Africa - Sydney, Australia - Dunedin (FL), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Radonvilliers, France - Turin, Italy - Montpellier, France - Kansas City (MO), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Wailea (HI), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Terrell (TX), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Budapest, Hungary - Montréal (QC), Canada - Sharon (CT), USA - Le Guilvinec, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - London, UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Orlando (FL), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Paris, France - Mainz, Germany - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Darmstadt, Germany - Naples (FL), USA - Torino, Italy - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - The Hague, Netherlands - Minneapolis (MN), USA

Winter days

Today is one of those glorious autumn/winter days - a perfect south of France day. Not too hot, the air is clear, the sea a perfect blue. I walked an old friend to the top of the Old Town - this is taken from just outside the cemetery at the beginning of Boulevard de Garavan - we've yet to explore this beautiful road, but we will, we will. The sea was so still this morning, barely a ripple.

See the pink rocks, almost dead centre in the hillside that rises from the sea. That's Balzi Rossi in Italy - the prehistoric caves we visited recently.

Crash, bang, wallop...2

So the guys came and chopped up the fallen tree - you can see the end of it in the photo below, lying on the side of the road. In the photo above, this man is cutting down another tree before it falls in the next rains. This is the lower part of what was a wonderful umbrella pine. Such a pity. That's two trees lost on the road above me.

I now realise how lucky I was. When I bought the house, there were two enormous pines directly above it. They needed trimming and the man I got to do it over-trimmed them in what turned out to be the year of the big drought (about 4 or 5 years ago now). They both died and he had to come back the following spring and cut them down to the ground. I was pretty upset at the time. I love trees. Don't we all? But I now realise had they remained in place, they'd probably have fallen onto the roof of my house this year!

Crash, bang, wallop...

Just to prove it's not all sunshine and beach and beautiful Old Town, this is what happens when we have two days of solid rain, following a long dry spell. Rocks litter the roads, trees fall, electricity lines are cut, Jilly has no internet connection. You'll perhaps remember the rain from the Sospel pics. The day after I took those Sospel photos, a beautiful pine tree fell on the road above my house - here you see a small part of it littering the top of my track: this after the electricity and phone people had come along, chopped up the tree and got everything going again. That's my mailbox on the left, shared with three others in this tiny quartier of ours - the main part of the gone-forever-pine lies on road above, jumbled up with phone and electricity wires.

About four years ago - in November - we had three weeks of rain - many gardens lost a lot of trees, swimming pools went sailing down hillsides and a couple of houses got smashed to bits by water, rocks and debris.

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you what some guys did on the road above me today.

Come fly with me - 3

Coming in to land... this is the Pointe de Cabbé, which is at the far end of the beach on which the paraglider will land. He looks as if he might be caught up in trees, but he's not. I did get some phots of him landing but they weren't good enough - I was too far away, as you can see by the size of the man on the beach.

Soon, I intend taking the Promenade designed by the celebrated architect, Le Corbusier. He lived in a cabanon on Cap Martin and was tragically drowned whilst swimming. It's a wonderful walk that starts at the point of Cap Martin and goes all the way to Monaco. The walk passes just above the rocks, and if I choose a nice day I'm sure there will be paragliders landing. So more photographs and perhaps a close-up of a landing - one day.

Have you paraglided? Would you like to?