Roquebrune village - 22

This is the hotel and restaurant Les Deux Frères. It's in the main square with La Grotte opposite. From the car parking way below, you enter the village by the road that you can just see at the end of the building.

See the stone bench to the left? Well alongside that is an iron railing with wondrous views down to Cap Martin and to Monaco. If you click on the link for the hotel, you'll see a photograph that makes this even clearer. I've posted several photographs already of Monaco and of Cap Martin taken from those railings.

Les Deux Frères is run by a very amiable Dutchman called Willem who will give you a very warm welcome if you visit his lovely hotel. It's a great place to stay or simply to visit for lunch or dinner.

Roquebrune village - 21

This is Impasse du Four, which means the Cul-de-sac of the Oven. This is where, in times medieval, the seigneurial oven would have been found. I'm adding the photograph below - I really don't know - but perhaps what we see behind the screen is the original oven.

Roquebrune village - 20

Not all the houses in the village are jumbled together, with no view. In fact, many are surprising - internal gardens, balconies with a view of the sea. You can see another view of this house in the photo below - who'd have thought they'd have a view like this!

Tomorrow, come and see the Impasse du Four - where the seigneurial oven once stood.

Roquebrune village - 19

Here's the village post office in a building that was once the presbytery of St. Marguerite church you see in the background. Above the door you can see a fragment of a sarcophagus from the second century.

We'll be visiting the church one day. Meanwhile, let me know if you'd like us to continue looking around the village a little longer or whether you'd like to start the tour of the Xth century Château.

There's so much to see in this beautiful village, it's hard to know where to stop and frankly we've hardly begun - there's so much I want to show you. But don't worry - even if we go back down to Menton, we can always come back up again. It's not far!

Roquebrune village - 18

A pretty corner of the village. Note the boarded-up windows and state of the walls. Just a little work needed, methinks.

Roquebrune village - 17

Meet Julien Mehmed (Julien des bois) in his workshop which is situated just below the Xth century Château in the village. Julien works in olive wood and I found the following words on a very small website dedicated to him.

Olivier arbre mythique, symbole de paix et de longévité existait déjà à l'époque de la préhistoire. Cultivé encore aujourd'hui tout autour du bassin méditerranéen son bois dur, avec son veinage riche donne des sculptures pleine de vie.

....and my probably not quite correct translation...

The mythical olive tree, symbol of peace and longlife already existed at the time of pre-history. Still cultivated today in the Mediterranean basin for its hard wood with rich veining which makes sculptures come to life.

And if you missed the beautiful 1,000 (plus) year old olive tree in the village please click on the link.

Roquebrune village - 16

'Au Coeur de l'Olivier' - this is the atelier and gallery of Julien Mehmed, the olive wood sculptor. Known as Julien des bois, he opened this studio in rue du Château in 1959. He's fascinated by the history of Roquebrune and is always happy to share his knowledge. Come back tomorrow and see Julien at work.

Roquebrune village - 15

Kids play football everywhere - here are a couple kicking a ball about in rue de la Fontaine.

Roquebrune village - 14

This is the butcher's shop in the village. The church is off to the left. Notice the two plastic bottles outside? Do you know what these are for? Most original answer gets a postcard of Roquebrune village - and first correct answer gets one too.

Roquebrune village - 13

Here's a small part of the village as seen from above. You can really see how narrow the streets are and how the houses live cheek by jowl. Some have new roofs, some have those beautiful old tiles.

And if want to know where we are standing, click on THIS LINK - see the flagpole - that's where we are, leaning over the parapet of the Xth century Château. Of course, we'll be taking a full tour of the Château - and that's a treat - but I've more good things to show you in the village first.

Roquebrune village - 12

This look-out and tiny picnic area has always fascinated me. It belongs, so far as I can tell, to a house just out of shot. We are standing, leaning over the railings at the main square of the village - the Place des Deux Frères. It overlooks Cap Martin to the left and Monaco to the right.

Roquebrune village - 11

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the village of Roquebrune is built on rock called 'le poudinge' - pudding - which is a tertiary rock: a solid mix of shingle and sand. As you walk through the old streets, you can see how the houses literally grow out of it. This photograph is a good example - if you enlarge the photograph, you'll really see it. This is part of rue Moncollet, the oldest street in the village.

Roquebrune village - 10

A pretty corner of rue Pié. The plastic bowls are, presumably, for the local cats. Rue Pié and rue Moncollet are the two oldest streets in the village.

What's 'Jilly' in Arabic?

This smiling potter was working alongside the many pots he has for sale as part of the Christmas Fair. You can see MORE OF THE POTS HERE. I asked if I could take his photograph and he then asked my name. I told him and he asked me to repeat it and then he picked up one of the tiny vases you see on the edge of the table, scribbled on it and handed it to me. I noticed a few coins on the table, so I put down a couple of euros. I wonder if there is an equivalent to my name in Arabic? Can any Arabic reader tell me?

Concentration

We're back in Menton for the moment but we will be returning to the beautiful village of Roquebrune village - never fear.

This ice-rink had been installed, by the sea, as part of the Christmas/New Year facilities and as you can see Menton kids aren't natural skaters but they have a lot of fun trying. On the far side of the rink, you can see the Christmas market and in the background, the lower part of the Old Town with its steeples rising into the blue sky - yes, first blue sky for days after a week or more of rain. Oh happy day - this is what January is normally like in Menton. It's unusual to have had the amount of rain we've had this past week.

Today, I believe, is the last day of the Christmas/New Year market and facilities for the children.

Roquebrune village - 9

This pretty little impasse has recently been decorated by the new owners. When I first came to this part of France in 1992, I lived below the village of Roquebrune and often used to walk up the donkey track with my dog, Milou, to have a coffee in La Grotte or at the Deux Frères. There was always a table in this impasse, which looked very scruffy in those days. A Dutch artist, Philippe, used to live and work here, selling his paintings and postcards. I remember sitting with him on occasion sharing a bottle of wine and putting the world to rights. Now it's got considerably smarter and more chi-chi. We are just down from the main place and almost opposite rue Moncollet, the oldest street in the village.

Roquebrune village - 8

A couple more doors today - if I dare call them that. These are in the rue du Château.

Posting old doors is a good excuse to mention Marie from Montpellier's page of beautiful doors and arches.

Roquebrune village - 7

As you can imagine, Roquebrune village has many old doorways. Here's just one in rue Grimaldi. You'll be seeing more old doorways - and windows - because I love them - and I know many of you do too.

Roquebrune village - 6

This monument to the departed stands outside the 13th century, l'Eglise Sainte Marguerite which is to our right. We'll be visiting the church another day. The steps on the left lead to rue du Château ( we saw another part of this street the other day). Note the mosaic of black and white pebbles which dates back to 1776 and is called 'Calade.'

The motif is by Simon Bussy (1870 - 1954), who was a lifelong friend of Matisse (a fellow pupil at art school) and through his marriage to Dorothy Strachey, brother of the writer Lytton, was on the fringes of the famous Bloomsbury circle. He was the teacher of Duncan Grant.

'Simon Bussy was five years younger than Dorothy, and the son of a shoemaker from the Jura town of Dole. Lady Strachey’s liberalism faltered at the sight of him actually cleaning up his plate with pieces of bread. The family drama "shook the regime of Lancaster Gate to its foundations" (Holroyd), and, despite the silent disapprobation of the older Stracheys, Dorothy remained determined to marry him with what her brother Lytton later called "extraordinary courage".'

Simon and Dorothy Bussy lived in Roquebrune in winter and spent their summers in England and Scotland.

Theme Day: photo of the year - 2007

My choice was between two photographs: this one I took on a day in September when I'd come down to the beach to photograph the beautiful Old Town for the header of this blog. You can see another - just the little girl - HERE.

My other choice was BEAUTY - I so love the colours. I really don't consider myself a 'proper photographer' (yet!) in a technical sense, as I use a simple point and shoot - and so if anything works it's down to the camera and luck and so much encouragement and great advice from so many of you - my fellow City Bloggers - THANK YOU SO MUCH.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone - and may all your dreams come true and all your photographs be PERFECT.

There are 118 Daily City Photo bloggers participating in today's Theme. Do please visit them - you'll see fabulous photographs from around the world.

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