Remember Célia, the beautiful young girl doing her make-up in the motorbike mirror? And featured a day later in the 1925 Renault Torpedo?
In the small photo, left, you see a sweet young girl but in the main photo we see a sensuality that reminded me of Jeanne Moreau - somehow it demands to be seen in black and white. Amazing to me how photography can change the way we see. And what we see changes a photograph!
There's always great interest at the concours. Little boys, big boys, mothers - everyone wants to look inside and admire.
Another tiny car - this is a 1949 Simca Six Decouvrable.
Simca was founded in France in 1934. Originally associated with Fiat but later independent. In 1970 it became defunct and was taken over by the Chrysler group.
The Spanish parody group, Los Inhumanos, had a popular song called Qué dificil es hacer el amor en Simca 1000! (How difficult it is to make love in a Simca 1000!) One presumes it would be even more difficult in a Simca Six!
Everyone proudly poses in front of their cars. Here you see grandfather, daughter and grandchild in front of their MG - obviously a newer model than the one we saw the other day, but still a minimum of 25 years old - as are all the cars are at this concours.
Not only a British car but a car with British number plates. An MG. I don't know the year but I'm sure someone will tell me.
My first car was an MG. A TA, I think, it was. Anyway it was registered in 1939 - cost me £80. I drove it around Chelsea with bare feet, a mess of hair on my head. We were called hippies in those days! I drove the car till it would go no further and couldn't afford to get it fixed. Should have kept it - be worth a fortune now.
Here you see the car that yesterday's young lady was getting ready to accompany. It's a 1925 Renault NN, Torpedo. The owners bought the car in 1982 and since then they've changed the tyres, the car has been repainted and a small amount of work has been done to the engine. Meanwhile, they buy parts for the car directly from Renault or from enthusiasts.
In the last photo, you see the car ready for judgement. The judges are sitting off to the left, out of shot.
A motorbike mirror. A pretty girl puts the finishing touches to her macquillage. She knows I'm photographing her and can't stop giggling.
What car is she about to adorn? Note the style of headdress, the fur, the glove.
Do come back tomorrow to find out.
As you can see, this gathering of ancient cars is very popular in Menton. I've not heard of a display of cars and flowers before. Have you? These three Hotchkiss cars show different choices in flower arrangements.
Hotchkiss cars were made between 1903 and 1955 by the French company Hotchkiss & Cie in Saint-Denis, Paris - a company started by an American engineer, Benjamin B.Hotchkiss from Connecticut. The badge for the marque showed a pair of crossed cannons, evoking the company's earlier history as an arms manufacturer during the Franco-Prussian war.
As we all know, Italians talk with their hands, not just their voices. Look at this man - he's standing, talking to a group of men who are sitting on a bench in front of him. You can see the head of one of them. That hand never leaves his chest except to express what he is saying.
I used to go to an Italian hairdresser and if he was talking to someone else in the salon, I got my hair washed with one hand. He was incapable of talking without using at least one hand. I adore Italians! And of course, Menton is so much Italian - all the French here speak Italian. You cross the border and they speak French. And many of the businesses in Menton are run by Italians or families that were originally Italian.
Do you use your hands when speaking?
A couple of hours after I took the main photograph a fire devasted 50 hectares of land above Garavan. Had I remained in Menton just a little longer I would have had a photograph for you but back home in Gorbio, I don't see this part of the town. In the smaller photograph, taken a few days later, you can see the burned forest behind the church spires. With fires so early in the year, it doesn't mode well for a fire-free summer.
One of this blog's readers who visits Menton regularly wrote soon after telling me he'd seen the fire on the Menton webcam. I didn't know there was a webcam so am most grateful for the information. Thankyou, Don. You'll find a link on the right hand side of this blog - or click on the link. It seems you get control of the camera, which is located at St. Agnes, for 2 minutes. You then get a choice of 10 locations to view, with zoom control too.
Note: this webcam isn't working at the moment. I'll add it to the sidebar when it's working again. Technical problem!
The beach webcam, tho, always works although it's less impressive and with just the one view along the beach to the Old Town. See link on right.
