The Village Wedding - 9 - the waitress

I love her hand and expression, don't you? The food and drinks were organised and served by the restaurant across the square - the Beau Sejour. Just drinks and nibbles as I said before - later the guests will go to a big reception in Cap d'Ail.

Note: The Frugal Traveler from the New York Times featured Monte Carlo and Menton recently. Click on the link read about Monaco and then see a video of Menton. Thanks so much to Alden for this information.

The Village Wedding - 8 - the guitarists

You saw one of the guitarists yesterday. Here are the rest of them, warming up for the wedding - and presumably getting ready to ogle more pretty girls - of which there were many.

The Village Wedding - 7 - the look

Here's the wearer of yesterday's shoes. Just look at the young guy's eyes! He's one of the guitarists, by the way.

The Village Wedding - 6 - the shoes

Heels on cobbles. It surprised me to see so many women wearing high heels for the village wedding. The steep walk up to the church from the village square is daunting enough in flat shoes - forget heels... Come back tomorrow and meet the wearer of these glamorous shoes.

Nathalie features a wedding - always fabulous photographs from Nathalie - on Avignon Daily Photo today.

The Village Wedding - 5 - the broken foot

This little boy - perhaps he was a page boy at the wedding? - sits down to eat as he has a broken foot. You can see the crutches lying beside him. He sits outside the Restaurant Beau Sejour in the village. The owners and staff decorated the square so beautifully, provided comfortable seating and of course served the food and drink for the guests.

The climbing plant is Trachlospermum Jasminoides, by the way.

The Village Wedding - 4 - the reception

The reception in the village square. Actually this was simply a champagne and nibbly bits reception. Later everyone went down to La Pinede, the restaurant over the water in Cap d'Ail, for the reception proper.

See Sally from Sydney Daily Photo in Monte Carlo today! Please click on the link.

The Village Wedding - 3 - walking to the square

Here we see Patricia and Walter walking down through the village after the ceremony - you can just glimpse the Mairie on your left. There is a reception in the village square. Come back tomorrow and let's meet some of the guests.

Sally and family (Sydney Daily Photo) are still asleep....zzzzzzzzzz

The Village Wedding - 2 - the ceremony

The ceremony inside the village church, Eglise Saint Barthélémy. We'll take a closer look at this lovely church another time and when no one is in it.

Meanwhile, I'm off to Arma di Taggia's railway station in Italy to collect Sally (and family) from Sydney Daily Photo. That's about an hour and a half away. Why aren't I collecting them at Menton railway station? Well - they've found a 250 kilo bomb near to Ventimiglia station and this afternoon all roads in and out and of course all trains are disrupted from 1.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. so there are no through trains from Italy to Menton. 8000 residents nearby have been evacuated. Anyway it takes more than a 250 kilo World War II bomb to keep Sally away!

The Village Wedding - 1 - outside the church

The medieval village of Gorbio - and a wedding. Here the happy couple, Patricia and Walter, have just left the Eglise Saint Bathélémy. Come back over the next days - we'll go into the church, we'll meet some of the guests, we'll watch the kids play and we'll drink champagne - in fact, what most people do at weddings.

Snack

Snack time, snapped at the parade of old cars in April.

Wild garlic

Wild garlic growing in a planter on a balcony in Gorbio. What looks like old wood is in fact concrete. You often see fencing made to look like trees and branches.

Back from Spain last night and sick with fever and bronchitis, which is why I didn't comment on Theme Day on Monday or Tuesday. A visit to the doc this morning produced antibiotics, and a ton of other medication. French docs love to prescribe. It will surely sort me out before Sally (& famille) from Sydney DP arrives on Sunday. Spain has the same dreadful weather as much of southern Europe this year so I blame the weather and lots of work at the show.

Returned to no telephone or internet - again! A call this morning promised it would be done on the 11th June and then two hours ago - miracle! - two young France Telecom guys arrived and it's fixed. Rah, rah, rah. They said the line was damaged, bent and needed replacing and there was some other problem too. Thanks so much for all comments. Now, finally, with the Internet working at home, I'll start to catch up with you all.

House in the Hills - 3

Here's another house in the hills above Menton - you can see how the garden is terraced with retaining walls to prevent the soil falling. Essential on slopes like this.

House in the Hills - 2

Here you see the same house as shown yesterday, plus another one in front of it. I can't work out if it's built into the rock or there has been a rock fall at the side of the house?

House in the Hills - 1

A house in the hills way above the Old Town of Menton.

Theme Day: My Local Shop

The little shop in Gorbio, a Medieval perched village a few kilometres above Menton. As you see, it's not just a shop but a meeting place for the locals. When I took this photo, the old couple giggled, with the wife covering her face. Later, she posed but this was the best photo of the owner, Madame Filippi, who stands at the door. Her husband owns the bar/restaurant in the village.

Do click here to view thumbnails of all 174 participants to see their take on today's theme

I'm working at a dog show in Spain all day today (150 Old English Sheepdogs from around the world) but will spend tomorrow catching up and commenting. Meanwhile have a lovely Theme Day everyone!

On the prowl

Gorbio, like all the perched Medieval villages, has many cats. Here's one beauty prowling the old streets.

The Rose's Plea

This beautiful rose is on a bend a couple of kilometres below the village of Gorbio, en route from Menton. The sign says:

'Friends of Flowers. Don't pull on my branches - you will injure me. Thankyou. signed...the Rose.'

Chemin de la Colle Supérieure

This road ends right here and not far from the entrance to the cemetery of Trabuquet, which is to be found way above the old cemetery, which is located above the Old Town.

The blobs of concrete are typical, enabling small cars, bikes, small trucks - to get their owners home. The other end of this road is properly accessible tho and runs high and way over the hauteurs of Menton.

France Telecom paid another visit and it seems there are big-time problems - they will come back and install new cable from road to house. No matter, at the moment, I'm in Spain for a dog show and the hotel has internet access, so I've left my connection problems behind - for the moment.

Closed

Do you get the feeling this window is never opened?! (A house in Gorbio)

Internet & phone still down. Thanks so much for comments. My ability to comment is limited but am using neighbour's WiFi when poss. Will catch up with everyone eventually.

Trompe l'oeil

This is the same house we saw two days ago. You can just see the old boy's balcony on the front of the house - behind the tree - above the lamp.

Note the four windows - how many are real?!

Internet & phone still down. Thanks so much for comments. My ability to comment is limited but am using neighbour's WiFi when poss. Will catch up with everyone eventually.