After the Storms - a Walk

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day - Henry David Thoreau

After the Storms - Sea Spray

We've had storms galore lately - they've gone on for about 10 days. Lightning, thunder and endless heavy rain - no electricity from Marseilles to Menton one day - fallen rocks and flooding.

Today I woke to rain again and then suddenly the rain stopped, the sun broke through and life on the French Riviera was back to normal again...

Here you see the sea crashing on the promenade where Roquebrune-cap-Martin meets Menton. You can see the Old Town of Menton in the distance. Part of this road along the sea has been cut for several days - the sea was coming over to the other side of the road - dangerous for cars and people.

Thankyou, America!

The tears of the Reverend Jesse Jackson say it all. Thankyou, America - thankyou!

Beau's Vote!

Meet my dog, Beau - happy to loan one of his long ears to support Obama on this, America's election day.

Beau lived in a refuge in the Var for four years - he was called Bimbo then but I changed it to Beau the day we drove home together. He is a Bruno de Jura - a Swiss hunting dog - and the origin of the Bloodhound (you can see the resemblance I think). Three weeks after coming home Beau had both ear drums removed to try and cut down on the massive infections he had. He was four and a half hours on the table. He still gets abscesses from time to time but now he's a pretty healthy dog and this is his chair - which used to be 'my' chair. Huh! He's happy and so am I to have him here. He's a wonderful, funny dog with a howl you'd not believe. He's lived with me in Gorbio for 18 months and is probably about 10 years old although really no one knows his age or history. Taking him from the refuge was the best thing I ever did. Always rescue a dog from a refuge - there are so many and they reward you a trillion-fold. I adore this funny ol' boy.

Happy Election Day, America! Beau and I will be sitting up late and watching the results. If the polls are right, we want to be part of history in the making and welcome President Barack Obama, who I know is going to so good for America and the world. It's time for CHANGE!

See how you can vote with candies on Monte Carlo Daily Photo.

Autumn - the Games of Childhood

Games in Gorbio village. One of the best things about bringing up children in a village is that they can play safely. No cars in these medieval streets and no one to bother a child. No worries about strangers. Windows have eyes and everyone knows everyone else - someone would soon see if a stranger was talking to a village child.

In this photograph, the children have been playing with two others who have just disappeared down the steps.

Don't you love those red boots!

Autumn - the Dog who loves Water

Alpha is cooling down in the area next to the wash-house in Gorbio. He's a Berger Blanc Suisse (White Swiss Shepherd Dog).

Note the 'tap' which is a cut off plastic Pellegrino bottle.

You can see the main washhouse below which sits under a roof supported on pillars. A windy day and leaves have blown in, but presumably the ladies who use this will clean it out before doing their washing.

To learn about this breed and to see more photos of Alpha - is he the dog with the longest tongue? - click on Riviera Dogs.

Theme Day: Books

He shades his eyes from the sun. She rests an arm on his chest and continues to read.

'There's no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It's like falling in love.'

- Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957)

It's the first of the month and so it's Theme Day for City Daily Photo bloggers with 178 blogs participating in the 'Books' theme. Do spend some time enjoying the many interpretations I know you'll find. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Autumn - Cats' Craving

Lunch at the Beausejour in Gorbio. Two village cats are avidly hoping for left-overs. Given the chance they'd have grabbed something/anything/everything. What is it with cats? For any of you following Monte Carlo Daily Photo lately, you'll remember the cat at the Chèvre d'or in Eze village doing the same thing. (click on the link)

My computer guru and good friend, Anthony, had come over from Cannes to move files and folders from my PC to the new iMac - and this lunch was a sort of thankyou - he loves the Beausejour - and so do I.

You can see, in the small pic, how the plates looked before we demolished the food. Anthony ate the duck. Mine is the fish - a dorade. No comments about red wine not going with fish. It went just fine...

Autumn - the Flowerpot

Words on a flower pot outside the Beausejour Restaurant in Gorbio. Hard to read all the words but I peered around the sides of the pot and so far as I can see it says:

'Ask and I will give you what your heart desires.' Perhaps a more accurate translation would be - 'Your wish is my command.'

Perhaps a French reader will confirm or otherwise?

Regardless -isn't it heartwarming.

Autumn - the French Lesson

One way to learn French...and needing no translation! This tile is for sale in a tourist shop just below the Old Town in Menton.

A surprise amongst the beautiful artisan-made gifts you can buy - obviously Menton caters for all tastes...

Autumn - Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea in a Gorbio garden - an olive tree in the foreground - fallen olives on the steps.

The photograph was taken on the 11th October and it's still in flower today. Actually, the flowers you see are not flowers, but 'bracts.' The actual flower of the bougainvillea is small and generally white. Each cluster of three flowers is surrounded by three or six bracts in the bright colours associated with the plant - here a beautiful pinky/red.

The name comes from Louis Antoine de Bougainville, an admiral in the French Navy who discovered the plant in Brazil in 1768.

That's our horticultural lesson for today!

Autumn - A Room with a View

A shot of Gorbio village, with the sea beyond, taken from a friend's house.

Autumn - the Creeper

This is about as autumnal as we get in the south of France. This creeper, now changing colour, covers a window and roof of a village house in Gorbio.

After reading all the comments on whether this is a Virginia creeper, a Boston ivy or a vigne vierge - for which thankyou - it seems that vigne vierge is Parthenocissus vitacea, Boston (or Japanese) ivy is Parthenocissus tricuspidata and Virginia creeper is Parthenocissus quinqifolia. All are members of the Ampelopsis family and so all are related.

Having read the comments, I think the red one would be known as vigne vierge in France and I'd call it Virginia creeper. Probably the green one is Boston ivy. But now I'm getting confused again - time to post today's photograph...

Autumn - the Butcher's Van

...so it must be Thursday evening in the village of Gorbio. The butcher arrives in the village every Thursday at 6 p.m. and carefully backs his large van into the square. He leaves at 7 p.m.

A once-a-week opportunity for villagers to buy their meat and of course to chat.

Autumn - Mothers' Meeting

Bit of a grey ol' day today. We're near the entrance to the Old Town, above the port and beach.

These pigeons are waiting for customers to arrive at the cafés below - ever hopeful they'll get a croissant crumb.

La Fête de la Branda - the Hikers

Lunch sitting under the elm tree that was planted in 1713.

Randonée - hiking, rambling, walking - is very popular around Gorbio with some great hikes through the mountains and into other villages. It's quite usual to see a group walking down the hill to take lunch in the bar, or to sit here having a picnic in the square.

Fête de la Branda - the Baker

Real bread and a wonderful baker - he looks more like a college professor than a baker, doesn't he? His gentle smile never left his face.

Fête de la Branda - the Musician's Lunch

Lunch break. A musician, a baguette sandwich - and an impressive moustache.

Fête de la Branda - Socca 2

Socca is a type of crepe made from a batter of chickpea flour, olive oil, water, salt and pepper. When it's cooked (this oven is wood-fired) the socca is cut into pieces with a pizza wheel and then wrapped in paper - or placed on a paper plate. As you can see in the last photo, there was a long queue in the village to buy this traditional dish. It's eaten with the fingers.

Some socca ovens are bigger than this one and take a one-metre diameter cast iron pan - then the cooked socca obviously feeds quite a few people.

From Provence Beyond: 'Socca and Cade are Provençal pancakes that go back at least to 1860. Cade de Toulon, probably the most ancient, was made from corn flour and the Socca de Nice that evolved from it is made from chick-pea flour. The Marseilles version is today made with a mixture of flours, using only a small amount of chick-pea flour; in Marseilles this was called "tourta tota cada", meaning "tourte toute chaude", or nice hot tarts. It was mentioned in 1879 by Frédéric Mistral as "gâteau de farine de maïs qu'on vend par tranches à Marseille" (or in the vulgar tongue "corn-flour cake sold by the slice in Marseilles").

In that ancient time, there were cade/socca sellers at the marchés and at work sites where they provided the favorite morning meal of the workers. The cade/socca sellers used special wagons with built-in charcoal ovens to keep their wares hot while they announced them with the appropriate cries of "cada, cada, cada" or "socca, socca, socca caouda". Some of the ambulatory socca/cade sellers (or their descendents) are still to be found in the markets at Nice, Toulon and la Seyne-sur-Mer, where the slices are served in paper cones.'

And in Gorbio...

Fête de la Branda - Socca

A speciality of south-eastern France, especially around Nice. It's 10.30h at the Fête de la Branda and the socca oven is already in operation. Later, at lunchtime, there will be a long queue of hungry visitors.

Socca is a sort of crepe made with chickpea flour and olive oil and it's delicious. Come back tomorrow and we'll see exactly how it's made.