Le Balico in Place aux Herbes was my favourite Menton restaurant for the nearly 20 years I've lived here so I'm really sad that the owners, Franck and Anne-Marie have sold the place.
Sadly a place is never the same with a change in ownership and without a patron on the premises.
This lady looks as if she is posing for a photograph, doesn't she? In fact she was in conversation with friends whilst waiting for an exhibition to open at the gardens of La Serre de La Madone.
Summer is almost over but a few visitors remain. It's 22h00 at a bar near Place du Cap.
This is for my friend Catherine in Paris who remembers this bar when it was called l'Alba.
We're at the 20th Journées Méditerrranéennes du Jardin at a stall selling garden ornaments. You don't really expect to see a couple of cranes or a stag in Menton!
In the photo we are looking towards Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.
Hibiscus in the Old Town.
'Beautiful and brief
Is your stay above
The late summer leaf . . .'
~ Agnes Ware
Yesterday and today Menton celebrates the 20th Journées Méditerrranéennes du Jardin - a massive garden fair held on the Esplanade Francis Palmero in Menton.
One section is devoted to children - here we see designs created by kindergarten children and topped by the flower-pot man.
An old mill in Gorbio - currently undergoing restoration as a private dwelling. There are several mills around here, restored, but not used for their original purpose.
Thanks to my friend Don (The BOOTboys) who helped me clamber up two steep levels to get this shot and more importantly, get down to the track again!
A policeman in Ventimiglia, just across the Italian border. A reminder that the beauty and tranquillity of the French and Italian Rivieras sometimes gets disrupted.
This beautiful tapestry was made by a famous Parisian company called Gobelins in the 17th century. It was created for Louis XIVth and is part of a series called 'The History of Alexander.'
It hangs in the Museum of Beaux Arts in the Palais Carnoles in Menton.
'Who among us hasn't envied a cat's ability to ignore the cares of daily life and to relax completely?
~ Karen Brademeyer
The decorative friezes below the eaves of houses in Menton, Monaco and the hill villages were the work of Italian experts in fresco and stucco. Between 1860 and 1930, more than 200 friezes unfolded their abundance of fruit and flowers in lively scrolls. Neoclassical or more eclectic in style, some of these friezes have decorative elements showing cornucopia, griffons, putti or even gambolling rabbits.
This house is in the medieval village of Gorbio.
You can see another frieze by clicking on the link.
This rather strange sculpture is to be found in the gardens of the Palais Carnoles in Menton.
It's called 'Question d'Arome' (Question of Aroma) and was created by the sculptor, Sacha Sosno in 1996. Click on the link to read about this well known local artist.
Stéphane Montalto is a well-known Riviera ceramist and potter, originally working in Menton but now at his workshop in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.
And it isn't only beautiful pots that he is famous for. A while back he discovered the archives of Saissi, an important ceramics company of the last century. Saissi was a Menton enterprise with more than 100 employees who created beautiful balustrades, cabochons and bowls using the particularly beautiful pale turquoise we see around Menton and Monaco. Using the traditions of Saissi, Stéphane works restoring many of the Belle Epoque villas of the region. You can see more of Stéphane and his balustrades and large pots in the colour I'm talking about by clicking HERE.
Stéphane's work is installed in many parts of Monaco, including the Japanese Garden and St. Martin's Garden on Le Rocher. His work has been shown in many different exhibitions and he's won many awards. And he's such a nice gentle man. Today's photos were taken at one of Menton's art markets near to Place du Cap.
Logs, ready for winter and framed by a pink oleander, are piled up outside a house in the medieval village of Gorbio.
It's Theme Day once again in the City Daily Photo community and today's subject is an 'Open Air Market.'
Here we see one of the stalls at Menton's Night Market that takes place in the summer months at the foot of the Old Town near to the Bastion. It's great fun to wander the stalls after dinner and perhaps be tempted by the many goodies on display.
To see how others throughout the world have presented this theme do click here to view thumbnails for all participants.
A plaque depicting Saint Michel on a wall of one of the buildings that make up the beautiful facade of the Old Town. And of course the Basilica, which stands behind these houses is named for Saint Michel.
You often spot plaques depicting Saint Michel as you walk up the narrow streets to the cemetery.
As the sun floods through a window of the church in the medieval village of Gorbio, it perfectly illuminates the sculpture. Church designers and those who placed the sculptures hundreds of years ago knew what they were doing.
This plant grows wild around here - it readily seeds in walls and gardens but you find it in Menton's famous gardens too - this was photographed at Serre de la Madone, so whilst it may be a weed, it's obviously appreciated by the professional gardeners there.
