Sheesh - holidays sure do fly by!

Not really blogging today as it's all ready after 10pm here and I'm tired. We had a great day (the warmest yet at 25C!) and spent a lot of it running some errands and stuff like that not really anything people would be interested in. Check out my facebook page for some photos of today.

Beautiful Place On The Sea

Firstly – thanks to everyone for the Birthday wishes yesterday. I took the blogging day off to celebrate!

Beaulieu sur-mer – beautiful place on the sea. If we didn’t love Menton so much, Beaulieu would be our alternate destination. Solidly a Victorian town, this little gem of a place is the train station stop for the wealthy folk living on Cap Ferrat.

We took the train there today and spent the time meandering through the rose garden, admiring the architecture, and then walking out to the tiny village of St. Jean on Cap Ferrat. What a treat!

The skies were cloudless and the sunny high of 24C made the strolling a pleasure.

It’s interesting to note the changes that happen from year to year. A new addition to the villa Roma is a hideous, over-sized statue of a (life-sized) man riding an over-life-sized, giant sea turtle. It sits on the front lawn and points out to the sea. It reminds me of Major Kong on the missile. Too bad it won’t blow up at the end. It’s clad in an exceptionally shiny metal and it’s just so garish. I guess it’s a good example of what Paul once told me -  money can’t buy taste.

One thing to note about Beaulieu is the serenity. So many of the villages on the seaside of the Riviera (including Menton) have allowed all or parts of it to have a very major road (think of Lakeshore Avenue in Toronto) run along it – which is loud and invasive. In Beaulieu, the road is located further inland (and the highway, the A8, runs through a tunnel along most of the length of the town), so you really get an idea of what most of the Riviera was like before cars. Just complete tranquility.

It also boasts a nice (but pebbly!) beach, a selection of restaurants, cafés, shopping and a very handsome village square.

We spent the most of the day here in the sun, mastering the art of doing nothing.

You should try it sometime.

Arriving via train at Beaulieu

Laying cobblestones as part of the beautification process of the main street

The beautiful church tower

Turn of the century lamp post in town

A glimpse of Cap Ferrat from the Beaulieu Rose Garden

Me next to giant succulents in the garden

A terrific stand of Palms by the entrance to the beach

The hideous Major Kong statue - the man on top life-sized!

Fabulous modern Villa on Cap Ferrat

A week later…

I can’t believe that we have been here a week all ready!

I know, I know, boo hoo – the holidays are ticking away, but time sure does seem short sometimes, doesn’t it? I can remember when we booked our airfare (which I believe was last year) and the time between then and the actual trip seemed really long and just dragged by… then the last week before we left raced by, as well as the first week here.

“Not another sunny day!” I moaned mockingly as I raised the shutters on the apartment this morning. As we sat enjoying our first cup of coffee for the day, we decided to take the train to Roquebrun Cap Martin and do the Le Corbusier  walk all the way around from the west side of the cap, around the tip and then along where we walked yesterday.

It was a wonderful experience, and kind of ethereal, too. As we left the station to head east, we saw a para-glider silently sailing through the skies over the bay. Then, suddenly, from off the sea, a cloud of fog literally “rolled in” on top of us. It was moving so quickly you could see it passing in front of your eyes! It was weird to see it roll IN and then work its way up the mountains. Suddenly, as quickly as it came, it disappeared. It was a terrific experience!

Thankfully, by the end of the journey we went to Madam’s patisserie and she HAD her prize-winning croissants, which we greedily ate washed down with a cup of her superb coffee. We couldn’t resist – and ended up having a pain au raisin as well, before walking into town to take the train back to Garavan.

Tomorrow is my Birthday. I am very lucky and very blessed to be in such a beautiful place to celebrate it. The weatherman is calling for good weather, lets hope he’s right!

Echium vulgare in full bloom!

ANOTHER pug (en Francais - Carlin) out for a walkies!

Para-glider high over Monte Carlo - and yes, that building is really built OVER the edge of the mountain!

The reason it's the Côte D'Azur

The mist rolling in from the sea

A stunning stand of Mediterranean Pines

Sunday - Funday

OK – I know the weather’s the shits at home – but thankfully, here, it’s a bit of a different story!

Today we had cloudless skies and a high of 22C, with just a gentle zephyr blowing up from the sea. Truly sublime weather.

We took advantage of it by hiking up to the Boulevard du Garavan, the second highest street in town. It affords spectacular views down over the village and the bay. It is lined with a mixture of wonderful Belle Epoch houses and more modern (and less inspired) apartment blocks, which rely on their view, rather than their architectural merit, as the clincher for buying.

It takes a long time to do the walk, and we’re on no schedule to do it – and we like to stop and admire the views even though we are blessed enough to have seen them all before. We did make it home in time for lunch, a nap and an afternoon of sunning.

The nap was a little interrupted today by the people who have the apartment across the hall from us. The day wasn’t going as smoothly for them, I suppose, and the entire afternoon was spent in one of those great European domestics with doors slamming and dishes smashing – “votre mère a une moustache! (Your mother has a mustache)” he yelled to her, slamming a door, “Vous avez celui plus petit de ce côté de l'école maternelle! (you have the littlest one this side of the nursery school)” was her very personal reply! Things would eventually quiet down and then flare up again, all afternoon. Oh well, I guess there can’t always be peace in paradise!

I made us Fillet Mignon for dinner, with a peppercorn sauce, accompanied by lentils and potatoes, along with an amazing “flan nature” for dessert. (It’s basically a very vanilla-y custard pie).

We walked 11.48Km today!

(Remember, you can click on any of the photos to enlarge them)

The ravishing Villa la Tourette (recently fully restored) on the Boulevard

Paul admiring the views from up high

Wisteria is in bloom everywhere!

The Villa Fortuna has been for sale for more than 4 years. We hope to buy it and restore it one day!

More wisteria. I told you it was in bloom everywhere!

The mighty bell tower of the Basilica of St, Michael

Saturday – The week end is here!

With a sunny hi of 21 predicted for the day (which it was), we knew we had to make the most of it!

We decided to head off to the train station and go to Carnoles station and go out Cap Martin. The Cap is an isthmus of land on the west side of town that juts out into the sea. It provides a fantastic view back East over the village of Menton, South out towards the sea, and to the West, Monaco Monte Carlo. It did not disappoint! It is also as far away in the village of Menton as you can get from our apartment (i.e. our apartment and the Cap are the extreme East & West borders of the village).

The cap is a haven of peace and quiet (the major road along the seaside bypasses it, so it’s local traffic only) so you hear the songbirds. It is also because of this that there are many villas and open spaces. It’s just beautiful. We walked out to the point of the cap to admire the views, and spent quite some time just sitting on a bench, drinking in the warmth and the rays. It’s amazing how many people use the path the clings to the shoreline (which is both rocky & steep!) for exercise and to just admire its beauty. Of course it’s Saturday, too, so most people are off of work.

After a sufficient amount of time, we decided to stroll back to the patisserie that won the 2010 prize for the best croissant in all the Alps-Maratimes, and have one along with a really decent cup of coffee. Guess what? They were sold out!  Disappointingly making due with a brioche and cup of coffee instead, we enjoyed it and set out in enough time to catch the 11:51 train home. Somewhere along the line – they changed the direction of the train for the track – and we ended up sitting on the bench and MISSING the train home (the next one not scheduled for more than an hour later!).

Not wanting to waste the day waiting for a train, we decided to start walking home along the seaside. About half-way home I decided that we should stop for a bite of lunch (it’s amazing not being on a schedule!) so we stopped at the “Loving Hut” vegetarian restaurant for a very good Felafel sandwich.

Anyway – we eventually made our way home and spent the afternoon lounging and reading. I made us a terrific supper of gnocchi tossed in pesto with asparagus and grilled chicken, with mixed melon, strawberries and Banana for dessert.

Top the day off with an after supper stroll and you can’t have a better day than that.

We walked over 10KM today, according to the pedometer!

The peaceful Menton Garavan train Station

View back over Menton from Cap Martin

View of Monaco Monte Carlo from the tip of the Cap

One of the gorgeous Belle Epoch mansions on the Cap

View down to the sea through Mediterranean pines

A light repas

We don't know the name of these bushes, but they are a sea of scarlet all over town - beautiful!

Be vegan - make peace... it's pretty much the same in French...LOL!

 

Friday – Brocante and Marché

Fridays are special any week, but here in Menton they are a bit festive because there is a weekly brocante as well as the Marché.

The day didn’t start out too promising weather wise – with the clouds from yesterday persistently clinging to the mountain top – but the sun rose over Italy and burned it all away in short order, leaving us with sunny, cloudless skies and a high of 23C!

We like to hit the brocante every week, because, well, as Forrest Gump said, “You just never know what you’re going to find.” Unfortunately today, the pickings were a little slim for us. There was way too much silverware (beautiful but impractical) and jewelry (of no real interest to us), but there were also some interesting things, unfortunately none of which compelled us to pick them up. A real hoot to find was the Canadian Tire “Mastercraft” toboggan (remember, we are on the Riviera), C.1970!

We moved across the lot to the Marché, and I suppose food holds much more allure for us, because we started buying and could barely carry the bag home. Gorgeous, sweet melons at 3 for 5E, a massive, tender bunch of asparagus for 3E, Tart au courgette, pomme beignettes, bananas, avocados, tart tatin, burrata cheese and more! I was thrilled to pick up a knock-around Fruit of the loom 100% cotton T-Shirt for 2E!

We walked in to town and back, for a total of over 8KM (Paul brought his pedometer!). By the time we had a delicious Burrata lunch, I was wiped and had to have a nap…. confident that the good weather would remain for sunning at 2pm. YIKES – by then the winds had whipped up a fury, and although the temperature was more than pleasant, I was afraid of getting wind-burn (YES, it was that windy!). The waves are HUGS today and I swear I can feel the spray from them up here on the 5^th floor!

Anyway, the day is drawing to a close and there is an interesting story on the history of the Moulin Rouge on TV that I’d like to catch, so I’ll bid you all bon soir and see you in the morning!

Just some of the jelly-bean coloured buildings in old town

A Canadian Tire toboggan(!) for sale at the brocante

Gorgeous flowers at the marche

Lunch time on our south balcony

Aview down to the sea from the Boulevard du Garavan

A handsome (and tanned!) pair of lads!

Further afield

…well, not exactly, per se. Today we have totally bounced back from the journey getting here and felt sufficiently brave to head out and take in a bit more of town. After the usual morning routine, we caught the 9:55 train one stop into town (price 1,30E), with a few things on our mind.

First, we wanted to find the Europcar car rental office located close to the train station, as we wish to rent a car a few times over the next few weeks to “really” go farther afield. Check. It was exactly where the internet told us the office would be.

We then went to one of the best bakeries in town, just an intersection further east) where we selected two croissants (still warm) for immediate consumption, as well as a loaf of bread (looks like a baguette but it’s not a baguette (which has legal ramifications here. A baguette is a certain size and weight, dictated by law)), and a slice of – guess what? My most favourite dessert - a tart Tropizienne (named after the nearby resort of St. Tropez). Tart Tropizienne is a magnificent yeast-based cake which is split, filled with pastry cream (that has been lightened by adding whipped cream) to go with my supper. Paul, of course, remains on his perpetual diet, so he didn’t select anything – but if I get through supper without him eating some of my cake (which makes me mad) it will be a miracle.

This part of town is a real gourmet’s delight, with food, confectionary, bakeries/patisseries, rotisseries, etc all gathered on the Rue de la Republic.  As we rounded a bend in the road we were astonished at the smell of oranges – and when we glanced farther ahead we found city workers trimming fruiting orange trees – the oranges falling to the ground and bruising and getting run over by cars. A worker kept trying to rake them to the side of the road but many were getting squashed. I don’t know what species they were, but I couldn’t help but think that more care should have been taken with the fruit and it given to a shelter or the homeless.

We then stopped in a few other shops along the way and picked up a few odds and ends, ending up at home. Although the day started out with strong sunshine (and the pharmacy thermometer said 20 degrees at about 9:45am), they day has turned out solidly overcast (though no rain is apparent), so we have spent the afternoon reading on the patio and listening to the sound of the surf crashing on the shore (which is much reduced after yesterdays tsunami) – punctuated occasionally by a vespa.

Supper will be soon (that chili made yesterday and aging to perfection in the pot), along with Le Diner Presque Parfait (it's a TV show exactly the same as Come Dine With Me Canada). If the weather holds out we’ve agreed to take an evening stroll.

I just hope I get to eat all of my Tropizienne!

Remember that you can expand any of the photos by clicking on them.

Goofing around at the train station

Uh oh - no joy on the Riviera - Not my car!

Warm croissants just waiting to be devoured!

Trimming orange bushes on the the Rue de la Republic

A shop full of gourmet delicacies!

Festival Plage - boy, they speak a lot of different languages!

Pansies thriving at the port!

Ahhh, holidays!

One of the things that I like about holidays, and at the same time the thing that takes the most getting used to – it the art of doing nothing.

Partially forced into it today because of Paul’s new shoes (which he assured me before we left were “broken in”) which are giving his feet grief, and partially because of jet-lag (although we’re not bad at all) today was the first full day of – nothing!

The sun crept up over Italy before 8am and instead of rushing around I pulled up the lounger on the east facing lanai and just sat there, soaking up the rays. The air was cool and the sun was warm. The sound of the waves breaking on the shore was deafening – but in a good way – and I truly had the sense that I was on holiday.

By and by we meandered over to the market to pick up some groceries (we’re going to have chili tomorrow for supper – but we like to make it the day before and let it sit). We stopped several times to just breathe in the sea air and admire the views, before getting home to make up a lunch of mixed greens, grilled chicken, comté cheese, cous-cous (which, for some reason the French call Tabouleh), fresh tomatoes, and of course, champagne!

Alarmingly, in just the one day we had drank the 1^st whole bottle, so after lunch, while PJ got the chili under way, I went for a stroll to Italy (yes) to buy a bottle of Prosecco.

A stressful afternoon of sunning on the south terrace was followed by a good brisk nap – awaking just in time for the latest episode of Le Diner Presque Parfait and some toast points spread with pesto and washed down with Prosecco (oh – so that’s where it all goes).

This evening we went for our favourite – Pizza at Vesuvio’s. We walked into town (and back) and admired the starts over the sea (and you should see what the cruise ships look like floating by, lit up on the blackness of the water at night). So it’s blogging time and then to bed.

Hope you have all had a good day. Today was sunny, breezy and a hi of 23C.

PS: I’m done trying to figure out how to use the blog software! I’m just posting text and photos (and the occasional video) at random and hope you can all just enjoy it as it comes!

No fishing in the harbour!

One of the many yachts escaping the rough seas today

View from the end of the harbour East to Italy. Our apartment is the white one roughly in the centre of the photo

Lunch!

One of the many beautiful Villas along the promenade

Learning to sail on choppy seas!

Supper!