A Week on the French Riviera #4

Here are some more scenes around Villefranche-sur-mer ... 

a dapper shopper at the antiques market

The Chapelle Saint-Pierre (Saint Peter's Chapel) dates from the sixteenth century. Used as a storeroom for local fishermen's nets and equipment for most of the 19th and early part of the 20th century, it was restored in 1957 with Jean Cocteau adding his now-famous murals depicting the life of the saint and of local fishermen. 

A look up at Eglise Saint-Michel (Saint Michael's Church) in the heart of old town, was built in the 1750s 

The Wine Pier at this hotel serves breadsticks, olives, chips, peanuts and a bowl of sweets. We chose this for our last meal in France.

This neighbor's rooftop patio has inspired me to add more "lush wildness" to my garden spaces

The Rue Obscure or “Dark Street” is a passage way under the harbour front houses which dates back to 1260.

Crepe Nutella - very very good

I miss this view!

Adieu, Villefranche-sur-mer and France. Nous reviendrons un jour! I hope you have enjoyed our travelblog.

A Week on the French Riviera #2

The great thing about Villefranche is the access to all the towns along the coast (as well as inland) via bus or train. I had plans for going to several towns... however we both quickly became so enamored with our village that we only made two day trips. One was to Nice.

We took the #100 bus from Villefranche directly to Nice, about a 20 minute ride. We were deposited in a central location to explore Vieux Nice or old town area, a series of narrow, windy pedestrian streets with shops and vendors. 

One of many gulls gathered at the close of the fish market - they were quite a scene. 

How cute!

Socca is pizza made with chickpeas

I'd read about the Cours Saleya market and it was spectacular. The stands were filled with food and flowers ... lots of flowers.

We enjoyed a lovely meal at La Voglia. When the food was served, it became clear that we could have ordered half. However, we forged ahead and managed to eat most of what was in front of us!

Avocado, artichoke and shrimp

Veggie pizza - check out the egg!

So the walk to the famous Promenade de Anglais was required to digest our lunch. Unfortunately it was cloudy, very windy and very chilly and not very pleasant. I had mixed feelings - I was excited to be walking along the Mediterranean ... and unimpressed with how similar it was to Santa Monica, California or many other walks along the Pacific Ocean. But I had my photo taken on the beach (sorry ... George didn't zoom the lens!), which you can see was empty on this Tuesday afternoon.

Back at the bus stop ... we experienced a mob scene. The #100 bus runs every quarter hour. On this particular afternoon, it was not running as usual, and a very large crowd had gathered at the stop. When a bus finally arrived, there was a literal mob scene - pushing and shoving to get on. One man tried to remove another man who was on the bottom step of the bus, insisting he had the right to get on first. The problem was that the man's suitcase was on the step in front of him. He turns to the guy and shoves him off and there was almost a fight. We later saw this man and his wife in Villefranche - they had just arrived for their vacation. Not a pleasant welcome!

In the meantime, I was being shoved by people behind me. I kept saying "How rude!" quite loudly ... but of course I was saying that in English, but I somehow think it wouldn't have mattered what language I spoke ... these people were quite insistent on getting on this bus.  We got out of the mob and decided to wait for the next bus. Shortly there was a second bus and another mob. OK... we'll wait for #3. Sure enough, it arrived while #2 was still boarding and we got  the perfect seats to be able to see our stop to get off! We think there may have been an accident on the windy narrow streets that delayed the buses, since four arrived together.

Rick Steves says you need to be assertive when getting on the bus ... but this was aggressive behavior at it's best!

Anyway ... that was our exploration of Nice. We rode through the streets on our way from the train station and to the airport. It is, indeed, a large city. I'm sorry now we didn't visit the  museums ... however this trip wasn't about museums. The visit to Centre Pompidou and Museum of Modern Art was enough to satisfy my desire for museum art.

A Week on the French Riviera #1

During my research, I considered staying in Nice. However, it seemed that Nice was another large city like Paris. George had been to Villefranche when he was in the Navy and remembered it to be small and quaint. So that is what we chose. I'm really glad we did!

l'appartement: La Barcasse

Overlooking Quai Admiral Courbet and in the heart of the old town with views over the harbour nestles this beautiful one bedroom apartment. The apartment has just been lovingly renovated to the very highest standard. You will love the attention to detail. There is even an remote bed so you can sit comfortably at night to log your memories of each wonderful day in this magical and special village. Enjoy a glass of wine on the balcony and just outside your door you will be spoiled for the choice of great restaurants. Only few minutes lovely stroll away is the beach making this the best location in town.

This apartment was just as described. 

   

Not as comfortable seating as the apartment in Paris, it excelled in views! 

le quartier

Directly below the apartment was a location for vendors who set up their tents and tables each day a cruise ship came into the harbor (which was most days). One day I watched as the village came awake - vendors arriving to unload their wares, restaurant staff sweeping, deliveries being made. A rush to be prepared for the first tender to drop off the day visitors. I felt very much a part of the village from my balcony overlooking it all.

The waterfront is lined with many restaurants. George remembers Le Mere Germain as a dingy bar where Mere Germain welcomed American soldiers and gave them free beer.

une courte promenade

A short walk to the beach. On Sunday it was very crowded. The beach is directly across from the train station, making it very accessible for locals. Of course French Riviera beaches are famous for topless sunbathing ... we saw only three - I won't post the one photo I got :-). The beaches were less crowded on weekdays ... I suppose because school was still in session. I did notice that some of the cruise passengers made their way to the beach for the day.

le port

There was only one day during the week with no cruise ship in harbor. One day there were two large ships. Because Villefranche is a small town but centrally located along the coast, many passengers took tours to other places such as Nice and Monaco (which I will post in my next blog).

This was the bench that became my favorite place to view the ships. One day George said to me, "I could stay here all summer." I felt the same way ... except that Sue, the manager of the apartment, told us that summer is really really crowded here with several ships in harbor each day and people swarming around like ants. Plus it gets very hot. So the idyllic scene we experienced one week in May is not experienced during the summer.


Next ... we head to Nice.