May 27, 2016

Today's outing from our B&B in Cagnes-sur-Mer is to St Paul de Vence, a lovely hill-top town just inland from the coast.  The drive was to be about 10 minutes, however, our GPS directed us further up the hill to the parking lot very near the center of the village and almost at the top.  We came to a place (no other option) that said only residents could proceed beyond this point but with cars stacked up behind us we went on.  The road up got more narrow the higher we got and we came to a place with the usual "no entry" sign so we stopped to try and figure out what to do.  The man in the car behind us came up and asked if he could help us and we said we were trying to get to the parking lot so he manouvered us so he could get by and told us to follow him.  More climbing and narrow passages and at the cemetery (this driver was about ready for it) we turned into a huge parking lot for residents.  Oh well!  From here the walk to the center of the village was not far so we started to explore the little streets, by streets we mean lanes just wide enough for two donkeys to pass each other, no way a car could ever get through.  Lots of shops and galleries with a very diverse selection of art.

The village has been a haven for artists for some years.  One interesting thing was that everything was so tidy, the houses and shutters were in good repair, streets clean but crowded with a couple of ships' tours from Holland America and others.  Due to the Grande Prix race in Monaco the ships had to divert to Nice instead of landing in Monaco, so lots of visitors.  We made our way to the top of the hill where the highest point was St Paul's Catholic Church. There we had a much deserved sit-down.  Not as ornate as many we've seen in Europe but it is at least a working church, the alter guild ladies were cleaning while we were there.   The bell tower is quite impressive.

Just across a lane from the church is the Mairie (city hall).  We had a coffee and a rest and after looking at more galleries we selected our lunch place near the church.  Le Caruso was set on the slope of the hill and Iris felt like she was going over backwards at any moment so they pushed the second table over so we could both sit on the uphill side of the table.  Bob chose gazpacho for his starter while Iris had creamy cheese breaded with crushed nuts and baked.    We both had the sea bass with black rice and veg for our main course and it was quite good except for the bones that were hidden in the fillets.  For dessert, we had a warm chocolate cake with warm chocolate center with whipped cream and needless to say we enjoyed it.  Walking back to the car we decided to take a look in the cemetery where we found the grave of Marc Chagael (Chagall in English), the Russian-French painter of some fame as a modernist.

 We decided we had had enough touring for the day so we found an easier way to descend the hill more directly back to our B&B at Cagnes-sur-Mer.  After a nice nap we had a stroll down the sidewalk that bordered the beach.  Bob didn't get his camera and missed the greatest "The End" photo ever of a young lady having stripped off her bikini bottoms while facing the sea she was in the process of pulling up her tight jeans from around her ankles.   What a missed opportunity.  Once we tired of our walk we headed back to the B&B where we enjoyed some red wine and snacked on ham and cheese.  A little TV using our iPad connected to the big screen in our room just before retiring for the night.  Tomorrow we head home.

May 26, 2016

What a beautiful morning on the south coast of France, mild temperatures, 70's for a high today, bright sunshine and we're leaving our fantastic view of the sea but we must go as we've run out of money for this apartment so it's load all this stuff into our little red Peugeot and driving to Haut Cagnes.  The big attraction is the Grimaldi castle at the top of the hill founded by the family of the current rulers of Monaco.

We had a walk around the village and then found a nice place to have lunch outside but under umbrellas so we could be in the shade.  We had a lovely young woman from Mauritius who was married to an Italian and his mama's recipes were the menu.  A nice bottle of rose to go with Bob's chicken breast with mozzarella melted on top and ham served with fries (it's France) and salad.  Iris had the lasagne with salad, both were very good.  Dessert was profiteroles stuffed with ice cream, covered with chocolate sauce and a dollop of whipped cream on the side.  Slimming?

From here we drove to Cagnes-sur-Mer, halfway between Antibes and Nice where Pierre Auguste Renoir spent the last 12 years of his life (1907-1919). Here he tended his gardens, painted and even dabbled in sculpture (despite suffering from rheumatoid arthritis).  His home has been converted into a small museum, where visitors get a personal look at Renoir's later years.  On display is his studio, wheelchair and bedroom including his small studio complete with the chair for carrying him up and down the stairs and from which he painted.  He actually painted on the last day of his life.

Leaving the museum we dropped down to the sea level to our accommodations for the next two nights, La Locandiera, located literally just across from the marina and beach.  Our suite (bedroom and bath - don't know what makes it a suite) is quite pleasant and has an outside area with seating and umbrella for relaxing and reading.  We enjoyed a nice red with some snacks of ham, salami, prosciutto and crackers.  Since we had the iPad and our HDMI cable we were able to watch the US news and Amazon Prime streaming before crawling into bed.  It's the time of year here when days are long so the sun was still up when we went to bed.  Nice day!

May 25, 2016

Today was our light breakfast followed by a short drive from our apartment to St Jean Cap Ferrat, the piece of land that juts out into the Med where we were fortunate to find a parking space just minutes before opening time at the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild and what a villa it is.  This must be the ultimate in Riviera extravagance, this pink villa constructed in 1905 with views west to Villefranche-sur-Mer and east to Beaulieu-sur-Mer.  Beatrice, the eccentric Baroness de Rothschild, the French heir to the important banking family, built and furnished this grand place.  It took us about one and one-half hours to visit all the rooms available and then we made our way to the original dining room of the villa that is now the restaurant for the hordes of tourists.  Our table overlooked the sea toward Villefranche so by arriving early we had this wonderful view with a glass of rose.  Lunch was sea bass served over a bed of veg and salad, very nice, then a chocolate wonder for Iris and ice cream for Bob.  After this fortification we began our walk through the gardens, first the French garden with the water feature with towering fountains and dancing waters set to music and played every 20 minutes.  From the French garden we then strolled through the Spanish Garden, Florentine Garden, Stone Garden, Japanese Garden, Provencal Garden, Exotic Garden and the Rose Garden ending at the "Temple of Love", being bashful we didn't tarry here.  Along the way we met a nice couple from Austin having their last fling without dragging kids along as she was due to bring a boy into the world in less than 2 months.  He is a anesthesia doctor with St David's Round Rock.  Small world.  We were about out of gas at this point so we wandered back through the gardens to the exit with obligatory gift shop and then back to our car for the short drive back to our apartment.  After a long nap, the housekeeper of the villa arrived to tell us what to do with the keys tomorrow as it will be her day off.  We received a note and small gift from the owners wishing us good travels.

 Us near the entrance to the villa

 The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild front

 Missen figures

 The French garden seen from the loggia

 View of Villafranche from the villa

 Dining room

 Bob in the French garden

 Iris in the French garden

Us in the Stone garden - photo taken by couple from Austin, TX
We will be sorry to leave our apartment with its 270 degree views of the sea with the villages, yachts and mountains.  We thought some might be interested to see our digs so here goes.

 Front of the villa

Rear of the villa - our apartment is the 3rd level on the far right

 Living/dining, terrace with views

 Living room

 Bob enjoying the view

 Early morning view to the east

 Bob blogging

Bedroom

May 24, 2016

Woke this morning in Villefranche overlooking the Med with lots of yachts moored in the bay.  We now think all these luxury $1M+ vessels are rented for the Monaco Grand Prix by corporations courting customers.  Must be fun to run with the "rich & famous".  But we're pretty happy in our place with these great views.  We could get used to this.  It's easy to see why folks like to live on or within sight of the ocean.  Well we slept till 6:00 AM so had a good night's rest.  Breakfast today was bacon and eggs and it was a bit of an adventure as we forgot to bring coffee but we made it using our own egg skillet.  However after breakfast we discovered that we forgot to bring soap for the dishwasher.  We survived.  Leaving our view we drove down into Beaulieu sur Mer and found plenty of parking (paid) in front of the casino (they don't open until late in the day) and after a short walk we arrived at the Villa Karylos built 1902-1908 right on the edge of the Med by a couple that wanted a house that looked like a second century Greek villa.  Boy did they succeed.  We spent a couple of hours here and really enjoyed it.  The family of the original couple lived in the house until the 1950's and then it was declared a "national treasure" so we don't know if they all died off or if the government confiscated it.  Anyway they now are keeping it maintained in fantastic order.  One of the frequent visitors to the original couple was Gustave Eiffel (of tower fame) who had a villa next door, now a luxury hotel.  After our stroll back to the car we drove on the middle corniche only about 5 km to Eze Village.  Iris had found a place for lunch, L'Alchimie where we enjoyed a lovely rose, a starter salad prepared with lots of radishes of various colors, lettuce, tomato and burratta cheese (we were not familiar with this Italian cheese that has about the same consistancy as mozzarella but creamier) followed by risotto prepared with fresh peas.  Dessert was a shared Ben & Jerry's chocolate brownie ice cream.  After lunch a walk UP to the Eze Village and we do mean UP.  The church was built in the 1700's and was mostly painted inside to appear to be marble but a lovely place to sit and restore from our trek up the hill.  We opted to not continue up to the summit where there was a huge cactus garden (we've seen those in TX).  Bob found a wonderful embroidered T shirt to commemorate our visit to Eze.  Then a stroll down from the heights where Iris shopped at the perfume factory store for something advertised as "Iris" products (see photo).  Took the the hairpin drive back to the apartment to have a late nap.
Cheese, country pate and a red for our dinner tonight followed by some TV (when not looking at the view) and to bed.

View from our apartment today

Villa Kerylos from our apartment

Bob at entrance of Villa Kerylos

Floor mosaic of cock, hen and chicks from 2nd century - entrance hall

 Courtyard

Risotto with green peas for main course at lunch

 Casino at Villafranche

 Church at Eve

 Iris at Fragonard Perfume shop

May 23, 2016

We packed up our little Peugeot this morning, looked like we were moving, one suitcase, 3 large shopping bags, 2 boxes of wine, 1 cooler bag, 1 camera, 1 binocular, 2 pillows, 2 jackets, 8 bottles of water, 3 guide books, 1 large map of France and one backpack loaded with laptop, iPad and 2 Kindles.  What a production!
The drive south was pleasant along the toll roads until we got to Nice.  Then our GPS either failed or we had driver error (like pilot error) and we made several turns that required the GPS to demand "Turn around when possible".  So lots of turns up and down the mountains, hairpin turns through residential neighborhoods but finally finding a parking lot right on the shore of the Med in Villefranche-sur-Mer.  We parked and had a long uphill walk looking for our planned restaurant.  Stopped several folks along the way to show them the name and street address and nobody knew where it was except for one lady that said "I don't know where it is but it's close".  She was French.  But after some wandering around we did stumble upon the Le Cave Natur where we had an outside table in the shade and immediately called for some Provence rose.  Bob was a basket case by now so he was in need.  After getting his heart rate reduced we ordered the specialties, crab meat with avocado, tomato on a huge slice of Italian bread and a side salad, Bob had the duck breast with mushrooms, tomato, walnuts with side salad.  After requesting some olive oil both were outstanding but alas we were too stuffed for dessert.
So after this respite it was back to the car for more hairpin streets, most were two-way traffic but parking limited the width to only one car.  Exciting, no?  After much turning the wrong way we finally found the villa where we had booked an apartment.  The owning family had bought the chateau in the late 1940's (after the war) and much has been converted into apartments for short-term rentals but "Glory" they had installed an elevator as our booking was on the 3rd level.  When we walked in the double set of patio doors opening onto the terrace gave us the view of the Med like nothing we'd ever seen before.  The position of the villa up the hill gave a magnificent view of the Low Corniche, the marina, St. Jean-Cap-Ferrat and the water to the horizon dotted with yachts anchored in the bay.  The photos don't do it justice.  The view was from every window.  The apartment itself was very nicely furnished and the fabrics were beautiful,decorator coordinated, and expensive.  The floors are marble including the terrace, the bath and kitchen functional and it is over twice the size of our house in Roussillon.
Being a bit tired from our adventures of the day we decided to not go out again.   So we had some wine we had brought and some prosciutto di San Daniele, salami, olives and called it dinner.   We could still enjoy the views from the apartment which were still in bright sunshine when we toddled off to bed.





Below views from our terrace:

Villa Kerylos at Beaulieu-sur-Mer