Villefranche-sur-mer v.6

Dear Friends,

One of the things that we love about Villefranche is that we are a part of the weather and the natural parts of life that we often miss in a big city.  We know when the sun rises and when it sets.  We can tell when the rain is coming and when it will clear.  We notice the beautiful and varied colors of the sea and the surrounding hills.  We have a greater sense of nature.  So I would like to share some of the wonderful nature of Villefranche with you.  If I were Ansel Adams, the photographs would be much better, and you would be able to really get a sense of the beauty of Villefranche regardless of the time of day or weather.

Of course, first of all the high today was 61 and the low was 46  It was windy but when we took our walk and were sheltered from the wind, I had only a long sleeved shirt on and was very comfortable.

This year has been somewhat more cloudy than last year, but we still get great light and colors particularly as the sun is rising and setting.  Here is a picture that I posted a couple of days ago of the rising sun hitting Villefranche in the morning taken from across the harbor as we were on our morning walk.

The next one is taken from our apartment looking east across the bay as the sun is rising.

Except for Sunday afternoon, the sea has been (as they say in France) agitated.  Here is a picture from our apartment balcony on Sunday afternoon when the sea was rather tranquil.

The tranquility lasted long enough for a poor boat owner to try to salvage something from a boat that had not survived the seas.

Today the seas got really agitated.  We have never seen the waves breaking over the promenade and covering the roadway with water.

                         

They closed the parking lot for the beach. We tried to walk along the road for the parking lot but thought better of it when we could not get through several inches of water on the road between the breaking waves.  They also closed the road along the water in front of all the restaurants that line the harbor.

They also closed the path around the point on which the old fort is located.  That meant that we could not do most of our regular walk.  In the picture below the sea looks much more tranquil than it is.  Villefranche is a deep water harbor and the swells can build up as the bay get shallower.

The skies are now cloudless and the stars are beautiful, but the wind continues.  The forecast for the next two days is all sun so hopefully the seas will become more tranquil.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal