Villefranche is a very photogenic spot. Everyone knows how much artists love the light on the Côte d'Azur. The light is exceptional. Unfortunately since I am not Ansel Adams, my photos do not do it justice. Our apartment balcony faces east. Here is a not atypical sunrise.
Here is the view from the balcony as the sun is setting behind us. In case you are wondering the photo is of a compound for a single family.
The hills above Villefranche are quite steep, and the colors change with the time of day.
At the beginning of the month the moon was rising early.
We just past the full moon, and it is now rising later so the sky is dark when it arrives.
There is not a lot of visible wildlife, but the sea gulls love to glide on the updrafts in front of our apartment.
The flowers even in January are quite beautiful and plentiful.
The harbor at Villefranche is the only natural deep water harbor on the north coast of the Mediterranean. In the winter there are not a lot of tourist boats, but there are an assortment of boats just hanging out for the winter.
At one time the town had over 30 families that made their livings fishing. There are now just a couple, but they go out a few times virtually every day.
There are some well known landmarks for us in Villefranche. The Hotel Welcome is probably the best known. It was the home to many celebrities and artists when they visited Villefranche and occupies a premier spot on the bay.
Of course religion played a big part in the history and life of Villefranche. The main church with its bell tower is easily seen.
Jean Cocteau was a very well known artist who spent lots of time in Villefranche. In addition to doing a lot of paintings in the Hotel Welcome, he completely decorated a small chapel on the waterfront for the fishermen, Chapelle de Saint-Pierre des Pêcheurs.
Since I enjoy playing pétanque while we are here, I have to include a picture of the members only pétanque club. I have never played there, but I pass by it on my way to play pétanque with a certain amount of envy.
No group of photos of places in Villefranche that are important to us would be complete without a photo of the apartment where we stay. It is the more orange building with the green shutters. We have the top floor. If you look closely you can see one of my shirts hanging out to dry in the front and the rest of our laundry drying to the right.
As you walk around Villefranche you are almost constantly surprised by yet another fabulous view.
As the only natural deep water harbor on the north coast of the Mediterranean, Villefranche has a long history of building and maintaining ships and boats. It still has a working harbor with in the big bay referred to as the Darse. To get to the Darse you must pass by this landmark.
The Darse is full of boats, big and small, utilitarian and beautiful.
I hope you enjoyed this little pictorial tour of Villefranche.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
