Villefranche-sur-mer 2019 - 8 Antibes

Dear Friends,

Today we went on an excursion to Antibes.  It is, in fact, easy to get to Antibes from Villefranche because you just take the train without any changes or transfers.  We, of course, made it a little more exciting.

The train station in Villefranche no longer has a person in residence.  You buy your tickets from a machine, one on each side of the tracks.  You must also "compost" your ticket, that is to say put it in a machine that puts a date and time stamp on it to show that you have used it.  If you are caught on the train without a composted ticket you are in big trouble.  To help out, the machines can be used in several languages including english.  We indicated that we were starting in Villefranche, that we were going to Antibes, that we wanted a return ticket, and that we were not entitled to any special discounts.  I then inserted my credit card, first in the wrong slot and then in the correct one but by that time the machine was mad at me for putting it in the wrong slot.  So I pushed every button labeled any variation of annul.  The machine refused to relinquish my credit card, and we could not get a good enough hold on it to pull it out.  We were trying to take the 10:13 train and the next one wasn't until 11:13 and of course we had not allowed enough time for any problems to occur.  At this point panic struck and I yanked the credit card really hard and to my amazement it came out.  I then went through the entire sequence again, happy that nobody was waiting behind me as there is only one machine.  We got our tickets, immediately composted them and the train arrived about a minute later.

We found nice seats on the upper deck and settled in for the 40 minute ride.  About half way a conductor appeared to check tickets.  We were overjoyed to be able to show him our validly purchased and composted tickets.  The man in front of us was not so lucky.  He had no ticket.  At first he pretended he didn't speak french, but the conductor switched to english.  The conductor was not happy.  The man had to pay 50 euros for his ticket, ours were 6.

From the train station, it is just a short walk to the marina for the small boats.  It was quite a picture with the snow capped mountains in the background.

We wandered through the old town and came across a butcher shop.  We read the sign in french first and were surprised that the english sign did not translate it directly.  Can you spot the difference?

The correct translation of the first line below the logo is beef - horse - pork - veal - lamb.  You can see that the butcher does not want english speakers to know that they can buy horse meat in this shop.

We proceeded to the Picasso Museum which is in an old castle right on the water where he had had a studio.  While I am not much of a fan of his later works, I can always find something to like in his earlier periods.  In any case the view from the terrace facing the Mediterranean is wonderful.

The museum was also nice enough to place a couple of eyes for a backdrop for a photo of my wonderful ophthalmologist and wife.

We returned to Villefranche on the train without incident.  I should note in case it escaped you that the weather is perfect here as are the colors.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

Villefranche-sur-mer 2019 - 7 Boules et Léger

Dear Friends,

Thanks to Jane, who bought the boules for me, and some friends here in Villefranche, who drove us on this adventure, I am now the proud owner of my own set of boules for pétanque.  They are not just any old boules.  They are Obut boules.

To the uninitiated, the information on this box may not demonstrate what great boules I got.  They are semi-hard, stainless steel, 76 mm in diameter and weigh 710 grams.  They fit my hand perfectly as you can see.  Notice how the line of the edge of my thumb just lines up with the tips of all my fingers.

One might think that you can just go to a boule store and pick any old one off the shelf, but no.  It is important to get the diameter and the weight just right for your weight and hand size as well as your style of play.  Notice the table I am standing next to with all the boules on it.  I needed to try many before getting just the right one.

You also must select just the right design.  Here are the boules that I purchased.  They are sold in groups of three as that is the number that you need when you play a match.

I have strategically placed the boules so that you get a view from three angles.  The one in the middle is the name of the manufacturer, Obut, the best there is.  The one on the right shows the model "match" and the one on the left shows the serial number of my particular set of boules.  In a group you need to be able to tell which boules are yours.  Of course mine will now always be the closest ones to the cochonnet, nevertheless, I will remember that I am serial number A135.  It is a little hard to see but notice the lines of varying lengths on either side of match and Obut.  It is a great design, and I am certain it will give me just the right grip to achieve the perfect spin.

I should note again that Jane gave me these boules, and here we are leaving the store.

After securing my future as a pétanque player, we headed for Biot, a medieval town located on a hilltop above Antibes.  We went there to see the Fernand Léger museum.  

I did not know very much about Léger except for his large colorful murals like the ones on the outside of the museum.

I was surprised to learn about the incredible scope of his work.  He was born in 1881 and died in 1955.  He started as an impressionist.  Unfortunately around 1905 he became disenchanted with his work and destroyed virtually all of them.  This one is entitled "Le jardin de ma mère" was one of my favorites in the museum.

He felt that art should be for everybody and was a strong proponent of what we now call public art.  He wanted art set outside where all could enjoy it.

One small piece that I really liked was a painting and plaster sculpture done with Mary Callery.

There was a special exhibit of works by Stéphane Couturier, a photographer who was born in 1957 just two years after Léger had died.  Léger's influence on Couturier was obvious.  In the photo below, the work in the middle is Léger and the ones on each side are Couturier's.

We left the museum having enjoyed it and learnt a lot.

Of course no adventure is complete without a good meal.  One of the great things about going around the countryside in France is the extraordinary number of great restaurants that you find.  Our friends had done some research and decided we should try this one.

It is a very casual but inviting place that seemed to serve a clientele ranging from working people, to locals to tourists.  The food was great.  Here is the rabbit with risotto and mushrooms.  The sauce was very tasty and quite rich, but a wonderful hearty meal.

Here is the pork in thyme sauce with potatoes, a wonderful hearty meal.

As a connoisseur of profiterole, I could not resist trying their version of this wonderful dessert.  In this case, they coated the pastry shell in mousse au chocolat.  It was wonderful but probably had a few calories hidden in the whipped cream.

All in all we had a wonderful adventure, and now I am ready to become a pétanque star.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

Villefranche-sur-mer 2019 - 6 Un chemin côtier (a coastal walk)

Dear Friends,

Friday was a perfect day here in Villefranche - the sky was a perfect blue, there was a breeze, and it was about 55 degrees.  There could be no better day for a walk around Cap Ferrat.  Jane was going to Ventimiglia just over the boarder into Italy for the huge market with some friends, all girls.  I had the perfect excuse to skip Ventimiglia and take a walk I had always wanted to do.  As I explained in an earlier post, I have wanted to walk this fabulous coast line ever since we first came to Villefranche.  Earlier this year we walked the finger of Cap Ferrat (really looks more like a thumb).  Now I could walk the main part of Cap Ferrat.

To cut down on the time, I decided I would take a bus from Villefranche to one end of the walk and catch a bus home from the other end of the walk.  Since I would be walking around lunch time, I decided it would be very french to buy a pre-made baguette sandwich at a local boulangerie.  I packed my camera, water, sandwich and hat into my backpack and set off to catch the bus.

The Route 81 bus runs from Nice to Port Saint Jean on Cap Ferrat through Villefranche with a detour through Beaulieu.  I got off at the stop called Passable/Rothschild as you can see below.  This stop serves both the Villa Ephrussi Rothschild and the plage de passable (Passable Beach).  I thought that I had written a post about the Villa Ephrussi Rothschild, but I could not find it so I will write one someday.  For now just know that it is an incredible villa and garden built by a couple one of which was a Rothschild and the other an Ephrussi and the Ephrussi was the richer one.  The villa and the gardens are fantastic and change with the seasons. Plage de passable is a public beach.

It is just a short walk from the bus stop down to the beach.  I was greeted by the sign below.  Note that I am now on the west side of the cap.  You will see a similar map at the end of the walk when I arrived at Port Saint Jean on the eastern side of the cap.  Please do not be too afraid of the big DANGER WARNING sign.  It says that you shouldn't walk on the sentier du littoral (the coastal path) if the seas are high or there is bad weather.  If you need that warning, you have many other problems to deal with.

The plage de passable was virtually deserted except for a group of women who were setting out a picnic.  In the summer it is wall to wall people.  The village you see in the background is Villefranche.

The walk is absolutely gorgeous.  Every time I turned around or looked up or turned a corner there was yet another fantastic vista.  The one below is about half way out to the lighthouse.  I am looking back at Villefranche.

The rocky cliffs are full of these beautiful yellow flowers. I am once again looking back at Villefranche.  You can just see a green fence.  It is there to separate the people on the path from the billionaires that own the property overlooking the sea.

As you can see the cliffs fall right down to the water.  This picture looks across the rade (harbor) of Villefranche to the Cap de Nice, the cap that divides Villefranche and Nice.

As you can see from the next two pictures, if you have a fear of heights you might want to skip this walk.  In some places there is barrier of some sort between you and falling into the sea but in many as in the pictures below there is nothing so don't lose your balance. The little ledge at the bottom of each picture is the path not some barrier.  

The path itself goes up and down a lot but nothing too steep.  The surface of the path can be very sharp rocks where you need to watch where you are stepping or you may end up with a sprained ankle.

Other parts of the path are quite smooth and easy to walk on.

The lighthouse is about half way as it is on the tip of the cap closest to the rade at Villefranche.  According to the maps, it is a 50 minute walk from the plage de passable to the lighthouse.  It was a little longer than that for me because I stopped to take so many pictures.  My first close up view of the lighthouse was the one below as I rounded a bend.

When I reached the lighthouse, I decided I should stop to eat my sandwich.  There are benches and places to sit along the way but there were several places by the lighthouse.  I looked at this sign while I was eating.

Just past the lighthouse you get the last views of the Cap de Nice and Nice.  This one is the Cap de Nice.

This one is the big bay of Nice.

As the walk continues past the lighthouse, the views are no less impressive and the number of visible mansions increases.  In this photo I am looking back west towards the lighthouse.  It is hard to tell but the house in the foreground is spectacular.

Once past the lighthouse the coast line changes dramatically.  This picture is looking east.  The path also becomes flat and smooth as you walk towards Port Saint Jean.  I should note this part of the path goes in front of the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, a Four Seasons hotel, that is surrounded by huge mansions perched on the cliffs overhead.  That probably accounts for better path.

As I rounded another bend, I saw this traditional boat slowly heading out to sea.  That is Monaco in the background.  Amidst all the conspicuous consumption of Cap Ferrat, it was comforting to see someone enjoying a nice boat ride in a simple but beautiful boat.

As I approached Port Saint Jean, I could not resist yet another picture of Eze Village.

Just before I got to the village of Saint Jean, I came across this rather fun decoration of a rock.  Proof that there are real people here not just the billionaires.

By reaching Saint Jean, I had completed my walk around Cap Ferrat and here is a picture of the sign to prove it.

From there it was easy.  I found the bus stop and took the 81 bus back to Villefranche.  What a great and beautiful walk!!

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal