Bonjour Everyone!
Today it was fabulous to wake up, look outside and see bright sunlight bouncing off of everything. You could hear chirping birds, as well as that odd sound that is owned by pigeons. The rooster was busy also, letting everyone know it was time to wake up. It's so exciting to know that you are in a lovely home in Provence, and as soon as you get dressed, you'll be walking across a sunlit patio, to be seated and enjoy a Provençal breakfast.
During breakfast, we talked about what we might do for the day. Mireille reminded us there was an antique market in Nice, and as well suggested driving along "the sea" to Sanremo, Italy. It all sounded amazing. We loved the whole idea and in addition, hoped to make it to at least one art gallery in Nice - either Henri Matisse or Marc Chagall, before driving on to Sanremo.
When we arrived in Nice, we parked and started walking through the streets towards the antique market. Can you imagine going to an antique market in Nice, France? I can just hear some voices saying,"We'll, it's all the same stuff, there or here at home. "To which I would reply, "But it's French".
On our way, a bicycle happened to pass by and stop just ahead of us. There was the biggest basket on the front of the bike which read 'Boulangerie-Patisserie' and in the basket were large bags full of breads and baguettes. The boy jumped off the bike, and carried a bag into the awaiting cafe. Almost at the market, we passed by a British couple which loudly stated that "Italians always walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk".
The first thing we did when we reached the market, was to stop at Cafe Flore for our espresso and croissants. Then we walked around the enormous market filled with ornaments, art, old dishes, tools, jewellery - anything you could think of. It was very busy, crowded, and the items were very over-priced. I made a whole circle around and then went back and bought an old bracelet. We made another loop and bought an old picture, and happy with our purchases (well I was), we returned to Le Vieux Bistro for lunch, since we had loved it the day before. I had the same nicoise salad, but Ron tried the linguini with shrimp, squid and calamari and loved that. The wait staff were so friendly, helpful, and prompt. We noticed they don't seem to yell across the restaurant to each other, or shout to a friend out on the street who happens to be passing by. The only thing that we didn't care for? The Côte d'Azur garbage truck squeezed through the narrow street right past our table once again.
Another thing we'ved noticed? There are none of the brown people constantly throwing squishy toys in the air and letting them splat on the ground in front of you...hoping that any moment, you'll come to your senses and see just how fantastic this toy really is. We haven't seen one tacky trinket booth anywhere either. Nice is a very beautiful, exotic city. When lunch was over, we decided we would start on our way, rather than take more time to visit a gallery.
So we left Nice, and drove to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. The Cap overlooks Villefranche Sur Mer, and as you look out to the blue, sparkling Mediterranean, you see Le Cap Ferrat which is a peninsula with a large hill in the middle of it. On the hill is the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, which is a seaside villa and palace.
Because we were mesmerized by the beauty of the water and the sky, we kept stopping at different vantage points to admire the stunning scenery. There was the occasional cruise ship out in the distance, and dozens of white sail boats.
Continuing on, we could see the ancient ruins of the village of Eze way up high...
Driving down Prince Rainier II Avenue, is how you come into the Principality of Monaco on the French Riviera. Driving through, you can't help but admire all the beautiful homes, and the beautiful people wearing the beautiful clothes. Monaco has the highest number of millionaires and billionaires in the world.
If you do happen to pass through Monaco, you can't help but think of Grace Kelly who married Prince Ranier of Monaco. Imagine being a movie star AND a princess in your lifetime, but in the end, meeting with such tragedy.
As our car, (a small Renault Clio with a large, green Europcar sticker on the back window) didn't really fit in Monaco, we drove on to another fascinating town called Menton. It reminded us of Antibes - very busy and crowded. There was a beautiful Promenade there called Promenade Soleil, which we strolled down. We both commented on how great it felt not to not have a schedule. At home you always have to hurry somewhere for something. Thinking along these lines caused us to stop at a Cafe called Cafe Du Musee, where we drank sparkling water and shared a Brownie Gourmand topped with pistachio ice cream.
Re-energized, we left Menton and after about seven minutes, found ourselves crossing the border into Italy. No border stop was necessary. Soon we were in the town of Ventimiglia, Italy. On the way in, I saw lots of fixer-upper homes facing onto the Mediterranean, that is if you have about a few million dollars sitting around to purchase a 'fixer-upper!'
The next place, called Bordighera was really the most meaningful for me, because we were able see Casa Coraggio, (Bravery House) the former home of George MacDonald who lived there from 1879 - 1902. George was a famous Christian minister, novelist, and poet who was born in 1824 in Scotland. He and his wife had 12 children and the family relocated to the Italian Riviera in 1877. It's fascinating to think that George became friends with Lewis Carroll, the writer of Alice In Wonderland - and it was George's daughter Mary, who posed as 'Alice' in the illustrations in all the earlier editions of the book.
I started reading a lot of George's books when I was in my twenties and loved his books and the way he could teach lessons about life through his stories.
The funny thing is - last summer when in a bookstore in Penticton, B.C., I bought a print called 'Night And Her Train of Stars' by Edward Hughes. I had always loved Edward Hughes art, and in reading about him, I found out that Edward had been engaged to one of the daughters of George MacDonald. However, she died before they could be married. This is how I discovered that the MacDonald family had moved to Bordighera.
It was wonderful to see this place where George had written over half of his massive collection. They say he was enamoured with the soft air of the Riviera. Who wouldn't be?
So we travelled on to the beautiful and wealthy area of Sanremo. It is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. Very classy and elegant with loads of palm trees and beautiful views of the Mediterranean. We walked along the water, but it had turned quite chilly and windy, so - after a perfect day, we hopped in our car and started our journey back to our B&B in France...
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