30 June 2013

Beaulieu-sur-Mer - Agapanthus


A pretty little garden with blue agapanthus near to the Mairie of Beaulieu.

29 June 2013

28 June 2013

Beaulieu-sur-Mer - Painted Ladies


On sale at Saturday's market in Beaulieu-sur-Mer.

And what or who are these ladies?

How about the handle of a nail file!


27 June 2013

26 June 2013

Beaulieu-sur-Mer - the Gran Caffé


The Gran Caffé, opposite the market in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, is a good place for a chat before crossing the road to buy the day's fruit and veggies.


25 June 2013

Beaulieu-sur-Mer - the Fish Man


Beaulieu has a really good Saturday market.  Meet the fish man - serving one of his customers with one half of a large fish.

24 June 2013

Beaulieu-sur-Mer - Perfection


This is one of the many public gardens in Beaulieu-sur-Mer - an area is in front of the port.  Beautiful pots, perfect flowers, automatic watering.  Beaulieu always seems to me to be what the 'perfect' Riviera town would be if we had to imagine it - Belle Epoque villas, yachts in the bay, classy, (don't you hate that word) pristine, a 'dream' of the Côte d'Azur made real. 

Note: the cyclists - not long now and it will be that time of year again - the Tour de France.  You regularly see the Tour de France cyclists practicing on our roads and hills.

23 June 2013

Beaulieu-sur-Mer - the Beach


We're in the beautiful town of Beaulieu-sur-Mer today - it's just along the coast from Monaco towards Nice.  Monaco - Cap d'Ail - Eze - and then Beaulieu.  So let's spend a few days here - and why not start on the beach.  If you look carefully you can see the terrace of the Villa Kerylos, on the left.  Click the link to see photos taken in 2009 when we explored this stunning Grecian villa.

22 June 2013

Blake's Phantom - Wax


Many of you know that from time to time I have the immense pleasure of taking photographs in the Monaco studio of Blake, the well-known Canadian sculptor.

Here he is holding his latest 'Phantom.' She has been painstakingly created out of wax and is kept in a large container of water before she goes to the foundry to be cast in bronze. The wax is kept in water to keep it cool in the heat and so that it doesn't deform. This is a very delicate sculpture and it's held together with small rods, all welded together.


21 June 2013

Over-dressed


This is a scene you often see on Larvotto Beach.  Nearly everyone in beach gear and suddenly you spot a man in a suit or in a shirt a trousers - doubtless an escapee from one of the many conferences held during the year at the nearby Grimaldi Forum.

20 June 2013

Hot Pink


A server at a bar on Larvotto Beach. 

Love the hot pink but it so clashes with the orange parasols ...

19 June 2013

Thos lazy, hazy days of summer ...


'Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer ...
'

18 June 2013

Confusion


If you look at the mirrored pillars inside the Park Palace shopping centre, you can get rather confused - especially when there is  a Rolls Royce and a Triumph sports car on display ...

17 June 2013

The Giant and the Passers-By


Here's another 'Giant' sculpture, this time inside the Metropole Centre. I like the delicate summer fabric of the girls' clothes, as they float by, compared to the solidity and weight of the sculpture - and neither aware of the other ...

16 June 2013

Tattoos in the Casino Gardens


Not a Monte Carlo lady today but a visiting English couple showing off their tattoos.

Tatoos always fascinate me - body art - and I often wonder what I'd have done if I were brave enough to stand the pain.  But I'm not ...


15 June 2013

Monte Carlo Ladies and their Dogs


A Monte Carlo lady walking her dog on the end of that long lead - as you can see in the smaller photo.

14 June 2013

The Cruise Liners



The cruise liners get bigger and bigger and on the days they are in Port Hercule, Monaco gets more crowded!  This one, Carnival Legend, takes 2124 passengers, has 930 crew members and is 963 feet long.

This photo was taken from Larvotto Beach.


13 June 2013

Six Hands, Two People


Here's half of yesterday's photo but blown up larger.  Count the hands ...

(see small photo below if you missed it)

12 June 2013

The Giant and the T-Shirt


There I was photographing this 'Giant' outside the Metropole Centre, when the doors opened and this beautiful couple walked through. Don't you just adore the three hands on the young man's t-shirt?

I assume the sculptor is called Alviati (written in small letters after the title of the piece) but can find no reference to him on the internet.


11 June 2013

Is this finally summer?


Oh... let's have a beach scene. The sun is shining, yachts out at sea, pretty clouds hover over the horizon - perhaps summer is finally here. We've keep thinking this and then the wind comes up, it rains, it's cold. But so far, so good...

This was the far end of Larvotto Beach yesterday - La Rose des Vents, which is a private beach and restaurant.

10 June 2013

Market - the Queue


In Monaco's market, you'll find individual sellers with their fresh veggies and fruit -  and always a queue of customers.

09 June 2013

Monaco Grand Prix - Ferrari reflection


It's a bit of a grey day in Monaco, so here is some Ferrari red to cheer us up.  This guy is one of many Ferrari workers, cleaning-up after the Monaco Grand Prix.

08 June 2013

Stylish


Stylish - walking past the Casino Gardens.

07 June 2013

Vernissage/Opening Photography Exhibition THIS EVENING!


Blatant self promotion today!

This evening! Vernissage of photography in the Tour Lascaris at Gorbio, near Menton. Two photographers. Khaled Youssef will be exhibiting his new series of beautiful bubble photos and Jilly Bennett will be showing new black and white photos of life and love in Menton and Gorbio.

Do come along.  Everyone welcome. 18h. Friday, 7th June in the Chateau at the top of the village. Come an have an aperitif and a enjoy the show. Afterwards? Gil, the pizza chef at the Restaurant les Terrassess/Chez Paulo, makes great pizzas.

And if you've not visited the medieval village of Gorbio before, you are in for a treat.

06 June 2013

Matched


Market, Place d'Armes

In Monaco, even the plastic flower pots match the flowers!

05 June 2013

Monaco's Market


Scene/seen inside Monaco's market.  Note the sign for pizza is written first in Italian, then French, then English. In the past, I've heard people say that Monaco would collapse in a heap if the Italians left.  Nowadays, they'd be more likely to say the Russians.

04 June 2013

Pomodoro


Market, Place d'Armes

Is there anything more evocative of a Mediterranean summer than succulent, thinly sliced, fresh tomatoes, served with buffalo mozzarella,  generously drizzled with the best olive oil and scattered with fresh basil?

Add a baguette, a glass of rosé - heaven!

03 June 2013

'Get Closer and come to the M.Zone'


These signs saying 'Get Closer and come to the M.Zone' are all over the market area at Place d'Armes in Monaco. Included in the sign is a barcode and also the usual warning about smoking.

The M.Zone appears to indicate a WiFi zone but why the warning about cigarettes?

Anyone know? I clicked on the link but don't understand ...

PS. I now understand this is an advert for Marlboro Cigarettes so who knew?  What happened to Marlboro Man!

02 June 2013

Red Bull


One side of the Red Bull hospitality area and heavy cloud on the mountains ... where is summer?

01 June 2013

Monaco Grand Prix reflections


If you going to show up in a reflection, best choose Ferrari red hospitality to frame you.  As you see, it's in the process of being dismantled following the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend.

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