Villefranche - walking to the Rue d' obscuer - Basically, there was a housing shortage during the 13th Century so they built housing on top of a street. They covered it, lit it and it runs the length of the "Old City" in Villefranche. Is now lit with electricity and very cool: little doorways, nooks & crannies. The girls loved it.
Villefranche
Rachel and Kendra on the street in Monaco Village.
Cool doorstep in Eze Village - a medieval fortress high up on a hill along the coast.
One of the beautiful statues placed in the gardens of Eze overlooking the Mediterranean (Cap Ferrat in the distance).OK - I'm back. We had a lovely time in the South of France for the girls Spring Break. We stayed in Villefranche which is between Nice and Monaco. Had a little condo there and were able to walk, cab, bus or train to wherever we needed to go. Outside of our arrival day and Easter Sunday, we made a trip each day; Nice, Monaco, Eze Village, Cap Ferrat and Antibes. Such a blend of old and new, rich and poor, big (yachts) and small (little fishing boats) with lots of fish, pasta and ice cream to accompany it.
We were able to spend some time on the beach. We are spoiled as we (Bart & I) are used to nice, sandy beaches and these were a bit rockier than we are used to. The beach in Nice, in fact, is made up entirely of smooth stones - Who knew? Not me. Antibes appeared to have some sandy beaches and we think Cannes does as well. It didn't really matter. Everyone is on the beach regardless and the girls had a great time.
The language turned out to be NO PROBLEM. The South of France had a lot of money pumped into it in the 19th Century by the English and Russians who were escaping their dreary winters. As a result, it is a huge British playground (we are basing this on the accents heard and the number of Union Jacks flying from all the yachts/sailboats in the harbors). So, most of the service industry has a good smattering of English - even found one who spoke Deutsch - Yippee!
Now we are back to school and in overdrive! Besides, Bart and Rachel were becoming regulars at the bakery in the mornings - always a sign the vacation must be coming to an end.
2 comments:
Nice pics, look forward to seeing the rest, I'm ready to go back. I have the same pic of the narrow street in Villefranche later in the year with hanging flowers and laundry. Re: Bakery, did they go to the one in the old village? Only one of two places I had to speak French...or my version of it!
mom e - I'm sure that if they only spoke French; Bart pointed at what he wanted, held up fingers for the amount wanted and then handed them a 20 or 50 Euro. It works in about every country!!
Post a Comment