Strolling around Saint Raphael....

The first thing you notice about Saint Raphael is the wide open skies over the sea, and the grand sense of space afforded by the beautiful promenades for walking along by the shore. A short walk along the promenade soon brings you to Port Sant Lucia with its harbours, marinas, and wonderfully chilled cafes and restaurants overlooking the boats....

Walk further round and you join the rugged coastal path which links St Raphael with Agay 9 km away. The combination of the red rust-coloured rugged rocks and the calm turquoise sea is a real feast for the eyes in terms of colour, light and texture....

The town itself is pretty and low key with lots of places to sit, chill and relax, as well as wine and dine in a welcoming and friendly way..

At the end of the day, there are always gorgeous sunsets to contemplate and the golden hour to photograph....

Saint Raphael is an hour by train south of Nice, and from here you can get the boat over to St Tropez - which is definitely the best way to arrive there. Go to Saint Rapheal if you want a few relaxing days away from the pretentiousness of other parts of the Riviera....Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 151 - Monaco

This week's shadow shot is ghoulish I know, and rather reminds me of my time in Mexico, a country saturated in skulls and skeletons as part of The Day of the Dead imagery. This piece is part of the Marc Quinn exhibition at the Oceanographic Museum, Monaco, reviewed in the previous post, and is ironically entitled "Waiting for Godot"!! It also has more than a few echoes of the work of another well-known contemporary artist Damien Hirst whose skeletal and skull pieces do really well in Mexico....

For more shadow shots this week, check out Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy.....

Marc Quinn in Monaco

"The Littoral Zone" - an exhibition by British artist Marc Quinn has just opened at the Oceanographic Museum here in Monaco...

Consisting of 62 works ranging from sculptures and photographs to paintings and installations, it is a site specific exhibition designed for display in this particular space. Quinn's works interact with and complement the permanent exhibits of the Museum, so that for example in the Whale Hall, his skeletal sculptures are placed beneath the great bones of the sea creatures from times gone by...

The permanent collection of the Museum is a real treat in itself with this beautiful aquarium...

More of Quinn's sculptures are displayed up on the roof terrace - delicate flowers that complement the delicate beauty of the shells and the artwork made from shells already on display in the permanent collection..

Much of the work deals with the theme of evolution, evolving creatures, and the beauty of the natural cycle of life and death, clearly shown by this huge sculpture at the entrance of the museum...

The exhibition is on until October and is very well worth visiting. The Oceanographic Museum is located up on the rock and costs 14 Euros for adult entry. Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 150 - Monaco

Cars are not a typical feature of posts on this blog, but when you are working in Monaco, and they are parked for display right outside your school, it is a little hard to avoid or ignore them.....

....And I have to admit that even I was more than a little charmed by the real vintage cars - the Bugattis, Maseratis, Alfa Romeos from the twenties, thirties, and forties complete with their starting handles!!

The cars were all on display prior to the Historic Grand Prix which took place here in Monaco last weekend, and the cars were from every decade from the twenties to the eighties, and obviously drew a very large crowd of car enthusiasts....

So for all you car enthusiasts out there in the blogosphere, feast your eyes on the following...

.....And for more shadow shots this week check out Shadow Shot Sunday.....Enjoy!!

Cap D'Antibes - Walking the coastal paths...

Beach weather has arrived here on the Riviera, but my favourite thing to do is walk the coastal paths before it gets too hot. I have already walked from Cap D'Ail to Monaco numerous times, and also from Monaco to Menton, but there is also a pretty section round the Cap D'Antibes from Juan les Pins to Antibes itself....

Leaving the jaunty yellow umbrellas of Juan les Pins behind, the coastal path winds by harbours, bays, long stretches of sea, and tiny coves all with neverending vistas of blue....

....Oh and of course you pass by some pretty swanky villas too....

Next week, when my school is closed due to it being right on the Formula One Grand Prix route, I am going down to the Saint Raphael  and  St Tropez area to walk the coastal paths there....Watch this space!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 149 - Monte Carlo, Monaco

Who is this crowd of photographers eagerly awaiting??

None other than Nadal, of course, seen here beating a decidedly dejected Djokovic 6-3, 6-1 at the recent Monte Carlo Open, thus winning the trophy for the eighth time in a row, and perhaps more importantly, breaking a run of seven losses against the Number One - Eighth time lucky all round!!

And where else could you watch the world's top tennis players in such a beautiful setting squeezed between the mountains and the sea....??

.....complete with a cruise ship gliding by behind your head as you serve......!!

This is a tournament I shall definitely be returning to next year...in the meantime check out other shadow shots this week by clicking here....Enjoy!!

Vielle Ventimiglia.....

Most people alight at the station in Ventimiglia simply to change platform and board another train to another destination......but the Italian town which represents the border between France and Italy on the Riviera is well worth exploring....and look at the beautiful setting of the Old Town...

True it is a bit rough and ready round the edges in a workaday sort of way, and true some visitors do take a quick trip to the market to do a bit of rapid cross border shopping before heading back to the station, as the produce is wonderfully fresh - and much cheaper than France....

But few visitors make it up the hill and enter into the heart of the Old Town, and thus miss not only a trip back in time (a cliche I know), but also the architectural treasures of winding cobbled streets, arched alleyways, old palazzo buildings and piazzas....

It is delightful to get totally lost in the maze edged with crumbling stone walls, trompe l'oeil, loggias, and beautiful stone churches....

There is something deliciously quirky about this place off the beaten track - it became impossible to take any photographs which did not include washing lines - and the neatest washing lines at that...symmetrical and colour-coordinated in  otherwise quite haphazard disorderly streets...

And everyone stopped to look down from the bridge at this lone gardener who has reclaimed a bit of disused, barren riverbed and turned it into a little blooming paradise where the river meets the sea...

I found the place a whole lot more enchanting than I was led to believe it would be - but that is the beauty of taking off for the day, crossing the border with just a camera in hand and few expectations - and as soon as you do cross that border from the French to the Italian Riviera it really does feel like a completely different country....

The train from Nice to Ventimiglia takes just 40 minutes - only 20 minutes from Monaco Station. Enjoy!!

Weekend Reflections 12 - Mayday : Place Garibaldi

Where is one of my favourite squares in Nice reflected this week?? On the shiny black bonnet of a car parked in Plaza Garibaldi. If you look closely at the flyer tucked beneath the windscreen wiper, you will notice President Sarkozy's attempts to get re-elected this weekend by promising a France "forte et juste" (strong and fair). The French have much to reflect upon as they go to the polls on Sunday May 6th - will they be brave and strong enough to elect a Socialist President in the form of Francois Hollande??

Whilst we eagerly await the result - feast your eyes upon the beauty of Plaza Garibaldi in Nice - and perhaps reflect upon the fact that this is a country whereby 6 million people (18%) voted in the first round  for Le Front National - the Far Right's Marine Le Pen - worrying times indeed......May Day, Mayday, Mayday, m'aidez.......m'aidez........

For more Weekend Reflections check out the meme by clicking here.....Enjoy!!