Monaco's harbor, from bus window
Square in Menton, west of Monaco
V.-sur-Mer bus stop where I arrived
V.-sur-Mer gardens downtown
Another view of gardens
Toward the bus stop from up the block
Soccer players gather in the evening in the town's small soccer stadium
Fireworks in the V.-sur-Mer harbor (occasion unknown to me)
View of all fireworks is from my hotel balcony
View from hotel balcony
From balcony
From balcony early in morning
From balcony, early in morning
View of hotel courtyard from my balcony -- ate lovely breakfast down there
From courtyard at my breakfast table -- my room's windows are top 2 on left, next to tower
My breakfast view
From breakfast table
Sculpture and garden outside V.-sur-Mer citadel
Citadel
From middle window in tower in citadel
From same tower, right window
From same tower, left window
From same tower, leaning out window
From tower, harbor
Garden in citadel, below tower
Garden and harbor
View across harbor to Cap Ferrat
From tower
View out to sea from tower
View to right from tower -- note rowers
Side of citadel, from tower
View out of tower thru doorway
Outside of tower from which I took photos
Garden outside tower
I'll have to look the words up to translate the sign
Inside the citadel are city administrative offices and art galleries and museums
Flags, including V.-sur-Mer
View out of citadel to the town
Courtyard inside citadel
View into citadel from entrance
From courtyard, to citadel gardens
In the gardens
In the gardens, view toward Cap Ferrat
Citadel buildings, from gardens
Myy hotel, Provencal, from outside citadel
From street, my hotel's courtyard where I ate breakfast
Near my hotel, overflowing gardens and painted walls
Wider view of the pair of painted houses with garden courtyards
Closer view
Looks like a lovely place to live -- would have great view of the water
View upon entering the old part of the city
Alps are in the background everywhere, just off the coast
I ate dinner on the waterfront outside a restaurant next to the Welcome Hotel -- by the black umbrellas
Dogs are taken everywhere, including to restaurants and on the bus and train
First of what will be countless views of charmingly quaint streets and buildings of the old city
Restaurants with outdoor seating abound and the weather is perfect
The old town tower is striking from many angles
Boulanger = bread maker
Laundry drying on balconies is part of the charm -- real people live here
Cocteau painted V.-sur-Mer's Rue Obscure - reproduction of the painting and plaque are embedded in the cobbletones at the entrance to this covered street
Entrance to Rue Obscura
It's quite a strange and eerie place -- glad I went in daylight!
View up from a spot in Rue Obscura
My own artistic shot in the Rue Obscura, of an obscured figure
Emerging from the shadows at the other (small) end of Rue Obscura
Town center where citizens would gather to make decisions
The less-famous end of Rue Obscura (inside this end is filled with grafitti)
The harbor and mountains are always in sight
Rock cliffsides with flowering plants and houses built upon them
Beachside V.-sur-Mer (begins at right)
Doors . . . they started catching my attention and I was taken with how distinctive so many were
Two of the town's notable artists lived here
Streets are often filled with steps
Can you spot the soccer ball bouncing down the steps? The boy at the top dropped it.
I threw his ball back up to him, so he his returning to play.
Can V.-sur-Mer get any more charming?!
And did I mention the weather was perfect?
Note the woman reading in the sun
She's still there, reading
This is the doorway to the place where the woman was reading
This is now my computer wallpaper -- one of my favorite photos
Butcher shop
Bread and pastry shop
Just to the right of where the woman is standing, I ate lunch in the sunshine at Le Souris Gourmande (the gourmet mouse)
She's no longer reading, but you can see why she chose that spot!
It did not get much busier than this, even after a cruise ship docked in the harbor
From my lunch table
Beach at V.-sur-Mer: it was sunny and in the low-70's
Looking back at the beach and V.-sur-Mer as I walked to Cap Ferrat, across the harbor
