VilleFranche-sur-Mer, Combat Naval Fleuri, and The Lemon Festival in Menton, France

February and March is a wonderful time of year to visit the South of France.  There are festivities galore among the towns worth visiting.

A little floral street decoration in Villefranche-sur-Mer advertising the Combat Naval Fleuri.

Meeting people can be the most memorable part of our travels.  I definitely love talking to strangers that I accidental come across.  I hit the jackpot last week.  Hearing some "American" English being spoken I started a conversation with a lovely gentleman by the name of Dan.  He and his wife were staying in Villefranche-sur-Mer.   I gave him my card and mentioned it might be nice to get together for lunch one day.  A few days later I received an email inviting us to a party of Americans, Canadians, and French at their friends Mike and Diane's apartment overlooking the bay.  The party was to watch the Combat Naval Fleuri which was to take place that day.  It was also an excuse for a get together.  Frankly I'd never heard of this battle until then.  Here is some history for you.

The Combat Naval Fleuri or Naval Battle of the Flowers is an annual event that has taken place for 110 years.  A fleet of traditional fishing boats called Pointus are decorated with locally grown flowers of carnations and mimosas in the Porte de la Sante in Villefranche-sur-Mer.  The festivities start with a mini parade on the promenade which is only 200 yards long.  The bands, baton twirlers, drummers, and mini floats march down the short quai turn around and march back.  There are only five or six groups in all.  (For some reason Facebook doesn't allow me to post any snippets of the bands marching and playing their music.)  The quai was crowded. Security was high, and the parade didn't last long as the route was so short, but everyone has a great time.

Many people turned out for the Combat Naval Fleuri.  Porte de la Sante is in the upper right.

The band costumes were anywhere from clown like to sexy.

There were a variety of marching bands for our entertainment

View from the apartment we were visiting.

This boat led the parade along the quay

Boats paraded along the quay with floral decorations

Not wanting to arrive at the party empty handed I had a bottle of wine in a bag.  Security was tight on the quay, and all packages were inspected.  We were informed that no alcohol was allowed along the promenade.  We carefully explained that the wine was for a party in an apartment overlooking the parade.  A policewoman actually escorted us along the quay to our street and made sure we were leaving the area with our unopened bottle of wine.

You may wonder why the event is called a combat or battle.  After the boats have paraded around showing off their decorations they return, and the battle begins.  People on the boats throw their flowers to the spectators.  Some of the crowd are happy to catch the flowers to take home or decorate their cars, baby strollers, or place in their hair.  Others start grabbing the flowers and pelting the boats with them.  When the battle is done there is a carpet of flowers along the shore.

The battle of the flowers.

There was no shortage of delicious food at the party.

We met a lovely and interesting group of people whom we hope to spend more time with and see on future trips.

Our next stop was Menton to see the Fete du Citron or Lemon Festival.  Menton was an easy train ride which meant no dealing with narrow roads and lack of parking.  The Lemon Festival started in 1933 as a fruit show and has grown to be an internationally renowned event drawing as many as 200,000 visitors.  Every year has a theme complete with floats, exhibitions and parades.

Entrance to the Lemon Festival in Menton.  The theme this year was Des Mondes Fantastiques or Fantastic Worlds.

The displays were creative.

The displays were large.

They showed a creative use of oranges and lemons.

The backdrop of the mountains was dramatic.

Alongside the Lemon festival is the Festival of Orchids and Crafts.  There we saw displays of beautiful orchids as well as vendors selling everything from orchids to lemon products.

It was a creative display of orchids.

Orchids

Provence and the French Riviera: Villefranche sur Mer and Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Provence and the French Riviera are an amazing collection of charming cities and villages with breathtaking coastlines, and sunshine that nourishes and restores the soul.  It is our home for two months.  We're here to explore the area, but some days we feel like just taking a nice walk and enjoy the spectacular views from the Villa we were fortunate enough to rent.

Our first sunset the day we arrived. 

We have a nice hike we do regularly which takes us up to Fort Alban. 

View of Nice and the snow covered Alps in the background.

Stones for those who care to practice their climbing.  I'll use it to hold me up.

 Fort du mont Alban is a military fortification built from 1557 to 1560.  The exterior walls are almost perfectly preserved.  It looks out over the coastline of the French Riviera.  While we can't go inside the fort it's worth the walk, so as to admire the views.

Fort Alban

Colorful tile roof

The front wall of the fort which unfortunately is not open to the public.

View from Fort Alban

View of the fort from our Villa

The sprawling city of Nice

The bay of Nice

Sunrise from our Villa

The weather has been gorgeous.  It's been nice enough that we've been eating lunch at various restaurants by the water.  

Mussels, french fries and a bottle of wine.  Lunch in Villefranche-sur-Mer.  Delicious!

Note the cobble stones used in the construction and repair of the streets.  They are all placed by hand.

The water is crystal clear

It's in the high 50's F but warm enough in the sun to lay out on the beach.

Tom is starting the climb up the stairs.

View up the walkway

 Rue Obscure in Villefranche-sur-Mer is a covered and arcaded street from the 13th Century.  It is the oldest street in Villefranche.  This street was originally open to the sky.  A person figured out that he could enlarge his house by extending the upper levels over the street.  Others copied his idea and covered most of a 400 foot long section of the street. 

Rue Obscure which means dark street.

Some people are brave enough to swim in the Mediterranean even in the winter.  As one woman entered the water I heard a great deal of "oh la la, oh la la."  The temperature is approximately 55 F.

View of Villefranche-sur-Mer from across the bay.

While it's lovely to sit around enjoying the views, or hiking up to Fort Alban, I'm insisting that we need to expand our sights and be tourists.  We walked to Villa Kerylos one day in Beaulieu-sur-Mer.  The round trip was 6.5 miles.  The Villa Kerylos was built between 1902 and 1908 for Theodore Reinach.  It is based on the nobel houses found on the island of Delos (Greece) from the 2nd century BC. Not only was a Greek house created but they also reproduced furniture, tableware, fabrics and decoration.  This was the Reinach family's holiday house. 

This is the bathing room and confirms the ritual and social importance of baths in ancient times.

The dining room has woven leather beds the same height as the tables so people could eat from a reclining position.  Somehow that doesn't appeal to me.

It's important to look up at the ceilings as well as see the floors you walk on.

How's this for a shower after spending the day swimming in the ocean or playing on the beach.

There was a recurring pattern found in the furniture, ceilings, doors and floors.

All the custom cabinets had beautiful inlays.

Lovely cabinet, mosaic floor, and marble walls.

The men's lounge with mosaic floors, custom made furniture and Italian marble walls.

A sample of one of the tile floors whose pattern is found repeated on the furniture.

In the entrance hall on the floor is this mosaic depicting family symbols - a cockerel, a hen and chicks.

We had lunch in Beaulieu-sur-Mer outside on the terrace of a hotel/restaurant.

Paris in January

January found us back in Paris.  This is a new experience for us as we're more of the fair weather and sunshine types.  I wanted to experience France in the winter, thus finding snow on the ground didn't phase me one bit.  We arrived jet lagged and in need a simple dinner walking distance from our hotel.  We wound up at Le Petit Josselin for crepes.  As you can see from the picture, everyone is crammed in and we are all shoulder to shoulder.  The crepes are made to order and delicious.  Not only that, service is fast and efficient.  We did stand in line outside in the cold for a while before a table opened up for us.  It was worth the wait as I found someone who spoke English that I could chat with.

Dinner at Petit Josselin

My crepe topped with bacon was delicious.

Creperie le Petit Josselin where we had dinner our first evening.

The Palais Ganier

 We had never been to the Palais Garnier which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera.  The Paris Opera is now mainly used for ballet as there is a new Paris opera house.  Many will be familiar with the Palais Garnier because of its setting for Gaton Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera and the 1986 musical.  We did an audio tour because we hadn't planned in advance so the tours in English were full.  Next time we will take a guided tour, and see the lake under the building. Yes, there is a lake under the Paris Opera. When they built Palais Garnier the area was a swamp. The only way to erect this magnificent structure at the time was to leave the lake under it.  Next time you go to Paris, if you haven't been to Palais Garnier it is a tour not to be missed.

View to the side of the grand staircase to the next level.

Ceiling painted by Chagall depicting scenes from 14 operas, and the chandelier made famous by the book and musical Phantom of the Opera.

Extravagant gilded interior with red velvet seats (which are getting a little tired) in a horseshoe shaped auditorium.  This stage is the largest in Europe and can hold up to 450 artists.

Intricate inlaid tile floors

The Grand Foyer which was designed as a drawing room for Paris society

Chandler reflection in a mirror.

 Tom was in the mood for crepes again so we followed our hotel's recommendation and walked to La Creperie Bretonn.  The crepes were amazing and definitely worth a return visit.

Our second dinner of crepes.

 Cooking is one of my many passions.  Eating is one of Tom's passions. This means he humors me when I feel the need for a new gadget for my kitchen.  Off we went in search of a cast iron pizza pan.  I wasn't successful but we did enjoy browsing through E. Dehillerin.

A great kitchen store, especially if you like copper pans.

 Everywhere you walk in Paris you see reminders of the country's rich history.

Statue of Joan of Arc

 The visit to Paris was short with only three nights and two days.  Food is an integral part of what makes this city wonderful.  We love trying new restaurants, but also can't resist revisiting old haunts.  KGB or Kitchen Galerie Bis was a place that warranted a re-visit.  This trip we tried the 10 course dinner.  While it was delicious, next time I'll go back to 8 courses.  The plates aren't huge, but the meal is definitely filling.  I recommend a bottle of wine with your meal.

Four courses served together.

Seafood of the day

Squid with beans

Duck

Desserts

We took the TGV from Paris to Dijon.  It's an easy and comfortable way to travel. (The difficulty for us was all the luggage we had for eleven months of travel plus the usual extra items I bring for the boat).

It's definitely winter.

 Philippe was at the train station to meet us and help with all our luggage.  That was a relief!  He had de-winterized the boat and had a beautiful bouquet of flowers for us.

We had time to hang out on Rabelo, unpack and decompress from our whirlwind 3+ month visit in the U.S.  Being back in Burgundy meant lovely walks together in the crisp winter air.

Dramatic winter skies as a backdrop for the stark scenery.

The cows are brought in for the winter.  What's left are pieces of their fur caught on the barbed wire of their enclosure.

 Every town and village has a war memorial as a tragic reminder of their losses from WWI and WWII.

War memorial in Saint Jean de Losne.

Our old stairs.

 Philippe put in new and much safer stairs to our boat from the road.

New stairs

Ice forms on the deck which makes it as slippery as an ice rink.  Carpeting helps to keep us safe.

It's time to drive to Villefranche-sur-Mer and enjoy warmer weather while we explore the South of France.