Back to Ferriere-Larcon

When we arrived in Ferrier-Larcon, the home owners had already flown away.  Fortunately, we had a few days before flying home to Tucson, so we stopped by for an introduction, and to make sure they were taking good care of Harvey, Caline, Mossie and Fly!

Pauline and David

It has always been fun to return to a housesit to see if the animals remember us as friends, or run off and hide.  So far, we have an excellent track record of them remembering us fondly.  When we drove up to the house in Ferrier-Larcon, I got out to open the gate so we could drive in.  Once I had finished, I called softly to Harvey, as it was raining, so I didn't know if he would be outside on the porch.  Well, he came around the corner of the house, saw me and started making his happy to see you noises!  As I rubbed on him, Caline arrived, too.  She was wiggling and bouncing! 

Harvey trying to sit still for his photo. 

After Bill parked the car, we were finally able to meet Pauline and David, although Harvey and Caline did not want to leave us alone.  We spent three nights with them; visiting a brochante on Sunday,  eating wonderful meals cooked by Pauline, and, talking, talking, talking!  Finally meeting these two was wonderful.  We had an instant connection, even though we had only communicated via internet and phone.

Ccline was wiggling her tail so fast it made a blur.  If I got down in front of her, she would come climb in my lap which makes taking a picture difficult.

Pauline and David, you always welcome to visit our home any time!  Oh, and did I mention that the dogs were very pleased to see us?  The two cats recognized us, but being cats, they felt no need to demonstrate excitement.

Jardin Botanique a Nice

The gardens are laid out according to where the plants originally grew.

We tried to go to the botanical gardens the last time we were in Nice, but we couldn't find the bus stop.  It wasn't because we didn't try; we must have walked 5 miles that day, with no luck.  So this time, we went to the offices for the bus, found the route map we needed, and set off.  It still took us a bit, but we knew which direction to head and soon were waiting at the stop with the correct bus number.

Sago Palm; we have these in our yard in Tucson.

The gardens are divided into sections, by country or area the plants are from.  Since this is a mediterrean climate, the plants are too.  Some are doing better than others, though.  The cactus look to be getting too much rain.

Agave Americana; a native to the American Southwest.

Nolina Interrata Gentry

 There are several plants we recognised from home and several we took note of to add to our landscape, if we can find them, such as the Nolina Longiforia.

Nolina Longiforia; loved the bark on this plant.  

Agave Attencata

Crassula Pubescens

Cook Island Pine

 The gardens are built on the side of the hill.  There are several great views off towards the sea.  The day we were there, the haze was too bad to take good pictures.

One of the locals, just hanging out in the sun.

No botanical garden would be complete without a water feature.

No water feature would be complete with a gold fish.

 While waiting for the bus to take us to the gardens, we noticed a rubber tree across the street.  Truly a tree.  I know they get snow here on occasion, but I guess it didn't hurt this guy!  We both started singing,"Whoops there goes another rubber tree plant!"

A really, really tall rubber tree across the street from the bus stop.  It would take a big ant to move this one!

Moon Setting Over Nice

 The moon setting viewed from the kitchen window.

This was a very nice place to spend a month.  The apartment is large with views every direction.  Jasper and Zoe are loving, lovely cats.  Jasper is curled up asleep in the chair next to me, softly snoring, as I write this.  The homeowners, Philip and Gloria, are fun to spend time with; warm and sharing.

We left Nice this morning going to Dijon.  We haven't been here before.  When we came to France, while our house in New Orleans was still flooded, our original plans were to visit this part of France.  After we got to Arles, it started raining and flooding in eastern France, so we looked at the weather map in the newspaper and headed towards the sunshine, away from the rain.  We didn't want to deal with anymore water, thank you very much!  Hopefully, this visit will be dry.

We have rented a gite/apartment in downtown Dijon, right in the middle of everything.  The car will stay parked and we will walk, unless we decide to visit a winery or two.  This is the center of Burgandy after all!

Walking Over a Bridge

Looking up river to the larger vehicle bridge.  It also has pedestrian walkways on either side.

 To get from the new town of Ventimiglia to the old town, one has to cross the river.  We took the pedestrian bridge, which is very near to the river's mouth.

Mallards quacking in Italian.

Two cygnets.

Mother swan with her cyngets surrounded by ducks.  A woman was throwing bread from the bridge.

 There is a sea wall that keeps the salt water back.  The river flows rather fast, so the water is probably only a bit brackish.  We talked to an English couple who didn't know what the birds or fish were either; except Italian.  She thought that was a good joke, and it was!

The fish were about 30 inches long; some sort of scavenger.

These little guys were cute.

Don't know what they are, but their white faces really stand out.

Italian Dogs and Two Cats

This lovely lady really wanted to talk, but we couldn't reach her balcony.

A happy setter who was still wet from a swim in the river or maybe the sea.

 Walking through the market and up into the old town of Ventimiglia, we saw several dogs.  All looked well loved and happy, except the boxer, who really wasn't that pleased that we couldn't get close enough to pet her.

An Italian French Bulldog waiting on his owner to get off the phone.

There are lots of Yorkshire Terriers.

 We spotted the calico cat and whistled to make her look at us.  Then the other cat showed up to see what was going on.

"Take my picture, too."

This lovely lady was asked to sit and pose for our photo.  Her owner was very pleased that we wanted her picture.

A Day Trip to Italy

The old town of Ventimiglia.  Italy really is very colorful.

Nice is very close to Italy.  In fact, it used to be a part of Italy, until it was attached to France in the 1860's after some war or other where France came out the victor.  There is still a lot of Italian influence to be seen in the architecture, the colors and even the language.  Ciao! is a common greeting you hear on the street.  The city has more Italian tourists, judging by what we hear walking around, than all others.

Looks like a spectacular staircase with marble rails, but in reality only the very top at the landing is marble, the rest are painted

We decided to take the train to Ventimiglia on a Friday.  The town is famous for it's huge market, old town built on the top of hill, and botanical garden.  We visited two of the three, missing the garden.

Waiting for the train in Nice.  The station is just a short walk from our apartment.

The station in Ventimiglia.  We visited it several times because it had restrooms.

The train takes about 45 minutes to get there, stopping at every station along the way.  One item of interest; the station in Monaco is underground, so the noise and disruption stays underground.  The tunnel that accomplishes this is in the process of being rebuilt starting in October until March, so the train schedules will be disrupted as parts are closed.

One of the carved stones from the church. The church was here before Christianity.

Reminded us of carvings in Ireland, then we found out the area was originally settled by Laugurian Celts.

Ventimiglia is a very colorful town.  Even the parts which are extremely old, are brightly painted.  The town has been here since well before the Romans.  Several of the carvings in the church were pre-Roman with a very Celtic look; knots, circles and intertwined branches.

Even the boats on the beach are colorful.

Leaving the station, we walked down the street towards the river and the market.  The market is big.  Everything is for sale: cashmere sweaters, shoes, handbags, leather goods, food, linens, knock off designer goods.  We walked through it all and only purchased a camera bag for Bill's gift camera from Bruce; a whopping 3 euros!  There were some folks there who obviously came to shop and left with armloads of treasures.

The streets are narrow with supports between buildings.

Up, up, up!  The old town is on top of a hill.

The walk to the old town took us across the bridge, then up, up, up, up the hill.  Old Ventimiglia is a rabbit warren of paths, with an occasional small courtyard or an even larger square.  The houses were stacked one on top of the other, some up to 5 stories high.  There have been concrete "arms" added between buildings to keep them from leaning into one another.  The folks we met while walking around were friendly, with welcoming smiles, even though we were tramping through their neighborhood.  There was an occasional little store tucked into a building, without a sign, but the door was open.  We also found a pizza place, a bar, a real estate office and two pharmacies!

Pasta, get your pasta!

No dull black handbags here!

It was a bit warm for fur coats, and yes, they were real furs.

Decorative expresso makers, an Italian necessity.

We headed down the hill to find lunch.  We picked a pizza place, which doesn't serve pizza at lunch.  How very odd.  We each had the pasta carbonara and shared a tomato salad and pitcher of wine.  On the way back to the station, we bought gelato for dessert.  I do believe it is against the law to visit Italy and not have a gelato!

There were more types of Italian hard cheese then I ever knew existed.

This cheese seller was cutting a full round into fourths.  A customer wished to buy a fourth of the round, about 15 kilos at 16.90 each kilo.

Ciao Italy!  We hope to visit you again some day, and this time for longer!

The biggest jar of Nutella we have ever seen, 5 Kilos for only 33.50!

And In The Basement

The label on the entry to the basement, just so you would know.

The basement of Kyrelos was originally used as a receiving dock for deliveries coming in by boat.  Now, it is La Galerie des Antiques.  The pieces on display are smaller versions of famous statues, as well as maps of Greek cities from centuries past.

Don't know who she is, but she was very lovely.

A door that originally took deliveries.

Lovely lady.

Does this look familiar?  The Parthenon in Athens.

As you have probably figured out by now, we really enjoyed our visit to Kyrelos.  The location is fantastic as well, being right on the sea.  If you find youself in the area, be sure and stop for a look!