WINTER - NICE & E.1027

 We're lucky it has been raining and gusting gale-force winds for the past week, but as the plane taxies to a halt on the runway of Nice's airport, the sun is shining & the sky is Mary's mantle blue. 

The no.99 bus brings us the 7-odd Kilometres from airport to town, along the Promenade Anglaise  - the same promenade where the famous dancer, Isadora Duncan's  trailing chiffon scarf caught in the mechanics of her roadster and she was choked to death.

Our hotel, the Hotel Suisse is at the end of the Promenade, with our room 

over-looking the morning swimmers, sunbathers & joggers. Yes, in December.

 As always, Nice is beautiful - the morning flower market stunning;

 the ice skaters out in force and the Christmas markets full of elegant

 trinkets and sophisticated street food.

Our primary mission is to visit Eileen Gray's iconic E.1027 villa at Roquebrune-sur-Mer, to see how its much vaunted completion is progressing. First blow - the train no longer stops at Roquebrune station.  It's has to be the bus, number 100, costing €1.50 each way. Gloriously it rambles up & around villages such as Eze where Bono has a place, and Monaco where the royal Raniers reside.

The bus driver is helpful but can only offer a series of grimaces, 'alors', and gesticulating arms when we ask for directions to E.1024. An elderly man hidden behind dark glasses comes to the rescue. The villa can only be reached by walking - a long walk. Daunted but

determined we set out. Our rescuer wasn't exaggerating. Going is mostly downhill, returning will be mostly uphill!
We pass a sign announcing that Jacques Brel lived here. Remember Jacques Brel? He who was alive and well, and almost resident in Dublin's  Shelbourne Hotel during the 1970s.

 Next there's a sign for Promenade Le Corbusier. We promenade  along its deserted way, the surface has been improved since my last visit, likely to facilitate equipment & machinery for the re-building & re-furbishment of the villa. The whole area is a sad, lonely place, devoid of life, and the deserted, vandalised railway station is the proverbial last straw.

At the villa there's nothing but a strong smell of urine and desolation - graffiti, padlocked gates, and the roof of Le Corbusier's famous cabana sheathed in green plastic sheeting. Even if the house opens to the public - and the French authorities are insistent it will -  there is virtually no access.

It's time to go, to face the climb back up to the main road - and it's some climb -  but it's been worth it.

The Exhibition. Eileen Gray at the Pompidou Centre, Paris. Spring 2013

I'll have a more specific piece on - I suppose you;'d call it purist travel later, but I can't pass on the opportunity to slip in my coverage of this exhibition and of course the exhibition is relevant to my latest novel on Eileen Gray w/t The Interview to be published in 2014 t

  

During the spring of 2013 Paris’s Pompidou Centre hosted 

an exhibition of unique pieces, incomplete archives, models 
and the air of mystery that still surrounds Irish designer and
 architect Eileen Gray (1878-1976). On display in six rooms are 
70 pieces. The immaculately curated retrospective looks at the
 way Gray’s creativity developed during her long working life, though many consider it puts undue emphasis on Jean Badovici’s collaboration with her. He was the penniless Romanian architect who was her on-off lover for 10 years and to whom she gifted E.1027.

Eileen Gray is generally considered either an iconic interior designer of the Art Deco era or an emblematic architect of Modernism, and sometimes a little of both. Today she is best remembered for E.1027 on the Cote d’Azur, and her internationally renowned lacquer work.  She believed, The future projects light, the past only clouds.

Lacquer work, interior design, architecture, paintings, photography and to a lesser extent sculpture were the ways in which Gray expressed her creativity. In the true spirit of Gesamtkunstwerk she is seen as a total creator.  She said, The role of the artist is to anticipate the external movement of emotions, to express the secret relations between man and the universe

Lotus Lacquer

Table 1920

During the 1920s her works were lauded by the avant guard; from the 1930s 
she fell into oblivion and with deteriorating eyesight, she became reclusive. She was the focus of interest again when ‘discovered’ by historian Joseph Rykwert in the late 1960s, although it was the sale of the collection of internationally revered couturier, Jacques Doucet in 1972, specifically the Destiny screen, that restored her
and her works to their rightful place in the decorative arts.

The Exhibition divides chronologically into: (i) The Art of Lacquer Work; (ii) Jean Désert; (iii) Villa E.1027; (iv) Tempe A Pailla; (v) Lou Perou; (vi) The Portfolio of Eileen Gray; (vii) Personal Creation.

At the entrance to the Exhibition stands the Siren Armchair (1919) – This sumptuous piece in lacquered wood and velvet, sculpted with mythological creatures, was originally owned by Gray's lover, the French singer Marie-Louise Damien, known as Damia. Another original is the glossy black lacquered Brick Screen (1919-1922) which Gray developed using lacquered wood bricks as pivoting rectangular panels—her screens which revolutionised interior space are one of her most striking inventions—as part of her redesign of the Paris apartment of Madame Mathieu Lévy, a wealthy milliner.   And then there’s the lacquered wood, ebony and ivory table, with its Roman chariot motif which was part of the famed collection of French couturier and patron of the arts Jacques Doucet, who commissioned Gray to design furniture for his Parisian apartments.

The Art of Lacquer Work

Eileen Gray became fascinated by lacquer while studying at the Slade in London. She took lessons with D Charles an artisan restorer in Soho, and when she moved to Paris continued with Seizo Sugawara. Her best known pieces include The Destiny screen, The Magician of the Night and furniture such as the Lotus table, Siren armchair and Pirogue sofa. She created commissioned pieces for Jacques Doucet and Mme Lévy.  Their expertise and her sensibility, daring and talent were the source of some of the greatest lacquer work masterpieces of early 20^th century

Jean Désert

In 1922 Eileen Gray opened Galerie Jean Désert on the luxurious rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honore. The first floor showcased her furniture, designs and rugs while the basement accommodated a weaving workshop, specialising in the rugs that were her best-selling items. Her clients were the aristocrats, financiers and successful artists of the time, and included Phillipe de Rothschild, Elsa Schiparelli, Damia, Romaine Brooks. The decade of Jean Desert was Gray’s most prolific period.

Villa E.1027

By 1926 Eileen Gray was ready to put into architectural practice the studying and on-site experience she had accumulated. She spent months looking for the perfect site for the perfect house. The result was E.1027, today recognised as the first truly ‘modern’ house. The villa is organised around a central room and the path of the sun, with interior and exterior spaces communicating. It is a model of sensitive modernity - an organic entity with a soul. Her reason for leaving E.1027 which she had gifted to Badovici, is well documented:  Le Corbusier, the best known architect of his generation and a house guest at the time, painted sexually explicit murals on her walls. When she asked that they be removed - in connivance with Badovici, he refused.

Tempe à Pailla

In 1931, she started work on Tempe à Pailla (a Mentonasc proverb meaning ‘time for yawning’).  The site is tucked between vineyards and citrus trees, and her architectural design lies at the crossroads of modernism and the vernacular. An object must be given the form best suited to the spontaneous gesture.  The architecture/furniture relationship is particularly strong: mobile furniture, a pants rack; stepladder-towel rack, retractable bench, extendable wardrobe. At the end of WWII, she restored the damaged house and sold it to painter Graham Sutherland.

Lou Perou

Her last architectural project at the age of 76 was in corroboration with local architect, Lou Perou.  Situated in the heart of a vineyard near Saint-Tropez, it was the restoration and extension of a country house she owned since 1939. The sobriety of the site, simplicity and rustic nature all appealed to her. As in E.1027, interior and exterior spaces intermingle.

Portfolio

From childhood Eileen Gray was intensely private and reluctant to disclose anything about her personal life. But between 1956 and 1975 she assembled a selection of her projects in a portfolio and the information from this forms much of the Exhibition. She omitted her paintings and photographs –this separation of her private world of creation from her career is in character.  We must ask nothing of artists but to be in their own time.

Personal

Despite abandoning painting for various periods of time, she never completely stopped painting and drawing. They were the subjects she had studied at the Slade in London and the Académies Colarossi and Julian in Paris, and her paintings were exhibited in 1905 at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Franҫais. It’s unnecessary that painting should express anything at all, but just be.’

One of the few personal episodes of the exhibition is her interview with French journalist, Bernard Dunard when she talks of her on-going need to create and dismisses age as irrelevant.

LONDON IN NOVEMBER

For the past years we’ve been visiting London in November. There’s something comforting about the chill of its dampness mixed with its anticipation of festivity that appeals. The windows of Harrods http://www.harrods.com/ epitomise the season and are always dressed thematically.  In the present miserable economic climate, there’s something joyous about walking around the dozen or so of them admiring the blatant consumerism they portray. This year they’re even more lavish than usual, bursting with Swarovski laden images.

As always we stay in the Rembrandt Hotel www.sarova.com/rembrandt. I recommend to upgrade to an executive room; otherwise the bedroom accommodation can be very spare. Nice lounge area with loads of newspapers, fresh fruit on tap and great snacks. The hotel is handily sited about 7 minutes walk from the tube from Heathrow Airport to Kensington, and is opposite the Victoria & Albert Museum http://www.vam.ac.uk/ . The nice girl on the help desk helps me track down one of Irish designer Eileen Gray’s www.patriciaoreilly.net/eileengray lacquer screens in Room 74 on the Third Floor.

On our first evening we eat in The Good Earth on Brompton Road - superb traditional Chinese food. Set menu around £40. As the weather is gloriously and unseasonably warm, next morning we take an open top bus tour of London – The Original Tour http://www.theoriginaltour.com/, operating for more than 60 years, with language commentaries and live guides – very helpful too, they are. The buses stop at various points throughout the city and it’s a hop on hop off service, the price of £22 covering two days plus a cruise along the Thames as far as Greenwich. Landmarks from the river include the OXO building, famous because of the way it got around the ban on advertising; Shakespeare’s reconstructed theatre; the squat shape of the Gerkin. London Eye (huge and scary), and the Shard, most impressive of all in its gleaming facade, though still under construction.

The Classic Spectacular playing at the Albert Hall http://www.royalalberthall.com/  is our event of the trip, and it doesn’t disappoint. The mainly British audience who appear ultra-conservative give a new meaning to rampant patriotism as they sing and wave the Union Jacks flags that come with the programmes. I particularly enjoyed Grieg’s Morning from Peer Gynt, and the fun of the Can Can performed by the dancers with gusto along the aisles.

Saturday afternoon the streets are packed with shoppers. That evening we eat in the calm peace of Brown’s Hotel www.brownshotel.com. Opened in 1937, it is London’s first hotel, where Kipling wrote ‘The Jungle Book’, where author Agatha Christie hid out and from where Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call. The award winning HIX restaurant’s a la carte menu specialises in game, great wines and an English cheese board – understated English luxury all the way, though a far from understated bill!

All in all a good few days - forgetting the three-hour delay in Heathrow on the way back due to fog, but full marks to Aer Lingus for constantl updates as we queued, food vouchers and delightful stewardesses on the return journey.

WEXFORD OPERA

WEXFORD OPERA

This year is the 60^th anniversary of Wexford’ Festival Opera http://www.wexfordopera.com/. We’ve been going for several years. It’s nice to support our own. We’re quick to do operas in foreign cities – saw The Bartered Bride in Berlin recently and it was a battered production!

Hand on heart I have to say this year Wexford surpassed itself with superb productions. We saw two of the three main offerings. One of the delights of the operas performed in Wexford is that they have been rescued from obscurity. Maria by Roman Statkowski, set in Poland is a political love story done in modern costume and using multi media. It’s passionate, dour and it works magically. La Coeur de Célimène by Ambroise Thomas, first performed in 1855, is French and frothily delicious with glorious costumes. Surprisingly given its brilliant writing, witty dialogues and well-crafted ensembles, it faded into obscurity – some say because of the way it portrays women’s attitudes to men.

As always we stayed and dined in the excellent White’s Hotel http://www.whitesofwexford.ie/: it’s comfortable, with a great spa and swimming pool, central to shops, the opera house and within an easy walk of the harbour. As well as which Whites is host to several of the many other recitals and performances that take place throughout the festival, and has comprehensive art works in the lobby and first floor.

I enjoy shopping when I’m on holiday. Of old and suffering from problem feet, I know of Shoe Style International (http://www.shoestyleinternational.com/) and am a fan of their Hispanitas brand, as much as the staff who bend over backwards to help and ensure comfort. I discovered The Silk Connection, brainchild of Betty Maher-Caulfield (http://www.thesilkconnection,net/) who has turned her passion for travel into a business. From the Far East she’s handpicked pure silk blouses, jackets, underwear and bedding.

On offer in 2012 Le Roi Malgre Lui by Emanuel Chabrier; A Village Romeo and Juliet by Frederick Delius and Francesca de Rimini by Saverio Mercadante.

KILLARNEY WEEKEND

Train from Dublin (Heuston) to Killarney, change at Mallow. Grateful don‘t have to cross over tracks – a nightmare operation going up those steps with heavy bags, and a moody lift that's reluctant to rise.

The Malton Hotel (previously the Great Southern) (http://www.themalton.com/) is as fabulously old worldly as ever – richly corniched ceilings, luxurious carpets, lavish brocade curtains, antiques and sink-into chairs and sofas, not forgetting delightful staff. We’ve room 301 again – more than a room it’s a suite complete with lobby and dressing room – all rich fabrics and comfortable sofas. And the flower arrangements we’ve always admired are the work of Mary O’Shea. We come on her dropping cubes of ice onto the compost of a large exotic leaved plant in the lobby. ‘Why the ice?’ we ask. She explains that unlike water it will not drain through but melt slowly, moisturising the plant. A handy tip for our 30+ houseplants.

In Dublin we were enthusiastic about “swimming at least twice a day,” but end up not even visiting the leisure centre, despite great offers of various beauty treatments. Breakfast being one of my favourite meals, I’m in my element with all the fresh fruit, homemade breads and as well as the usual Irish fry-up which I ignore, going for The Malton Poached Eggs – on toasted baps, smeared with tomato relish and topped with hollandaise sauce. Fish chowder is a must for lunch – creamy beyond belief with chunks of fish. We usually settle for dinner in the hotel – table d’hote c. €28, with great fresh local seasonal fish and visually sculpted desserts, and, I hear, a mean Merlot.

SIGHTS

There is so much going on in Killarney but on this occasion we settled for:

St. Mary’s Cathedral, designed by Pugin, opened in 1855, served as a famine hospital and shelter during the 1840s. The best of Gothic, with reverential soaring sandstone peaks. A redwood tree near the western doorway marks a mass children’s grave from the Famine.

Franciscan Friary, also designed by Pugin, 3 altars in ornate Flemish style.

Town, A church foundation from the 6^th century, house settlement dating from 1500s. Warrens of Lanes – many cobbled, looking as through they’re centuries old - are one of the town’s best features: Bridewell/Green/Pond/Back Lanes.

Mrs Courtney’s Tea Rooms (http://www.misscourtneys.com/) dates back to 1909. It’s a must to visit for lovers of nostalgia – homemade treats include lemon drizzle cake, apple tart, scones, chocolate cakes, as well as a variety of savoury foods. Food is served on gloriously mis-matched chine on embroidered cloths; tea is of the leaved variety, comes complete with strainer and sugar is in lumps in bowls, complete with tongs.

Quills Shop with branches throughout Kerry, for cashmere sweaters less than half original price.

Mr McGuire’s Olde Sweetshop in

College Street

for old fashioned sweets in old fashioned jars. Great selection of Peggy’s Leg, Bull’s Eyes, Satin Cushions et al.

Killarney National Park – ‘what better way to explore the Park than on a bike,’ we were full of enthusiasm. Rent-a-Bike, the O’Sullivan family owned chain of shops have been going since the 1970s. ‘How much for 2 bikes for an hour?’ I ask, thinking of a body unfamiliar with a cycle for some 17 years. ‘€10 and I’m open until six.’ I decline to test cycle and take the helmet insisted on, duly adjusted to my size and strapped under my chin. Husband sets off like Roche; bike and I will walk until we reach the Park. Inside one of the main entrance gates I try and try, but no matter how hard I can’t get my balance. ‘Cycling is not something you forget,’ mutters husband holding onto the seat while I try again. Two women approach, stop and ask how are we? and what’s up? I explain. ‘Give it back,’ says the smallest, ‘you’ll end up breaking a bone.’ I persevere for a little longer but without success and finally take her advice. Nice Mr O’Sullivan is not surprised to see me return.

And I return to walk the Park, peacefully, on my own, meeting and chatting to all sorts of other walkers, while husband cycles to his heart’s content.

Congrats to Killarney Bookshop  (http://www.killarneybookshop.ie/) – shortlisted for Bord Gais Energy Bookshop of the Year.

All in all, a great few days that feel like much longer…

BERLIN INTERLUDE

BERLIN  INTERLUDE

A bird’s eye view captured over a weekend cannot do justice to any place and this of necessity is a snapshot judgement. What’s to like or dislike in Berlin? Well… there’s the sensation that the true heart of Berlin has been torn out to be replaced with huge – huge being operative word in Berlin – everything is huge: buildings, streets, plates of food, huge skyscrapers surrounding vast plazas: detailed granite paving and the 1000s of trees lining the streets in some way combat the city’s sterility.

The city is crammed with spectacular historical landmarks.

The main sights are:

• Berliner Dom, main cathedral;
• Reichstag (parliament building), built late 18^th century to house German parliament, set on fire 1933 by Nazi supporters, bombed by Allies;
• Victory Column, standing at 69 metres, built 1873 to commemorate military achievements;
• Kaiser Wilhelm Church built 1880s;
• Olympic Stadium, built specifically for 1936 Olympics;
• Charlottenburg Palace, a Prussian monument and reminder of the imperial days of Berlin. It was build by Sophie Charlotte and King Friedrich 1 in late 1600s. She gives a new meanting to party girl as the plaace became famous for her parties which could go on for weeks, and it was where the phrase ‘stinking rich’ was coined, as at that time water touching the body was considered dangerous, so the partygoers used perfumes and powder liberally; also around the same time women aimed for waists no larger than the circumference of a grapefruit, achieved by tightly corseting little girls as young as 5 years!   
• Topography of Terror – location of Gestapo and SS headquarters during Nazi rein
• Jewish Museum.

Brandenburg Gate, one of Berlin’s iconic monuments with over two hundred years of history. A former symbol of the divided city, it drew visitors who used to climb an observation platform in order to get a glimpse of the world behind the Iron Curtain, on the other side of the barren “death-strip” which separated east from west Berlin.

While we’re in Pariser Plats (Paris Square, names after the city)  a cream Cadillac pulls up and a bridal party dismounts, plus photographer who lies on the cobblestones to get those memorable shots.

Checkpoint Charlie: Interestingly the name is based on the phonetic alphabet the Helmstedt checkpoint was called Alpha, Dreilinden Checkpoint Bravo and the checkpoint at Friedrichstrasse got the name Charlie. The main function of the checkpoint was to register and inform members of the Western Military Forces before entering East Berlin.

            Today it’s crowded with tourists – bus loads pulling up every few minutes. The story of Berlin’s division is commemorated with powerful black and white posters around the walls, and a series of stalls sell the usual tat. While we’re there a kilted man plays ‘Amazing Grace’ on his bagpipes; giggling girls, wearing the soldiers’ caps, are being photographed with the ‘military’. ‘Not one of those served in the American army,’ sniffs Gabriella.

            After the War East Berliners were paid one voucher for each three hours they put into clearing the rubble of bombed out buildings; 100 vouchers entitled them to be entered into a draw for ownership of an apartment.

           

Tiergarten: At 1 sq mile it’s the largest park in Berlin; home of Berlin Zoo from 1844; decimated during WW2 when Berliners cut down trees for firewood and grew potatoes and tobacco.

We’re on an Opera Break with The Travel Department, staying in the Ramada Hotel in Prager Platz, 10779. Good facilities, spacious bedrooms with great featherweight duvets and pillows and complimentary water and two small packets of peanuts. How nice, we think. Wrong about the peanuts! At checkout we’re asked to either return or pay. We return them, only – surprise, surprise to find them included in our luggage on reaching home!

Our rep Daniella has 24 years experience as a guide and is a mine of information on history of Berlin, and generous with sharing it. She was brought up in West Berlin and, despite the general consensus, says it never felt like a prison. On our 2-hour buss tour throughout the site she shoots facts, statistics, memories at us until we have a feeling for the place we’re spending a weekend.

The Bartered Bride is playing on one of Berlin’s three opera houses, although the general consensus with Berliners is that city can’t afford three opera houses – no more than they could three airports – one has already closed, leaving two and by 2012, there will only be one airport which can be best described as basically functional with nary a marble floor in sight! Back to the opera, taking place in Komische Oper which specialises in putting on comic operas and operettas. The outside of the building has been restored in hideous modern but inside has kept its ambience, although as with so much else of Berlin, it’s just too big – the stairs, the bar area and even its corridors defy cultural intimacy. It’s an economical production which doesn’t translate into modern, but Smetana’s music is glorious

EATING & DRINKING

Wonderful fruits, pastries, particularly the apple-based ones, breads, coffee, wines and beers, as well as apple juices and perch-pike fish simply grilled is a dish to die for. Lots of veal and beef which I found too smothered in darkly glutinous sauces and, but that’s personal. First night we step a round the corner from hotel to San Marino Italian restaurant; good fare – bruschetta and pasta costing about a third less than in Ireland; breakfasts in hotel: huge selection of fresh seasonal fruit; local breads; yogurts; scrambled eggs; bacon; sausages; cheeses; pancakes – great exactly what you want to set you up for a day’s sightseeing.

            Most memorable coffee experience is Sets Café on Schluterstrasse for coffee on Sunday morning, haunt of the young and beautiful. As well as great coffee and charming staff, it’s the place to sit and watch and see post-War Berlin at its best. The girls are long, lithe and gorgeously dressed in designer casuals – camels, tans, navys, greys and blacks – boots, suedes, furs – there’s hardly a ‘pop of colour’ as fashionistas refer to it. They favour tight pony-tails, red nails and discreet make-up. Their men are equally well turned out – Armani and well behaved dogs on splendidly coloured and jewelled leads being stock favourites.

SHOPPING

The KaDeWe on Wittenberg Platz is the big and most talked about store in the city - in size its 8 floors are the equivalent size of 9 football pitches. It stocks everything you could think of, and things that are unimaginable – such as fried ants in chocolate! Visit its ground floor Luxury Boulevard for designer clothes; as well as which there are high street clothes, models of exclusive cars, toys, stationery, and has a great food hall, though not comparable to London’s Fortum and Mason – you name it, I reckon it has it.

            The really exclusive shopping area – Chanel, Louis Vitton, Bogetta, Saint Laurent are along Kurfurstendamm’s wide tree-lined street, with small glass outside cages displaying some of their more tempting goods. Here, mostly, casual in neutral colours is king. As expected prices are astronomical: trousers in the region of €1000; bulky sweaters and huge totes – gorgeous leather and suede -  around the same price.

GETTING AROUND

Taxis are relatively inexpensive, about half the price of Dublin’s charges. We set out on Saturday evening for 6.30 mass in St Ludovic’s church, about a 15 minute balmy walk from the hotel. The ceremony goes on for well over an hour and when we come out, it’s not only pouring rain but we’ve exited from a different door and are totally disorientated. ‘A taxi’, we say, and duly hail one only to discover that we don’t have the hotel address and there are several Ramada hotels in Berlin. The woman driver uses SatNav and only navigates by street name and building number. She turns off the meter while we cogitate, eventually husband gets a map from a nearby hotel and shows her area of our hotel, which she duly finds. Motto: Do not leave hotel in a strange city without full address!!

COTE D'AZUR - MARKETS

I wouldn't be an expert on markets or a fan, as I find they are so often filled with tat and rubbish - I've done markets in India, The Canaries, Spain, Portugal, not forgetting a few Irish. With the exception in Ireland of the Friday's market in Listowel, Co Kerry - during Writers' Week - I haven't been impressed.
But the markets on the Cote are something else.
Nice has markets most days. The flower market is understandably gorgeous - a riot of blooms and colours and specemins, and the food market equally interesting, but on Monday mornings if you're in the area make for the Antique Market.
On previous occasions, I have been utterly enchanted with the jewellery on offer - gold, silver, modern and antique. Last year I picked up art deco earrings and great eggcups. This year I drooled over a Spoke dinner service, almost intact, for the €200 mark. I presume it's still there.
The market was more crowded than I'd seen it: a huge percentage of tourists, Americans, wandering loudly around, picking up this, commenting on that and buying very little; European holidaymakers like ourselves, as interested in getting a bargain as we are at enjoying the atmosphere and wondering at the amount of work that goes into stocking and maintaining the stalls; and locals with doe-eyed children hanging out of them.
It's the little things that capture the imagination: on a stand with military memorbilia and decidedly military-looking stallholders sits a small dog with a lolling tongue and a laughing expression. Beside him is propped up a notice which reads in English: Beware. Dog Bites.
A few miles along the coast Villefranche-sur-mer is also a town or village? of markets. Three times a week along the main street there a food market - amazing selections of cheeses, local seasonal vegetables and fruit - currently peaches and nectaries on at their best; herbs; all sorts of favouring peppers; spices and breads, as well as in a poetable oven baked on-the-spot onion tarts - have to be tasted to be believed.
Down towards the harbour, on the days when the cruise ships call, the market sells handbags, costume jewellery, table cloths, table mats, napkins, as well as crystals and posters depicting Hollywood's golden era. There are bargains to be had, the quality of merchandise is good and there's a great buzz around the place.