Day 841 (Saturday) 28th September 2019
It was 38 degrees in direct sunshine again this morning – bloody marvellous! While we were having our morning coffee we saw a parade going along the seafront and we remembered that today is the festival of Saint Michael, the beautiful church in Villefranche.
About half an hour later they paraded past our front door
Huw had read about this festival on Villefranche’s Facebook page and we decided to go to the square boules competition
Friday, September 27, 2019
12h: Foyer du Caroubier
Spanish Hostel. Karaoke Animation
From 5.30 pm to 11 pm: Félix Poullan Place
Lu Festin de la Bugada. Festive and cultural evening
Saturday, September 28, 2019
9am: In the city
Strolling of the folk group "Lei baisso lusserno"
14h: Lorenzoni Square
Competition of square balls. Family tournament
7 pm: Capital of the Citadel
Bal de la Saint Michel. Benty's Orchestra
Meals organised by the Festival Committee
Reservation until September 20th at 06.22.61.03.30
Sunday, September 29, 2019
10h: Saint Michel church
Messe sung by the Olivula group
11h30: Place Felix Poullan
Aperitif offered to the population. Choir of school children
18h: Saint Michel Church
Concert organised by "The Friends of the Organ and Music"

We went for a walk around the old town and it was really busy because there were two cruise ships in the bay.
We then sat in the church square on two red chairs waiting for the action


Look at the colour of the sky
A small crowd gathered, including the town’s photographer and we watched some people practice for the competition
It wasn’t much of a competition but the atmosphere was delightful – another Year In Provence moment
I looked up the history of square boules and found this…
But for a completely different take on the traditional game head to Haut-de-Cagnes, the medieval hill village in the centre of Cagnes sur Mer (20 minutes from Lou Messugo). Here they play “Square Boules” – yes, pétanque with square “balls”! The streets are too steep to play regular boules so in 1980 a member of the local club invented a variant with balls that wouldn’t roll. Eh voilà! Pétanque carrée! It is played in two streets, both uphill and down and even has a World Championship around 25th August every year. Pétanque players certainly have a sense of humour.
We then went to the art exhibition in a hall next to the church and it was rather lovely
Ages ago Nancy told me that she had bought a pair of reversible jeans in Natalie’s clothes shop in her building in Place de la Paix so I went and tried a pair on and was delighted when the size 8 fitted me. This is such a clever design and you get two pairs of jeans for the price of one
We then went for another walk to the end of the beach and it was gorgeous



We stopped at the beach bar and thoroughly enjoyed a couple of cold beers in the sunshine

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Day 2523 (Sunday) 5 th May 2024 This is Menton and this is the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. It was lovely and sunny this morning and we decided to park the scooter in Beaulieu and walk to Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat. Town was absolutely packed so Huw went on the scooter alone to get through Rue du Poilu and I met him on the seafront. I got stuck behind a big group of American tourists and the guide was talking rubbish. There were a few people on the beach in Beaulieu and one of the private beaches is open already. We had a look at the menu in the Royal Riviera, which is a five-star hotel. The Cote de Beouf Heritage (steak) is 120€ and the most shocking item of all is a Croque-Monsieur Truffle at the outrageous price of 65€. Can you imagine if you didn’t know what a croque monsieur was and you ordered it, the shock of getting a ham and cheese sandwich with a few bits of truffle on it would be horrible. This is Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu. Villa Kerylos  in  Beaulieu-sur-Mer ,...
Read more
Image
Day 1136 (Sun day) 19 th July 2020 It was seriously hot this morning – 44 degrees on our balcony and we had to prepare the big apartment because Freddy and Jamie left this morning and their friend Marvi is arriving tomorrow. Thankfully they had done most of the washing but it still took us three hours to get everything done but it’s good to earn beer money again! There are so many tourists in town and none of them are distancing and the beach was rammed. There are also a lot of private yachts in the bay and most of them will come ashore and there are now some disturbing reports in the news that our region now has the second highest infection rate in France, when for the whole confinement we got off lightly. This has to have something to do with the influx of tourists and we will see in the next few weeks what the authorities will do if the situation worsens.   As I’m sure you have realised I am a complete Francophile  but when it comes to food the French eat ...
Read more
Image
Day 232 (Thursday) For once the weather forecast was right and we woke up to a horrible, grey drizzly day. It’s such a shock to the system when the sky isn’t blue and it’s not sunny. It was definitely a stay at home day so I did some research on some French names and their meanings and this is what I found. 11 Beautiful French Names and What They Mean Both popular and traditional names in France are evidence of the rich variety of  languages ,  dialects , and traditions that have left their mark on  French  culture over the centuries. Here are some of the most beautiful French names, what they mean, their origins, and how to pronounce them. Aimée Female: The French form for Amy, meaning ‘beloved’: pronounced  e-me . Anaïs Female: French Provençal and Catalan version of Hebrew Anne meaning ‘grace’: pronounced  an-nah-EES Corentin Male: Of Breton origin derived from the word for ‘friend’ or possibly ‘hurricane’: pronounced  kaw...
Read more