Day 1,025 (Monday) 30th March 2020
Day 15 and it was a little cloudy but warm enough to eat lunch on the balcony.
We filled in our paperwork and went for a walk and Huw kept Andy and Chadwick in Villefranche today with Sean Connery hiding behind a tree in case anyone spots him appearing in the woeful 1983 James Bond stink-fest Never Say Never again.
This went down really well with the WhatsApp group as it is so close to home. We started our walk on Rue du Poilu and absolutely everything was shut even the boulangerie and Tabac.
This is the spot where Sean Connery was standing in the above photo but the tree isn’t there anymore.
I don’t know how many times we have walked along this street but neither of us has ever noticed this seating area.
We walked through the citadel



and the flowers looked lovely

When we got to La Darse port we saw that the elegant yacht The Bystander was there – I hope someone has bought it and is giving some TLC.
The citadel has been covered in scaffold for months and our favourite seafront walk is closed. We are so looking forward to doing that walk again.
There’s not much of a view from these red chairs
There were a few people working on their yachts and we felt rather jealous of them having a job.
As always I can’t resist taking photos of these gorgeous fishing boats.

Our favourite café/bar in the Darse was shut – obviously and Huw sat on a bollard next to our favourite table pretending to have an icy cold beer on a busy hot summer’s day.
We walked back up the hill and through the deserted petanque club

We got to Andy’s flat and called up to him and he came to the window and we had a nice chat with him before going home having walked 3kms today.

Huw found this article and photos on the Villefranche Facebook page…

‘The disinfection of sensitive public spaces in Villefranche-sur-Mer started this morning.
The metropolitan services have intervened near shops and retirement homes.
This operation will be repeated 2 times a week, Monday morning and Thursday morning until further notice.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones.’

Going back to Sean Connery and the dreadful film Never Say Never Again – here’s a list of the many, many films shot in the beautiful Villefranche sur Mer…(the following photos are not mine.)
Villefranche Sur Mer
A Star of the Silver Screen
Ever since the dawn of the movies, Villefranche-sur-Mer has been a favoured location for shooting films. And if the town today still retains its attractiveness, it is
not only due to its proximity to the international airport of Nice-Côte d'Azur, but
also to the tremendous variety of surrounding landscapes that make for fantastic
backdrops.
More than 150 movies and television series have had at least one part of their
production shot on location in Villefranche, all the way from “Macao l’Enfer du
Jeu”, 1939, with Erich Von Stroheim and Mireille Balin, “Il Etait une Fois un Flic”,
1972, starring Michel Constantin and Mireille Darc, and all the way to the more recent 2009 film, “Killers”, featuring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl.
The picturesque scenery, the narrrow streets, the historic gathering places
along the charming waterfront of Villefranche, such as the Welcome Hotel and the
restaurant “La Fille du Pêcheur”, figure prominently in films shot on location. And
let’s not forget “Never say Never Again” that saw the 1983 comeback of
Sean Connery as James Bond.
 

A number of festival events – expos, tours, shows – devoted to the movies and
programmes at each of the on-site shooting locations will run through 2013.
The festival presents a broad overview of many of the most memorable movie
scenes that were recreated during the heydays of filmmaking in Villefranche.

Visit "Villefranche, star of the seventh art"
Visit based on different filming locations to show how each space was used, enhanced or transformed in accordance with the period, fashion or genius of the director.
Visits with illustrative digital tablet support.
Duration: 1 hr 30 - Price for 15 to 20 people: €5 per person
Information and reservations at the Tourist Office
Tel: +33 (0) 4 93 01 73 68


« Port de la Santé » Film directors abundantly made use of the docks at the harbour of la Santé either to illustrate a typical port on the French Riviera or along the
Mediterranean, or to suggest an exotic, unexpected place.
« Macao, l’enfer du jeu » 1939
« Ronin » 1998
Villefranche = NANTES of the early 19th century
« Captain Horatio Hornblower » 1951
Villefranche = NICE
« Kiss and Kill » 2009
« Act of love » 1954
« Rue Obscure » The eerie atmosphere of the Rue Obscure has stimulated the imagination of many filmmakers
Jean Cocteau
« Le Testament d’Orphée » 1959
Roger Coggio
« Les Fourberies de Scapin » 1981
Other streets of the town, as well as its hotels and restaurants, have served as backdrops for well-known films.
Film Clip of U2 – 2001
Hôtel Welcome
« Il était une fois un flic...» 1972
Rue du Poilu
« Maximum Risk » 1996
At the corner of Rue de l’Eglise and Rue du Poilu
« Les Compères » 1983
Le Wine Pier
« Le Héros de la Famille » 2006
Rue du Poilu
« Le Héros de la Famille » 2006
The Citadel, a 16th century historical monument, has been filming location for many movies.
Fort Gibraltar
« Gibraltar » 1938
The Prison of Toulon
« Vidocq » 1971-73
The Gendarmerie of Corsica
« Mes deux amours » 2012
The desert fortress of Palmyra
« Never say never again » 1983
The Royal Port of the Darse, built in the 16th century and reconstructed in the 18th century, has served as the backdrop for a number of cult films.
« Adventures of Captain Fabian » 1951
« Le jardinier d’Argenteuil » 1966
« Never say never again » 1983
« The inhabitants of Villefranche The inhabitants of Villefranche in the Seventh Art»
In the 1920s, one of the first young aviators of France, Auguste Maïcon, applied the budding technology of aviation for the cinema in Villefranche. In one 1925 movie, he revved up 400-horsepower airplane engines to show the port of Villefranche being blasted by a windstorm. In the 1930’s, he worked as a special effects specialist for Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
He lived on Rue du Poilu just opposite us!
As early as 1948, the film studios of Victorine in Nice regularly called upon the Voisin shipyards of Villefranche help to produce marine-related shots. In 1949, for the movie “Captain Horatio Hornblower”, Warner Brothers asked the shipbuilders to convert the hull of an old French sailing vessel into an 18th century frigate. This work took 5 months.

Here are a few jokes from the WhatsApp group
Huw has made a video summarising the tour of Andy and Chadwick to date – enjoy!

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