A Year in Villefranche sur Mer - Moving to France

  Day 2702 (Thursday) 31 st October 2024  This is Eze Village and this is Monaco.   It was another beautiful day and I sat in the sun for a few hours and Huw did some more decorating.  There was another cruise ship in the bay and the passengers had a lovely day to visit our little town. Happy Halloween 10 things you need to know about Halloween in France Are your kids thrilled about Halloween? Before you start bobbing for  les pommes , read these 10 things you need to know about Halloween in France. 1. Don’t let your expectations get spooked The first thing to remember when celebrating Halloween in France is that you’re celebrating Halloween in France. This means that it’s unlikely to be the same fun-filled festival of candy and costumes that you might be used to. In fact, if you’re arriving from the US or Canada, you may find that the holiday seems to pass you by without much fanfare at all. However, if you’re happiest at Halloween, don’t let that put you off....

  Day 2701 (Wednesday) 30 th October 2024  This is La Reserve near the Old Port of Nice and this is a cloudy day in Villefranche-sur-Mer. We went to Beaulieu today for a very special chicken and roast potato sandwich. We discovered this take away café a while ago and the sandwiches are glorious. But before the sandwich we went for a walk to see the churches and beautiful buildings in Beaulieu. From here we walked to the seafront to admire the view and to see this Olive tree, it looks pretty dead to be honest – I hope it’s not. There’s a sign next to the tree and this is what it says, it doesn’t exactly translate well but you get the idea… The King of Olive trees tried, originally on the edge of the national road, at the intersection of the tracks today Denommees boulevard Marechal Leclerc and avenue des Hellenes. This millennial olive tree, to whom the rosy verve of our ancestors granted even 2000 years, came to despise in an urban setting which was no longer his and was, at ...

  Day 2700 (Tuesday) 29 th October 2024  This was taken in Nice a few days ago – the storm missed us. This was taken in 1955 and this was taken today – it’s pretty much the same. It was lovely and warm again today – 32 degrees on the balcony and there was another cruise ship in the bay. The tourist boat was bang on time, 11.30 as always. We went to Les Palmiers for a coffee and to people watch, most of the passengers on the cruise ship were overweight Northerners. We heard one woman saying that she needed to get her bearings in case she got lost – how can you get lost in Villefranche? There was another couple in Les Palmiers who asked for an English breakfast and a Corona beer – why go to France to eat English food and drink Mexican beer? As always the market was on but it was smaller than usual. We walked along the front for Huw to get the photo from the same spot as the old photo above. It was really great to see all the restaurants busy. It’s holiday time in France with To...