Exploring further afield

The view from Villefranche across to St Jean-Cap Ferrat.

For this post, I am travelling outside Var - just a short trip from Les Arcs-sur-Argens, as my computer is undergoing repairs and it has taken all my recent photos with it.

Rue Obscrue,Villefranche.

Take a train from the Les Arcs-Draguignan station and you will travel through Cannes and Nice to Villefranche-sur-Mer.

I had always wanted to go to Villefranche for three reasons.

1. My cousin stayed there for an extended period and waxed lyrical about it.

2. Then a writer friend opened the first chapter of her book with the protagonist walking through a street called Rue Obscure. The way she described the street and its history - and of course the story she was writing - drew me in so not only did I want to visit Villefranche, but I wanted to walk the Rue Obscure.


View from the Villa Ephrussi

3. I read The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, and became fascinated by the story of the Ephrussi family.

One of the family members, Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, put together a fascinating house, now known as the Villa Ephrussi, surrounded by four acres of gardens.

It is located on the summit of St Jean-Cap Ferrat, the peninsula that can be seen along the eastern edge of the Villefranche bay.

The train from Les Arcs takes around 80 minutes to reach Villefranche-sur-Mer, and you can walk into the town from the station.


The French-style gardens that lead from the villa.

We found Rue Obscure by accident and it is every bit as mysterious as my friend described.

There was a market in town and we enjoyed lunch in the gardens above the port.

Then we walked around the semi-circle of blue Mediterranean to Cap Ferrat.

We even passed the house Keith Richards rented in the early 70s when the Rolling Stones were in 'exile', before finding signs directing us to the Villa Ephrussi.

It is fascinating and I really recommend a visit if anyone is visiting the Cote d'Azur.

The galleried entrance of the Villa Ephrussi.

The nine separate gardens are laid out in discrete areas (French, Spanish, Florentine, Japanese, Provencal etc) and feature a wide variety of plants and many sculptures with steps that lead up to the 'temple of love' at the far end of the French garden.

The long water feature in front of the villa has fountains that erupt at various times of day.

Just walking through the fabulously over-decorated house is mind-boggling.

The clothes, the artefacts, the furniture, carpets from the Palace of Versailles, the inlaid mosaic floors, the arched mezzanine, the rooms - and of course, the views from the huge windows - along the coast towards Monaco and back across the bay to Villefranche.

There is a small and elegant café (Restaurant Ephrussi) where you can look across to Villefranche.

You can spend a whole day wandering the house and gardens at your leisure or take a guided tour.

I know I will certainly go back - both to the mansion (now owned by France's heritage council) and Villefranche-sur-Mer.

Summer weddings

French village weddings are always delightful.

A wedding party and guests on their way to a photo shoot in Les Arcs-sur-Argens.

Often on an otherwise lazy Saturday afternoon, we are roused by the blaring of car horns as a wedding party weaves through the streets gaining maximum exposure.

Wedding couple and guests in Les Arcs.

Several cars filled with bride, groom, bridesmaids and best men, drive around making the most of car horns, cheering and waving to passers-by - and of course, we all wave back and offer 'Felicitations' - congratulations - to the newly-wed couple.

It's especially great fun to be by the Mairie  for the civil services, as quite often they are unusual and totally unlike the formal affairs I would have expected.

French couples marry in a civil service at the Town Hall or Mairie, to 'seal the deal' so to speak. They may then choose to marry in a more formal religious service, if they wish to have the union blessed by their church.

Often the wedding party will troop past our place on their way through the medieval village to the restaurant at the top of the town. There is no vehicular access from the square below which means the entire party, from grandparents to toddlers and all in between, will have to make the steep climb up to the celebration.

I took this picture from our balcony as the couple returned and just as they passed, the groom scooped his bride into his arms and carried her down the street. She was carrying her high-heeled sandals, so it may not have been entirely the romantic gesture I imagined!

Wedding party in Frejus.

Then walking around the neighbouring town of Frejus, we were startled by the roll-up of giant black motor bikes that revved through shoppers in the main square - one of which was carrying the bride - a complete with tulle veil - on the pillion.

The men took off their helmets and shrugged out of their leather jackets to reveal neat white shirts or T-shirts beneath, and the party with cheering guests, went into the Mairie for the civil ceremony.

The photographer (far left) poses a photo high above Nice.

After reassembling outside for photos, they roared off for several circuits of the narrow streets of the old Roman town - with bemused Saturday shoppers stopping to wave and cheer.

Outside of Var, up in the old Cimiez area of Nice, we were strolling through the gardens and found a photographer posing his bride and groom - the groom using the tourist viewer to angle in on his bride!

Back in Les Arcs, the bride took over the photo session at the amphitheatre just across the car park from the Mairie.

I watched from above as she gathered her skirts and climbed down the steps to take up position beside the photographer and issue loud instructions to the wedding party and all her guests about where to stand. He stepped aside and let her!

The bride hurries down the steps of Les Arcs' amphitheatre to organise her own wedding photos.

Eventually, after rearranging her hair and adding some lipstick, she took her place beside her husband for the camera. I'm sure the photos would have been memorable.