2023 - Adventures in Portugal, Türkiye, Italy and France

For my last afternoon on the Cote d'Azur, Elaine and I went to Villefranche.  Unlike earlier in the week, this time it was really crowded - probably because it was a Sunday, the weather was lovely, and it was the beginning of the half-term break.  The beaches, restaurants and parking lots were all packed.  Luckily, we found a parking spot in the fortress.  Then, we walked down to La Darse, Villefranche's old harbour, and along the seaside path around to the seafront.  No matter how many times I come here - and I have been so blessed to have come here many times - it never fails to take my breath away.  A friend who also loves this place recently asked me why I like it so much.  I was unable to articulate why - perhaps it is the stunning scenery; perhaps it is just the beauty of the sea and mountains here; or maybe it is because this place, unlike many others on the French Riviera, has maintained the feel of an old fishing village.  There is none o...

Friday, the "red weather alert" was reduced to "orange" at 10 am.  However, the Promenade car lane on the sea side wasn't opened until around 4 pm and the police continued to "dissuade" people from using the wide sidewalk along the seaside.  However, even police tape didn't stop them.  So, for at least 5 hours, motorcycle cops patrolled up and down the sidewalk on the Promenade telling people to move.  As fast as they cleared them, other people replaced them.  While the sea was pretty rough and waves quite high, it didn't look that dangerous to me.  However, I am used to the storms on the west coast which look worse.  There was, however, some damage further inland, including loss of electricity to hundreds of homes and one river spilled over its banks.  Later in the day, the rain stopped and the sun came out a bit and things got back to normal.  Here are some shots of the waves and the sea yesterday. We stayed inside for a lot of the day exce...

Well, it sure says something when you are on the beautiful Cote d'Azur and you only take 5 pictures all day - and one is of a rainbow crosswalk only to prove they have them here as well as in other cities and the other is having dinner at a nice restaurant!  The skies today were varying shades of grey and certainly not the famous azure blue.  It rained and drizzled off and on and I don't think the temperature was higher than 20'.   Stormy skies just before it rained Place Garibaldi Our mission yesterday was to return some shoes that my friend had bought here last October.  On the recommendation of a couple we met while having lunch in Villefranche sur Mer last year, we went to an Italian shoe store where she bought two pairs of shoes.  It wasn't until she got home that she found out that, for one of the pairs, she had two left shoes of different sizes.  Now, she is a good dancer so hardly needs shoes for two left feet!  So, hauling back the two sh...