Rothschild Cacti!

Saturday, my friend Nawal met me around midday.  She had been on a walking tour of "hidden Provence" based in Menton for the last week.  After getting her settled into the apartment, the first thing on our agenda was to get some lunch.  We didn't go far as the Good Mood Café is only a couple of doors down and we stopped in there.  Our server was quite rude - I guess he is the "bad mood" server and I remembered him from a couple of years ago.  Once he realized we wanted to eat rather than just drink, he seemed a bit happier.  Some of his mood was probably from the fact there were two large cruise ships in the "rade" (bay) and most of the customers in the café were just ordering drinks.  It seems to be a. common criticism that most cruise passengers choose not to eat onshore, preferring naturally to eat on the ships for free.  However, once we got beyond his attitude, it was all good.  Afterwards, we wandered into the old town and checked out the shops.  The rest of the day was spent resting, having a drink on the seafront and, once the grocery store had reopened, picking up a few groceries.  Later, we headed out for dinner at Les Palmiers where the ambience was very casual and loud, the restaurant very crowded, and the food very good - and reasonable.  My dinner (veal in a cream sauce) cost half of what the other two main courses cost that I've had here!  There was a waning full moon on our walk back along the quay to the apartment.

Sunday, given that most of the shops were closed, we decided to walk to the Villa Rothschild which is on Cap Ferrat and not far from here.  Of course, the walk there along the main Cap Ferrat road has stunning views.



The tall building in the center is where are 8th floor apartment is,

I have been to the villa several times before but I learn something new each time I go. The visit was a bit disappointing this time, however, as they were setting up for some big event so there was a huge tent being erected at the back of the house totally obstructing the magnificent view of the gardens from the loggia.  I could write tons about the villa and its history which is fascinating but, as I have already written several blogs about it on other trips, this time I am only including a few photos of the interiors plus ones of the garden, particularly the cacti.  

 After touring the house, we wandered around the gardens and, because Nawal lived for many years in New Mexico, she has a particular fondness for cacti.  I had never spent much time in that part of the garden so it was a bit of a discovery for me to see all the different shapes, sizes and kinds of them. 

These are some sort of Amazon lily pads - they were huge!

The marquee or tent obstructing the view of the house from the garden

By the time we got back to the apartment, we had walked over 10 km - nothing for her after the hiking she has been doing but it was a good start for me given that I expect I will be doing lots of walking during the cruise's shore excursions.  We sat on our balcony enjoying the views across the bay to Cap Ferrat and, later, just walked next door for dinner.  And, below is the proof of how much we had walked today.  I was quite pleased - although for Nasal it was an easy walk after her hikes in "hidden Province".

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