Morocco and now Menton, France 2018 | Cap Ferrat and Cannes

I think I know where I am now. Sitting here on la petite terrasse of our hotel room, I am looking west to Italy. We are only a few kilometers from the border and Ventimilla. Yesterday we were in Beaulieu, to the west of here, and today Cannes, which is further west still. Across the Med it must be North Africa, maybe Algeria. Sometimes I just need to place myself in the world. The red wine we are drinking is from Bordeaux, in South west France, the chick pea chips from Nice, right next door, and the feta and roasted pepper dip from Greece! So very Mediterranean.

It seems to have been a beautiful hot day here in Menton. When we returned from our day of sightseeing and hiking there were still people on the beach and in the water. Beachside cafes were not too busy but there were enough al fresco diners to be convincing. Now it's cooling off and Margaret has abandoned the terrasse for the warmth of the indoors. And warm it is. We have pulled the duvets out of their covers, have the temp turned low, and the fan up high. We are trying to get some clothes to dry. I resorted to the hair dryer this morning to at least warm up the waistband on my pants. My body heat would warm the rest.

Yesterday we travelled first by train to Beaulieu-sur-Mer. It translates as beautiful place on the sea, which it is. From there we travelled on foot to St. Jean Cap de Ferrat and later up to the Rothschild villa built in 1912 for Beatrice de Rothschild. The rooms and furnishings are almost as interesting as the stories. I was merely surprised to see two low-to-the ground chairs in the style of Louis XIV for her pets--a dog and a chimp. But I laughed out loud at the story of the wedding she planned and held for her dog to an eligible canine beau, complete with ceremony and reception. Apparently she loved to throw parties!

The walk round the cape is classic Mediterranean walking over stone pathway with broken down concrete, little hills, a few narrow ledges, and abundant crashing waves, some enough to get you wet if the tides are high. The town is quaint, but the evidence of moneyed landowners and vacationers is everywhere. The French Riviera is one of the most expensive places to live. But this walk, followed by lunch and then coffee (never coffee then lunch, says ou guide), put all that aside and I just thought to myself how fortunate I am to be here.

If you are looking for the 1% that control most of the world's wealth, I think they might be in the yacht harbours in Monaco and Cannes. Although no match for Monaco, the harbour in Cannes is filled with row upon row of big yachts, and a few wooden boats, including a four-masted tall ship.

We spent most of our time on a small island owned and occupied solely by Cistercian monks. The centre of this small island is planted almost entirely in grapes. They sell wine in the store for from 30E to 70E a bottle which sounds like a lot until you realize that by the glass in a restaurant it's considerably more than that. I though about buying a bottle and selling it off glass by glass to my travel mates to pay for my dinner, but alas, the store was closed. Seriously, the island is a tranquil retreat from the business of Cannes. The trail is soft underfoot and signs ask that you keep noise to a minimum, respecting the retreat-like environment of the monks.   We ate our picnic lunches near the rocky shore,  and stopped for coffee before boarding the ferry back to Cannes.

I'll let the photos speak for Cannes. Look for the blue carpet that replaces the red one when the festival is over, the sandy beach, including bags of sand waiting to be spread, designer shops below Belle Epoch architecture, and billboards. Hundreds of billboards.