A decorated house

A decorated house in Cap d'Ail. Cap d'Ail, which adjoins Monaco, has so many beautiful houses. Here's just one.

The eagle has landed

Eagle - or maybe a vulture? - on a roof in Cap d'Ail. In fact, there is an eagle on each corner of this lovely house.

Parc Sacha Guitry - 1

Cap d'Ail adjoins Monaco. There are no borders - it's simply a question of one street is in Monaco and one is in Cap d'Ail, which is a commune of beauty, charm and wondrous Belle Epoque villas. Here we are in this lovely park, which is next to the villa that belonged to the celebrated writer and actor, Sacha Guitry, who died in 1957.

"A man must marry only a very pretty woman in case he should ever want some other man to take her off his hands" - Sacha Guitry

Sacha Guitry was five times married, which might explain the quotation.

St.-Jean-cap-Ferrat

Taken from just below the Parc Sacha Guitry in Cap d'Ail (we'll visit this lovely garden) here's a view of St.-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. If you follow the peninsula around, back towards us, you can see a more built-up area just at the right hand edge of the photograph - that is Beaulieu-sur-Mer with its beautiful Belle Epoque villas.

At Cap Ferrat you'll find some of the most expensive real estate in the south of France. Many famous people have lived or stayed here. Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild built an opulent and exquisite Tuscan-style palazzo, known as the Villa Ephrussi de Rothshild. David Niven lived here. Somerset Maughan lived in his famous Villa Mauresque. Others who owned estates here or visited include Charlie Chaplin, Sir Winston Churchill, Isadora Duncan, King Leopold II of Belgium.

And it still attracts the rich and famous.

Tomorrow: the answer to The Great Monte Carlo Swimming Pool Quiz. If you've not yet entered, there's time to do so!

Tree trunks?

Villa Les Roses was built in 1910. The photograph below shows another entrance to this lovely house in Cap d'Ail.

Notice the gate posts above. They appear to be tree trunks but are, in fact, fashioned in concrete. You see this on terraces in the south of France. Instead of wrought iron railings or carved balustrades, you have what look like criss-crossed branches of trees but are actually concrete made to look like wood.

A glimpse through the trees...

This is such a typical Riviera view especially when taken - as this is - in Cap d'Ail, which adjoins Monaco. These same sort of views, same beautiful houses, same wonderful trees are to be seen at Beaulieu, just a little further along the coast towards Nice - or at Cap Martin near to Menton.

I had to take my dog to the vet this morning in Cap d'Ail. Afterwards, a short stroll with a friend who lives there - plus our dogs - and here, a glimpse through the trees of that Riviera view.

Principatu de Munegu

On Sunday I was driving along the Basse Corniche, from Beaulieu to Menton - via Monaco. I'd forgotten it was the final day of the Monte Carlo Rally and so we were crawling, nose to tail, trying to get into the Principality. The world and his mother comes into Monte Carlo for this race.

This stone, which I snapped from my stationary car, marks the boundary between France and Monaco at Cap d'Ail. The lower set of words on the stone - and title of this post - are in Monégasque.

Imagine

This beautiful yacht, Imagine, is currently moored in the harbour of Cap d'Ail. Below you see a guy - music while you work - cleaning the decks. You can read more about this 49 m (161 ft) yacht, which was built in Gulf Port, Mississippi, HERE. (Scroll down the page)

The tall apartment buildings you see are in Monaco (Fontvieille). The harbour is in France - Cap d'Ail.

Harbour of Cap d'Ail

This is the small port of Cap d'Ail - taken from an apartment in Monaco. In the distance you can just see Cap Ferrat. Ail is garlic in French - although I'm not sure of the signifance of the name in this case. Perhaps one time garlic was grown here. Now they grow apartments.

Lili writes -

'Ail is not garlic in this meaning in Cap d'Ail, but the distortion of the Latin word apicula (=abeille = bee) - during centuries the Cap d'Ail flag has some bees on it, too.'

Thanks so much for this clarification, Lili which is great to know.

Lady Christina

This beautiful yacht is seen in Cap d'Ail harbour. Cap d'Ail borders Monaco and in fact I took this photograph from Monaco - from high up in an apartment in Seaside Plaza in Fontvieille. If you click on this link, you can see Seaside Plaza in the background. The Lady Christina, a 203 foot long super yacht, was first launched in 2005.