Finally it's Spring - Port Hercule

It's been such a long cold and wet winter. Yes I know it's colder and wetter elsewhere in the world but this winter has been most untypical in Monaco and the south of France. Here is Port Hercule yesterday where, at last, the sun is shining.

For more photographs of Monaco - in fact the same shot as this - take a look at Peter's Paris. Peter was here recently and the weather was horrible but it didn't stop him taking some super photos of the Principality, including a visit to the Oceanographic Museum. Do click on the link.

The Golden Goat

The golden goat atop the Château de la Chevre d'or. I've never noticed this sculpture before so perhaps he's new? He looks rather pristine, doesn't he?

Set in Stone

Look up. It's surprising what you find in Eze village.

Lunch at Château Eza - the Curly Whiskers

The menu. We chose 'the Prince's Menu' and this is what we ate:

Butternut pumpkin soup with aged Parmesan sprinkled with olive oil.


A slice of Ciabiatta rubbed with garlic and topped with marinated sardines and young salad leaves.


Sautéed prawns atop a gateau of blettes (sugar beet) - note the curled whiskers in the photo.

An individual basket of caramelised apple with toast flavoured with orange flowers.

And a wonderful bottle of white wine and I forget what it was. This is the only dish of the four that I photographed - proof, if needed, as to how good the food and wine was.

We finished with coffee served with delicious petits fours. And then our wonderful, generous, dear divine Peter from Paris treated us to this wonderful lunch. Thank you, dear Peter.

Lunch at Château Eza - Amuse Bouche

Let's tuck in to the amuse bouche that arrived with the champagne...

Served on a slate platter - in the square glass pot are tiny concoctions of roquefort and bread - yet they were quite sweet - with honey, perhaps? In the base of the glass pot - several different olives that were fabulous.

In the centre - a confection made of snails. And in the tiny pots, a fishy mousse base covered in fish eggs. Excellent.

And now - drum roll - the Chef: Axel Wagner. Before joining Château Eza as Chef de Cuisine in spring 2007, Axel Wagner, from Germany, was the Executive Chef of the three-star Michelin restaurant of renowned French chef Georges Blanc in Vonnas.

Tomorrow: the Menu du Prince.

Lunch at Château Eza - the Bay of U2

So here we are, sipping our champagne in the Lalique glasses and looking down on the bay of Eze. Bono has a house down there, on the area of land between the railway and the sea - and just along is the one belonging to The Edge. The Bay of U2, one could say.

Tomorrow: the tasty morsels we ate with our champers.

The Oceanographic Museum for Eric Tenin and Paris Daily Photo!

We're taking a one day break from lunch at the Château Eza because today is an important day for the City Daily Photo community. It's the 5th anniversary of Eric Tenin's Paris Daily Photo. It was Eric who started it all and today, we are paying tribute to Eric by posting photographs representing the 'Tenin Perspective' - POV from the ground up or slightly skewed. (Thankyou Kim for the great idea of making a tribute in this way.)

Eric is an impossible act to follow but I hope you like this photo of the Oceanographic Museum on le rocher.

Happy 5th birthday to Paris Daily Photo and many thanks as always to Eric for everything, for the brilliant CDP idea, for sticking with it, for the friendship and inspiration you give to us all. To see the tributes of other CDP bloggers, please click here to view thumbnails for all participants

And do visit Paris Daily Photo - you'll see Eric's brand spanking new fabulous look to his blog.

Lunch at Château Eza - Champagne

Dave from Tamarindo Daily Photo will be as surprised as I was to see this champagne glass. Dave and his wife, Julie, spent part of their honeymoon on the Riviera - along with mother-in-law, Glenda (yes, some people take their mothers-in-law on their honeymoon!) They had lunch at the other Eze restaurant, the Chèvre d'Or where the champagne glasses look incredibly similar to this one - except this glass seems to depict an angel, the one at the Chèvre d'Or unsurpringly features a goat! Click here to see the goat.

Both glasses are made by Lalique and can be bought from the shop in the village at no small expense. We were offered pink or white champagne and chose white - it was to die for - and from then on I didn't notice what was depicted in the base of the glass!

Friday: Looking down on Bono...

Lunch at Château Eza - the Restaurant

These photos were taken in February two years ago - all that has changed is the weather! The last one showing the hotel and the setting is over-exposed but I wanted to show you how the building hangs over the beautiful bay of Eze with the peninsula of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in the background and beyond is the bay of Villefranche. We are sitting where you see the white parasols.

And if you are unfamiliar with the village of Eze, please click on the link HERE to see the whole village in a shot taken from high up on the Grande Corniche.

The Château Eza is actually a group of dwellings that opens onto this view - one of the most beautiful on the French Riviera. It was chosen by Prince William of Sweden, the eldest son of King Gustav, as his winter residence. Between 1923 and 1953 the royal family used to spend their holidays here. The Château Eza was famous until 1976 as the 'Prince of Sweden's Castle.'

Lunch at Château Eza - the Kitchen Workers

Regular visitors to this blog may remember a lunch we had at the Chèvre d'Or in Eze Village. Well, today you are invited to a lunch at Eze's other famous restaurant, the Michelin-starred Château Eza. For the moment tho, we pass these guys who probably work in the kitchens.

Hope you are hungry - get those taste buds working...

Here come the French Fries!

One chef and a bag of potatoes - probably French Fries for Stars 'n' Bars or perhaps Quai des Artistes, both on Quai Antoine 1er, along the port.

Xarifa

One of the best things to do in Monaco is wander amongst the yachts and dream. How about this beautiful sailing yacht, the Xarifa.

She was designed by J.M.Soper and built in 1927 by JS White & Co. in Cowes for Franklin Morse Singer a well known American yachtsman, and one of the many sons of Isaac Singer, the multi-millionaire king of the sewing machine. The yacht was considered one of the more elegant and rich of the time. In 1951 Xarifa was bought by the famous German scientist and voyager Hans Hass. The ship took many voyages around the world most specifically in the Pacific and Indian oceans and was well-known in the world of oceanographic and scientific research. In 1960 she was purchased by Italian multimillionaire, Carlo Traglio who kept her based in Monaco, where she is always greatly admired. In 1970, the owner provided Xarifa with an extensive restoration.

Accomodations include six guests cabins ensuite; captain & officers cabins; crew cabins for ten; separate Dining Room, Library, and Smoking Lounge

And if you wanted to buy her, well you'd need a spare 3 millions euros. Click on the link to read more.

Butterflies and Bent Spoons

There's a stunningly beautiful restaurant at the foot of the medieval village of Eze on the Moyenne Corniche. It's called Le Mas Provençal and normally has massive flower arrangements hanging from the ceiling, fixed to walls - it's like walking into a jungle of flowers and tropical vegetation, but this is winter and the restaurant doesn't open until the end of the month.

Hanging outside on a wrought-iron door was this fun arrangement of butterflies and bent spoons. Do click on the link - it's a truly beautiful restaurant, probably one of the loveliest on the Côte d'Azur. If you go, take your camera!

Hommage to Princess Grace

This sculpture/fountain was created by Guy Lartigue in 1970 in hommage to Princess Grace of Monaco. Made of copper, brass and bronze, it stands on the eastern end of the Promenade de Larvotto, just above the beach.

I featured it once before, around two and a half years ago, but I've a better camera now so thought I'd snap it again for you.

Messing about...

Not everyone in Monaco has an enormous yacht. Some have small boats that need work on the outboard motor.

'There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.'


~ Kenneth Graham ('Ratty' from Wind in the Willows)

A Read in the Park

The Casino Gardens, right by one of the fountains seems a good place to read the local rag, Nice-Matin - but not when the front page talks of a train strike.

Caption competition result from last week HERE - look at end of comments.

Theme Day: Passageway...through the Winter Sporting

The Winter Sporting is a building with an entrance on Avenue Princess Alice, opposite the Hotel Hermitage. The other entrance is on the Casino Gardens and these photos show the passageway from one to the other. The Sporting d'Hiver is an Art Deco building that houses Monaco's cinema, several art galleries, a coffee shop and so on. Recently there was talk of it being demolished but there was such a hue and cry that happily we've heard no more about it.

In the main photo we are looking towards the gardens and in the smaller photo, in the opposite direction, with the cinema - out of shot - to the left.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted today's theme please click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Lanvin in Sepia

Regular visitors to this blog will know I adore the Lanvin windows in Casino Square. You've seen them before HERE and HERE and HERE. Today - we see another in sepia.

The Rowing Regatta - Ready to Race

Last day of the regatta as the boats make their way to the open sea - including the boat you just see in the smaller photo - after the rower had retrieved his dropped oar, that is!

The boats make their way through the entrance to the harbour - ahead is Cap Martin and beyond is Menton. And then Italy.

There's still time to enter the Caption Competition - results on Tuesday. A postcard of Monaco to the winner.

The Rowing Regatta - Smiles and a Baby

The guys are from the Cannes-Mandelieu rowing club and ready to roll - well, ready to row.

And baby came too...