Noriko and Kaito

Crossing the Casino Gardens is always a pleasure and often a great place to grab a photo - a tree, a flower, people. And of course, with a camera in my hand, I often get handed a camera and asked to snap a couple or a family.

That's what happened a couple of days ago. Lovely Noriko asked if I would photograph her and her son in front of one of the fountains and afterwards I asked if I could repeat this on my camera and here it is. Noriko is Japanese and lives in Liguria which is across the border in Italy. And how adorable is her son Kaito!

Cigarette Break

A book, a cigarette - a break from work at one of the up-market fashion or jewellry shops on Allée Serge-de-Diaghilev, just off Casino Square. The street is named after the famous Russian dancer who founded the Ballets Russes.

Off to work we go...

The side entrance to the Café de Paris - almost time to start serving lunch. Don't you love the beautiful Art Nouveau glass.

Jean Reno?

This guy was part of a football team made of up French firemen - in Monaco for a national game. Some of the players dragged this man forward, teasing him and telling me he looked like French actor, Jean Reno and insisting I photograph him. So I did.

The Bateau Bus

The solar-powered Bateau Bus is Monaco's most fun form of public transport. It takes off from the
Terminal Croisière (where the big cruise ships come in) and crosses Port Hercule every twenty minutes. And at only 1 euro it's probably the world's cheapest charter and a fabulous way to get up close and personal with the mega yachts in the harbour.

To see how other bloggers in the City Daily Photo community have interpreted today's theme of 'Public Transportation' please click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Zoom on the Palace

We're looking at the Palace taken from the far side of the port - below Casino Square. That's a long way for my relatively small zoom.

Hector Berlioz

The Hector Berlioz sculpture stands in the small garden just below the entrance to the Monte Carlo Opera House. It was erected in 1903 to mark the centenary of this celebrated composer and conductor's birth. Berlioz died in 1869.

Ready Money

One of the wrought-iron lamps hanging over the entrance to the Casino.

'Ready money is Aladdin's lamp' ~ Lord Byron

Moonaco!

At the recent Monaco Yacht Show, the company called Moonen Yachts drew attention to themselves with this sign - and it worked!

The Knot in the Beard

Deep in thought sitting on a bench outside Decathlon. How does he do that clever thing to his beard?

The Recycling Bins

I wouldn't normally post a photo of a rubbish bin, but these have to be the neatest, cleanest re-cycling bins I've ever seen. In France, they are enormous and usually overflowing and often dirty.

We're in Fontvieille, almost opposite the Columbus Hotel and with the Princess Grace Rose Garden behind that tall hedge you see on the left of the small photo.

Email with View

The terrace below the Elsa restaurant at the Monte Carlo Beach Hotel is a good place to check emails.

Late Afternoon

Late afternoon sun on the yachts in the bay although it's already left the square by the Grimaldi Forum. This was taken on the last day of the Monaco Yacht Show hence so many boats out at sea. That's Cap Martin off to the left.

Chanel's Snow Lady

Last winter we had snow in Monaco so Chanel have produced an outfit to keep us all warm! Meanwhile, one of the gardeners in Casino Square works in his shirt sleeves.

The Truck on Stilts

You don't really expect to see a truck on stilts in Monaco. I turned the corner in Fontvieille, just by the Princess Grace Rose Garden, and there it was. It houses a sort of cradle that gets the guys who prune the trees high up into the branches.

And naturally, because it's Monaco, notice how clean and shiny it is.

Trimming the Olive Trees

We in the centre of Fontvieille today. Three men - one steadies the ladder, one is half way up and there's another hidden in the branches.

Tree Lopping Time in Monaco

It's tree pruning time near the Princess Grace Rose Garden in Fontvieille and the guys are all so friendly.

Rather him than me tho! That's a long ladder and look, he's not standing on it, but on a contraption wrapped around the palm he is lopping.

Shine

More of Villefranche-sur-Mer's charming old village.

Tomorrow - back to Monaco.

The Kitchen Worker

We're at Villefranche-sur-Mer today - a beautiful town along the coast from Monaco, just before Nice. The Old Town dates back to 130 BC and one day I'll get some shots in decent weather. Yesterday it rained - as you see.

The Old Shop

Not all of Monaco is high rises and posh hotels. Here's a charming building with an old shop on street level. It's on Boulevard Charles III which is just above the market place in Place d'Armes.