Agretti

We're in Beausoleil market today - so near to Italy that it's no surprise to find signs for produce written in Italian. This is Agretti - looks like grass, doesn't it? In fact it's a tender succulent, native to the Mediterranean. It's also known as Barba di Frate (Monk's Beard) and in English, Barilla Plant, Opposite Leaved Saltwort or Russian Thistle.

Frances Mayes, author of the wonderful Bella Tuscany, wrote of this plant: 'Spinach is the closest taste, but while agretti has the mineral sharpness of spinach, it tastes livelier, full of the energy of spring.'

Remove the roots, steam for 5 minutes, and serve still slightly warm with some olive oil and lemon or prepare fettucine and mix with fresh chopped agretti, lemon and oil.

Swish...for International Women's Day

Couldn't resist the swish of this lady's cape.

It's a day late, but nevertheless a photo for yesterday's International Women's Day.

The Accordion Player

How's this for a beard! This lovely man was playing the accordion in Beausoleil yesterday and was happy to let me take his photo. Carlo is a member of the Scottish Dance Group of Monaco. He lives in Menton.

Heels

How does she walk in those heels?

Up and Down

Cypresses on the ground, cypresses on the roof - in Fontvieille.

As Winter as it Gets

This is about as 'winter' as it gets in Monaco. We're in the Princess Grace Rose Garden - the roses have been pruned and fed and are waiting for spring. The olives have had a heavy pruning too - but not long now, and buds will be bursting.

That's the circus tent you see in the background.

Dire Straights

A wobbly yacht in the port of Fontvieille.

Fontvieille - Homage to Raymond Orfali

Fontvieille is the area of Monaco constructed, almost entirely, on land artificially reclaimed from the sea. It added 22 hectares to the area of the Principality and necessitated the use of 7.5 million cubic meters of earth and rock. After the work was finished in 1973 the actual construction of the buildings in Fontvieille began and this new quarter of the Principality started to develop.

This plaque is a hommage to Raymond Orfali, who was the chief engineer for the project from 1965 to 1971 instigated by the late Prince Rainier III, known as the 'Builder Prince.' (Click on the link to see a photo of Prince Albert II and Raymond Orfali at the inauguration of this plaque).

Pristine!

Monaco is clean! Everywhere is pristine and here's one of the reasons. This guy is pressure cleaning the pathways in the Parc Paysager de Fontvieille, very near to the Princess Grace Rose Garden.

Jean-Michel Jarre and electricity!

It's Theme Day in the City Daily Photo community and this month's theme is ' electricity' so we're going back to the fantastic Jean-Michel Jarre concert on the port - given by Prince Albert and Princess Charlene in July last year to celebrate their wedding.

It was a great night and it took a lot of electricity!

To see how others around the world have interpreted this theme click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Sweeping up Botero's Ash

Fernando Botero created his wonderfully voluptuous 'Woman Smoking a Cigarette' in 1987. She endlessly smokes her cigarette in the Parc Paysager de Fontvieille.

Do you suppose the man in the smaller photo is sweeping up her ash?

Wrapped up for Winter

Many of the trees and shrubs, despite blue skies and sunshine, are wrapped up for winter but then it's still chilly at night. These are in the Parc Paysager de Fontvieille, near the Circus tent.

Winter Haircut

The olive trees in Monaco have had a winter haircut. This tree grows outside the church of Saint Nicolas in Fontvieille.

Bronze Water

We're back in Monaco today and this fountain in Fontvieille has always been a favourite of mine.

It's fascinating to watch the continually falling water. You can see a couple of photos I took three and a half years ago, including a longer shot which shows the complete sculpture - HERE.

The Trophy of the Alpes - the Restoration

A moody view of the Trophy des Alpes taken from La Turbie. You can see how it dominates the landscape.

In his Naturalis Historia, Pliny the Elder (23 - 79 A.D.) refers to the existence of the monument. However, from the end of Antiquity onwards, the Trophy of the Alpes receded from memory as its stones were used to build the village and fortifications. The ruined monument attracted travellers and Romantic artists enamoured of picturesque sites and scholars wondered whether the ruins at La Turbie could be clearly identified as the Trophy of the Alpes. After a great deal of research, it was.

During the Middle Ages, the site was converted into a fortress. Then, in 1705, Louis IV ordered the Trophy blown up but the 17-century-old construction largely withstood his efforts. The durable stone was pillaged to build the Saint-Michel church (see smaller photo) as well as other constructions.

Just before the Conté de Nice and Savoy were reattached to Fance in 1860, the Savoy royal family ordered restoration to begin. They didn't achieve much but at least what they did prevented further deterioration. Casimir, a local archeologist began excavations in 1900. The archeologist Formigé became interested and, in the 1920's, the wealthy American Dr Edward Tuck employed architects to restore the Trophy, including replacing stones where they deduced they belonged. The restoration was completed in 1934.

The Trophy of the Alpes - the Emperor Augustus

In 13 BC the Emperor Augustus planned a new coast road into Gaul (Provence). This road became the Via Julia Augustus (or Via Julia, later to merge into the Aurelian Way that was built 150 years later.) Augustus used this route to conquer the Ligurians and bring the Pax Romana to Provence. La Turbie was a strategic site as it was the highest point on the long Roman road into Gaul and marked the gateway between Italy and the Roman conquests of Gaul.

The map (click to enlarge) shows the peoples of the Alpes vanquished by Augustus during the second half of the first century BC and indicates the main Roman roads.

Interestingly, you can now visit 9 sites in a Roman itinerary (via Julia Augusta) starting here, at the Trophy in La Turbie - of which the caves of Balzi Rossi and the Hanbury Botanical gardens in Italy (just across the border) are visited - and finishing in Ventimiglia.

This model of the Emperor Augustus stands in the small museum adjoining the Trophy - a copy of the one in the Vatican in Rome.

The Trophy of the Alpes - the Goats

The Trophy of the Alpes celebrates the Emperor Augustus' conquest of the Gaulish Tribes between 25 and 14 B.C. From the Col de la Turbie, the highest point of the Julia Way (via Julia Augustus) the monument overlooks the sea from San Remo to Esterel and asserts the power and protection of Rome.

The walk throught the ground surrounding the Trophy affords some fabulous views over Monaco, amid box trees, rockroses, lavenders, bilberries and cypresses.

There are even a couple of friendly goats...

The Trophy of the Alpes - How it was Built

The museum, alongside the Trophy, is excellent and you'll find this model of the monument as it was when it was built in the first century B.C.

It is made of interlocking substructures, which make the structure very solid. A solid internal cylinder with foundations composed of a ring of radiating pillars supports an upper collanade which was very tall. Around this the quadrilateral base walls were structured by large enveloping stonework walls and other internal walls made of small stonework which formed cavities filled with packing material. This was filled with blockwork and mortar, the layers of which are still visible, showing how work progressed on the site.

They sure knew how to build...those Romans.

The Trophy of the Alpes

Anyone visiting Monaco and this part of the French Riviera can't have missed seeing the 'Trophy of the Alpes' at La Turbie, which overhangs the Principality of Monaco.

It was a 50 metres high monument, built in the 1st century BC to the power of Rome and the glory of the Emperor Augustus. It's now 35 metres high and you can visit the Trophy, indeed climb many steps - and we will.

Do come back tomorrow...




(the photos were taken last September)

Billowing Curtains

This photo (taken last year) shows the use for the poles seen yesterday. They support these white curtains that, in this photo, billow crazily in the wind. This is La Note Bleue restaurant on Larvotto Beach - and very good it is too.