A late afternoon explore

We decided to stick around home Friday and Saturday, but by
Saturday evening we were itching to get out. We wanted to do something easy and quick so we went on a little explore 5 minutes across the border into Italy and stopped at the first little town called Grimaldi (after the family that rules Monaco). It was a one street town with paths leading from the street up or down the mountain to little homes. The views were spectacular. We went into the little Catholic church there when we arrived, and when we left there was a mass going on. We stepped in to hear the prayers.

I used a smaller picture format since there are so many, but they are difficult to move around and look sloppy...they'll have to do (you should be able to click on them to enlarge).

Here is a picture of the ceiling of the church, as well as one of those plaster Virgin Mary figures so typical of these small Catholic chapels. There was a tremendous amount of decor going on! Also the girls in front of the alter. I was trying to capture the sky blue paint but it didn't come out very well. And, of course, a penitent Ceci in the confessional.




















Intermingled are a few shots of the town. A common home, the Pope carved into the old, stone wall, a picture of the girls and me with our little town of Menton in the background, a garden with view (!), an eggplant plant (Ever seen one of those?), a few fun pictures of Tennie, a picture of Ceci with her tooth looking like Nanny McPhee, and some hottie pics of Geoff. There you have it.

































After our explore we went to Old Town Ventimiglia and had pizza for dinner. This town is walled and fully inhabited. As with all of these old fortified cities there is only one small entrance. The walkways are windy and confusing (as to confuse the enemy of olden days who got into the walled city). Old Town Ventimiglia was inhabited by the Germans during WWII, with the American soldiers in Menton. There are bullet holes in the walls, and facade damage on the walls. A little red paint stills comes through in some areas, and the details of the fountains and windows and archways tell of a gorgeous and weathy city in its day. There is sort of an echo in these old walled cities, and at night it is sort of cavernous. Most entertaining of all is when Geoff and I try to communicate in Italian. We throw out French, Spanish and English (all in one sentence) waiting for any word that someone will understand. We managed to order a pizza, though, with the dough made on the spot. Delish!