High above the Cote d'Azur

I could live here. Who couldn't?

Today we went to Italy

Ventimiglia, Liguria

And this is what I ate:

Tagliatelle con funghi porcini and the most tomatoey tomatoes I have ever tasted.  

In Dolceacqua, Liguria, Italia. Pop. 2000

After lunch, we climbed up through the extremely narrow and fairly steep arched alleyways of the old town to the ancient castle.  The ticket taker, whom I asked in the pitiful remnants of my Italian, how did they get any water way up there in ancient times, proceeded to enthrall us with a fascinating lesson in the history of the region in perfect but heavily accented English.  He apparently loved his job.

Here is the link to a video about the town.  It's in Italian but that doesn't matter.  The pictures are great and then it gets into some very funny old film footage tied loosely to the castle.

Http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pwvCwlG0Lic

I learned from this video that Monet painted the old stone bridge we walked across and they call it the Monet Bridge now.  That's why the bar we stopped at for coffee was called the Caffe de Monet.  Duh.

Villa Ephrussi Rothschild

Former home of Beatrice de Rothschild, who married Maurice Ephrussi, cousin of Charles Ephrussi, whose immense art collection included the netsuke of The Hare with the Golden Eyes.  This mansion houses Beatrice's own vast collection of art.  Built up high on the narrowest part of the Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat peninsula, the villa has stunning views of the sea.  Acres of gardens and musical fountains evoke the opulent life style of the wealthy during the Belle Époque.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sLKS8ZzKrM