I am starting this post with the same panoramic vista of Villefranche Bay that has already been posted a few weeks ago. Utterly mesmerizing!
And then, somewhat gratuitously, here are a few other shots taken from the same spot on our apartment balcony, differing by the time of day, lighting conditions, and focal lengths.
I took a lot of shots from that perch.
Here is a different angle, which puts the Villefranche marina into the frame, from a viewpoint on the western edge of the bay.
Villefranche-sur-Mer was our base for a week-long stay on the Riviera at the end of the summer. Fifteen minutes from Nice, it is the kind of town whose charm is not expressed in terms of a “killer feature”. Obviously, there are those views! Aside from that, the compact historic center at the edge of the bay envelops you in a distinctly French-Mediterranean vibe.
Among the defined points of interest in the village is the Chapelle de St-Pierre, renovated and decorated in 1957 by the famous local son Jean Cocteau in his inimitable style. Photography, unfortunately, is not permitted inside, so I am only including the frontal view here.
La Citadelle holds a prominent spot overlooking the bay. Nowadays, it hosts a collection of small art museums.
Another mild point of interest is Rue Obscure, a 450-foot-long covered passage running parallel to the waterfront. The houses were built above it mainly due to the general lack of space, rather than by any specific design, and, fairly uniquely in the modern world, the street itself was not buried under new foundations over the course of the centuries.
A plaque depicts the aforementioned Jean Cocteau’s rendering of Rue Obscure.
From the historical curiosity department: Villefranche-sur-Mer used to host a Russian imperial naval base in the 18th and 19th centuries. In a small square opposite the citadel, there are busts to Russian naval commanders, brothers Orlov and Admiral Ouchakov.
Let’s look at the bay again, this time from a viewpoint on the northeastern edge.
Easy to fall in love with this town.