The Village Wedding - 24 - the toddler

The youngest guest? Actually she wasn't - there were tiny babies in prams but she has to be one of the most gorgeous. This beauty is called Laura.

Tomorrow, July 1st, is 'Theme Day' - so The Village Wedding will continue on the 2nd July.

The Village Wedding - 23 - the old man and the shoes

Remember the old man who lives in the apartment above the old elm tree. Click on the link to catch up with his story. Here he sits in his usual position under the 1713 elm. He sits, alongside wedding guests - perhaps taking a glance at those shoes? - certainly aware he's next to a beautiful lady, wouldn't you say?

See adorable little Lisa behind him - featured in numbers 20 and 21. She's happily playing at the foot of the tree.

The Village Wedding - 22 - more shoes

Lest you should think only one lady wore heels on cobbles, take a look at these three ladies - two resting their feet under the old elm.

The Village Wedding - 21 - the fearless child

We met Lisa yesterday - being helped by her mother. Here she is, whilst the ceremony was taking place in the church - running away from her father into what seems like a dark hole of the village (in fact simply a covered part of the beautiful old street) - but of course no fear for her, as she probably lives in the village and knows every inch of it. A fearless beauty.

The Village Wedding - 20 - the helping hand

A little girl being helped by her mother. She was quite the rebel this little beauty - her name is Lisa. Come back tomorrow and see how fearless Lisa was.

The Village Wedding - 19 - the cool guy

Sunglasses on head, phone to ear, cigarette in hand, cool clothes - does this add up to a cool guy? He's taking time out from the reception, sitting under the old elm tree which was planted in 1713.

The Village Wedding - 18 - the conversation

We saw the chubby young boy with the broken foot sitting here. Click on link. Now he's vacated his seat and it's been taken over by an older generation. The lady who is standing - dressed simply, but so elegantly. French women know just what to do with a scarf, don't they?

The Village Wedding - 17 - the mother of the bride's house

Just around the corner from the reception - opposite the post office and the lavoir (wash house) is this decorated house. Just out of frame to the right is a garden full of gnomes and other fantasy creatures. It was from this house that the bride left for the church.

The Village Wedding - 16 - the mother of the bride

Could she be anyone but the mother of the bride? Here admiring a baby at the reception and doubtless listening to words like, 'you'll be a grandmother soon.' This is one of those scenes that could be seen in any town or village in the world, don't you think? Place, language - it doesn't matter.

The Village Wedding - 15 - the secret

Whilst the ceremony was taking place, I looked over the wall and there below were these two children - sharing a secret. Looking at their clothes, I got the feeling the one in orange will be a guest - the other, perhaps not?

The Village Wedding - 14 - the onlooker

She stood just ouside the main square, looking, staring, totally absorbed by the wedding reception. Note the effort she's made tho - a pretty scarf tucked into her cardigan. But oh, those poor arthritic hands.

To answer questions: No, I wasn't the official photographer and no, I wasn't an invited guest either. Like this lady, I was simply looking on - but in my case, snapping away as I walked around or stood and also stared. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was a guest and who was a villager. Everyone enjoyed it though, especially me!

I respected the centre of the square - and the reception itself - and walked around the outside - the 18-zoom lens on my camera doing all the work. Of course, many people were taking photographs so it was fairly easy to get lost in the crowd.

(I'm in the USA at the moment - Westerville, near Columbus, Ohio - later I'll be in Utah - so big apologies for lack of comments over the last week and thanks so much to everyone who is commenting on my blogs. I really appreciate them. I hope, from today, to slowly start commenting again provided Internet access allows it).

The Village Wedding -13 - the girls

Girls, girls, girls. There were lots of pretty girls at this wedding.

The Village Wedding - 12 - the beautiful child

This little beauty had just picked two geranium flowers (pelagonium) and put them behind her ears. I asked her father if I could photograph her and he proudly agreed. She smiled as you see, for the smaller photograph.

I prefer though the main photograph which I took a minute or so later - a rather wistful look.

The Village Wedding - 11 - the dress

The couple had just arrived from the church, under that arch - and into the square for the reception - the little boy is just fooling around. Nice dress, eh?

The Village Wedding - 10 - the mouthful

Mid-mouthful really. Chewing - about to swallow.

The Village Wedding - 9 - the waitress

I love her hand and expression, don't you? The food and drinks were organised and served by the restaurant across the square - the Beau Sejour. Just drinks and nibbles as I said before - later the guests will go to a big reception in Cap d'Ail.

Note: The Frugal Traveler from the New York Times featured Monte Carlo and Menton recently. Click on the link read about Monaco and then see a video of Menton. Thanks so much to Alden for this information.

The Village Wedding - 8 - the guitarists

You saw one of the guitarists yesterday. Here are the rest of them, warming up for the wedding - and presumably getting ready to ogle more pretty girls - of which there were many.

The Village Wedding - 7 - the look

Here's the wearer of yesterday's shoes. Just look at the young guy's eyes! He's one of the guitarists, by the way.

The Village Wedding - 6 - the shoes

Heels on cobbles. It surprised me to see so many women wearing high heels for the village wedding. The steep walk up to the church from the village square is daunting enough in flat shoes - forget heels... Come back tomorrow and meet the wearer of these glamorous shoes.

Nathalie features a wedding - always fabulous photographs from Nathalie - on Avignon Daily Photo today.

The Village Wedding - 5 - the broken foot

This little boy - perhaps he was a page boy at the wedding? - sits down to eat as he has a broken foot. You can see the crutches lying beside him. He sits outside the Restaurant Beau Sejour in the village. The owners and staff decorated the square so beautifully, provided comfortable seating and of course served the food and drink for the guests.

The climbing plant is Trachlospermum Jasminoides, by the way.

The Village Wedding - 4 - the reception

The reception in the village square. Actually this was simply a champagne and nibbly bits reception. Later everyone went down to La Pinede, the restaurant over the water in Cap d'Ail, for the reception proper.

See Sally from Sydney Daily Photo in Monte Carlo today! Please click on the link.

The Village Wedding - 3 - walking to the square

Here we see Patricia and Walter walking down through the village after the ceremony - you can just glimpse the Mairie on your left. There is a reception in the village square. Come back tomorrow and let's meet some of the guests.

Sally and family (Sydney Daily Photo) are still asleep....zzzzzzzzzz

The Village Wedding - 2 - the ceremony

The ceremony inside the village church, Eglise Saint Barthélémy. We'll take a closer look at this lovely church another time and when no one is in it.

Meanwhile, I'm off to Arma di Taggia's railway station in Italy to collect Sally (and family) from Sydney Daily Photo. That's about an hour and a half away. Why aren't I collecting them at Menton railway station? Well - they've found a 250 kilo bomb near to Ventimiglia station and this afternoon all roads in and out and of course all trains are disrupted from 1.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. so there are no through trains from Italy to Menton. 8000 residents nearby have been evacuated. Anyway it takes more than a 250 kilo World War II bomb to keep Sally away!

The Village Wedding - 1 - outside the church

The medieval village of Gorbio - and a wedding. Here the happy couple, Patricia and Walter, have just left the Eglise Saint Bathélémy. Come back over the next days - we'll go into the church, we'll meet some of the guests, we'll watch the kids play and we'll drink champagne - in fact, what most people do at weddings.

Snack

Snack time, snapped at the parade of old cars in April.

Wild garlic

Wild garlic growing in a planter on a balcony in Gorbio. What looks like old wood is in fact concrete. You often see fencing made to look like trees and branches.

Back from Spain last night and sick with fever and bronchitis, which is why I didn't comment on Theme Day on Monday or Tuesday. A visit to the doc this morning produced antibiotics, and a ton of other medication. French docs love to prescribe. It will surely sort me out before Sally (& famille) from Sydney DP arrives on Sunday. Spain has the same dreadful weather as much of southern Europe this year so I blame the weather and lots of work at the show.

Returned to no telephone or internet - again! A call this morning promised it would be done on the 11th June and then two hours ago - miracle! - two young France Telecom guys arrived and it's fixed. Rah, rah, rah. They said the line was damaged, bent and needed replacing and there was some other problem too. Thanks so much for all comments. Now, finally, with the Internet working at home, I'll start to catch up with you all.

House in the Hills - 3

Here's another house in the hills above Menton - you can see how the garden is terraced with retaining walls to prevent the soil falling. Essential on slopes like this.

House in the Hills - 2

Here you see the same house as shown yesterday, plus another one in front of it. I can't work out if it's built into the rock or there has been a rock fall at the side of the house?

House in the Hills - 1

A house in the hills way above the Old Town of Menton.

Theme Day: My Local Shop

The little shop in Gorbio, a Medieval perched village a few kilometres above Menton. As you see, it's not just a shop but a meeting place for the locals. When I took this photo, the old couple giggled, with the wife covering her face. Later, she posed but this was the best photo of the owner, Madame Filippi, who stands at the door. Her husband owns the bar/restaurant in the village.

Do click here to view thumbnails of all 174 participants to see their take on today's theme

I'm working at a dog show in Spain all day today (150 Old English Sheepdogs from around the world) but will spend tomorrow catching up and commenting. Meanwhile have a lovely Theme Day everyone!