Paris

Villefranche, a surprisingly unspoilt little town, is sited in a unique cadre, like an amphitheatre along a beautiful and deep bay, where warships from the American 6th fleet throw sometimes their anchor despite in my opinion the view of such ships is quite displaced in such scenery. This city of about 8000 inhabitants, is protected by the beautiful Cap Ferrat and the Mont Boron, which results in an average temperature 4 degrees higher as in Nice. People of Nice know that very well and they adore coming here.
The 16th century CITADEL, high perched on a grey limy eminence, appears heavy with its thick walls and turrets. It dominates the bay and is like a huge quarry, with sheer walls set at an angle for greater stability and tiny watchtowers. Within the citadel, the town hall, chapel of St. Elme and several museums are housed. One dedicated to local painters, the other to the history of Villefranche (shipwrecks, treasures recovered from the sea like almonds�.). The museum Henri Goetz-Boumeester is a collection of about a 100 works by Picasso and more of Picabia, Miro, Hans Hartung�.All these were gifts to the couple. VOLTI was a resident of Villefranche and his museum is dedicated to most of his works.
A few works of Jean Cocteau at the first floor of a hacienda style building.
At the foot of the citadel lies the yacht harbour, nice to see for its ochre and red Italian style houses, with a lot of restaurants and cafes. The view on Cap Ferrat is superb.
Let�s visit the small roman CHAPELLE SAINT-PIERRE DES PECHEURS, located right on the quay Courbet. The French writer-painter-poet Jean Cocteau, who lived in Villefranche between the two world wars, decorated the interior in 1957 with stunning and symbolic mural paintings about the life of Peter (Pierre), saint patron of the fishers; Peter walking on water, sitting in jail, betraying his master. The paintings are interwoven with daily life scenes of a fisher existence: boats, the sea, fisher women, fishes and crabs. The black lines and the soft pastel shades of the paintings remind us of a fishnet.
Getting out of the chapel, just let�s finish this visit of Villefranche by a walk through old town. From the harbour a staircase leads to the adorable Place de la Paix and from there the rue Obscure, an almost deserted street completely overarched by decayed pointed arches. Another staircase leads to the 17th century baroque church Saint-Michel on the place de la Paix. Inside, a giant Christ carved in wood. If you�re not in a hurry, find and loiter in the rue du Poilu, which leads to the tiny place du Conseil, old streets and stairs, small squares that have all fine views on the sea.

Villefranche Old Town

We have seen all there is to see in Villefranche. From now on the coast road will begin to get uphill and views will be breathtaking. Let�s head to this marvel of nature, the peninsula of Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat.

From Nice to Saint-Tropez (suite)

Cap d'Antibes

Juan les
Pins-Golfe-Juan-Vallauris

Cannes

Iles de Lerins

La Napoule and Henry Clews

Esterel cornice to Frejus

Frejus

Sainte Maxime to Port Grimaud

Old Grimaud and Cogolin

Saint-Tropez

From Saint Tropez to Cassis

Ramatuelle-Gassin-Croix Valmer-Cavalaire sur mer

Le Lavandou-Bormes les Mimosas