Sunday

37. Gorbio

Gorbio is an enchanting medieval village in the hills above Menton. We spent a morning wandering around with our indefatigable 'tour guide', Jilly. You can see many more lovely photos of Gorbio on Jilly's blog Menton Daily Photo. Down the right habd side of her home page you will see Labels : Go for Villages Close to Menton - Gorbio to see all her posts featuring Gorbio.

Gorbio has a population of 930.

Below: The village has a functioning lavoir - an outdoor wash-house, fed by water from the fountain.


Below: The sign says: L'USAGE de la FONTAINE et du LAVOIR est STRICTEMENT RESERVE aux LAVANDIERES




Below: Garden of a house where a wedding recently took place from (the bride's parents')
Below: This fountain was built in 1882.
Below: Place de la Mairie, with the Town hall (Mairie)

Below: A colourfully decorated household mailbox.

Below: The square outside the village church, the Eglise Saint Barthélémy. The pink rose petals are left from the wedding couple of weeks earlier.




Below: Inside the church...the one of the altar end didn't turn out (bad light conditions, ie too much)


Below: One of the lovely cobbled medieval streets
Below: This dog on the balcony has a great view over the valley and motorway.
Below: This picture of the motorway was not taken in the meieval village, but a bit further down. These European roads in the sky are an engineering miracle!
Below: The town oven, still used for baking breads and pastries I believe. Especially useful if you are baking large quantities on trays too big to do at home.
Below: Looking up at the Tour Lascaris from Place Honoré Vial
Below: We passed this yard where tree branches which had been painted or treated in some way were propped. Many artistic people live in Gorbio, so no doubt they will turn up somewhere as part of a creastive endeavour.
Below: Two young students and a dog ( at least I think they were students, and were meant to be studying for end of year exams) take a coffee break outside this house at the top of the village.
Below: The Yellow Pages had recently been delivered.
Below: walking down from the chateau at the top of the village. Love the plastic cafe-type strips in the doorway. Reminds me of Australia in the 1960s!
Below: I loved the juxtaposition of the plastic flower pot against the rustic stonework. Out of place? At least it is terracotta colored. The petunia is a gorgeous shade of purple, anyway.
Below: More traditional earthenware pot.
Below: A Nativity scene in the village, behind a locked door, but a grille means you can look in.
Below: Back in the main square of the town, with its fountain. Built in 1902 as an abreuvoir (feeding / watering trough) for mules and donkeys, it takes the form of a harness and pair of baskets as carried by mules.
Below: On one side of the square is this house with trompe l'oeil windows
Below: Relaxing after our walk at the Bar Les terrasses. It was from here I took the previous photo.


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