Following a request from one of our readers a few days ago, I’ve been trying to find information about an Italian artist named Alberto Magnelli. Not having much success I thought a trip down to the Maeght Foundation in St Paul de Vence might provide me with the answer. Sadly I drew a blank but it was fun to get out of the house and away from the computer where I had been hunched over my keyboard for several days working on the website.

Although today stayed cloudy and cold, the drive was immensely enjoyable due to the number of Mimosa trees in spectacular bloom and orange and lemon trees heavy with their fruit. While the deciduous trees may have lost all their leaves, not so with the olive and many varieties of pine trees that make up our landscape and continue giving us a touch of greenery even in winter.

Even today, after all these years living here, I’m still taken by surprise by the winter months on the Cote d’Azur and the delights they hold. Yesterday lunch time I walked to Opio with Freddy our Fox Terrier; about a thirty minute walk from where we live. While in the shade it was rather cold, out in the sunshine we topped a rather decent 24°C/75°F. As we walked past a number of gorgeous mimosa trees, plump oranges and lemons ready for picking, roses and Bougainvillaea starting to flower again, it struck me that January (here) ain’t so bad at all!