 With its colourful fishing boats and
nets, the port is both a base for fishermen and tourists, offering numerous
cruises in the summer. You can wander along the fishing wharves, bordered
by restaurants and their terraces. If you continue until the end you will
arrive at the lengthy Villefranche beach which is pleasant from the very
first days of summer.
The
Saint Elme citadel which over-looks the sea dates from the 16th century
and appears to watch over the old part of the town today. 
The village houses an auditorium, museums, "la
cité des métiers d'art" and hanging gardens. The army left here in 1965,
(to their regret no doubt) and left in their place numerous art collections
:  Art and History museum, the Goetz-Boumeester collection (works by Picasso,
Picabia...), the "Fondation-musée Volti" (contemporary sculptures) and
even the Alpine-Hunting museum. 
The old village shelters narrow roads and stair-ways
with the most evokative names : rue Obscure, rue du Poilu. Covered passages
lead down to the coloured facades of the ancient houses which have been
carefully renovated. With their windows wide open at the height of summer
you can hear snatches of lively conversation and smell the mouth-watering
Mediterranean cuisine from within.
Jean Cocteau, a native of the area, liked to come
to Villefranche where he made friends with the fishermen to whom he dedicated
his re-decoration of the Chapelle Saint-Pierre... a site not to be missed. |
Magazine 
Villefranche
sur Mer is situated near Nice and Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, right in the heart
of the most beautiful and rich part of the Côte d'Azur. It's here that the
most splendid properties are hidden away, and where the world's millionaires
love to spend their holidays.
Sites to see : 
