Riviera lights, markets... and dancing jellyfish

Here on the riviera a lot of effort is put into decorating towns at Christmas time and ensuring there is plenty going on to cheer up the darkest weeks of the year. Councils spend a lot of money on illuminations and entertainments. There are also various Christmas markets and funfairs. I'd like to show you some of the festive colour from the three largest settlements: Nice in France, Sanremo in Italy and Monte Carlo in Monaco. I'll provide my own commentary to photos and short film clips here, which you can click to enlarge or play, but you decide for yourselves what is most attractive according to your own tastes. Feel free to comment, and any descriptive vocabulary, from "wonderful" and "beautiful" to "tacky" and "naff", is entirely acceptable. These entertainments are all public and all free so I usually give feedback to the local authorities who are using our tax dollars euros to create them.

Piazza Borea d'Olmo, Sanremo, Italy, after the mayor switched on the lights.

 

Nice, capital of the riviera

Nice has a typically long, straight, wide shopping boulevard, Avenue Jean Médecin, culminating in a vast city square, Place Masséna, which has public parks on either side. The avenue has every other tree decorated in white fairy lights and, coupled with shops' and bars' own window displays, looks both pretty and grand.

 

The square contains the Fountain of the Sun (Fontaine du Soleil), with a huge statue of the sun god, unshamedly naked. Also unashamed is the vast animatronic anthropomorphic animal advert for French ski resorts that surrounds it. Ha! the winter olympics are in Italy and presumably French resorts risk losing money, is the cynic's retort here! But we are no cynics, are we? (cyniques? nous? parbleu!) and we quite enjoy the display with its flocked trees and happy skiing bears (bears do ski, don't they?)

 

Place Masséna with Christmas tree illuminations. The illuminated kneeling statues on poles are a permanent art installation. 

Place Masséna with flocked Christmas trees and lit up ferris wheel. Only in Nice can you be mooned by the sun! We wish you a botty Christmas! 

 

Rabbits kissing in the snow. I'm not sure this sort of thing should be encouraged: just one rabbit kiss and, before you know it, you're knee-deep in bunnies!

 

The neighbouring Jardins Albert Ier (Albert I [of Monaco] Gardens), however, have some illuminated winter-themed sculptures surrounded by water, all for free. Polar bears, reindeer, elves, penguins, presents, trees, lanterns ...

By day ...

 

 By night ...

 

The surrounding water is only a centimetre deep which makes it safe and creates a mirror effect. 

This is the offering at the south west end of the Alps and I was keen to see it so as to compare it to Violetta's description on her lovely blog of a similar display called Lumagica in Innsbruck, Austria, at the eastern end of the Alps (link to Violetta's post: Hofgarten - Lumagica).

On the other side of the square is the ferris wheel that operates all year, and under it is a Christmas market and funfair. The market, like the sculptures, is free to get in but with security "comme à l'aéroport," as the security guy said to me... and he wasn't wrong. (They're very security conscious here in Nice after the 2016 Bastille Day attack when a terrorist drove a truck into hundreds of promenaders.)

The market is pretty and kids can meet Santa (for a fee) but the prices are silly. Everything in Nice is up to twice the price of stuff across the border in Italy, which is precisely why I live on that side of the border and not this one!

 

 

Sanremo, City of Music

I went to the switching-on ceremony in Sanremo, which was well-attended by families and, this being the City of Music, began with a long musical preamble in one of the central squares with music of several genres from pop to gospel, with an orchestra concert nearby. The light projections in the square and the illuminated Christmas sculptures that you can walk into were fun. Certainly magical for children who loved being part of the display.

 

 

  

The main illuminations are not just for the Christmas season but are intended to last through to the end of the huge Sanremo Music Festival at the end of February 2026, so the high street is festooned with lights right down its length.

The Festival is housed mainly in the massive Ariston Theatre that takes up the best part of a city block and was built in the 1970s so the theatre's neon signs are of funky Seventies stars and their funky hairdos. Groovy, man!

The highlight of the entertainment, though, had to be the trio of dancing jellyfish. Yes, you read that right. To various catchy Christmas hits, a troupe of four-metre (twelve-foot) high jellyfish pranced about the town entertaining (and endangering) the crowds. 

 

Watch for yourselves:

 

All together With Mariah Carey now: "All I want for Christmas is ...plankton."

Sanremo has a large funfair by the beach and an ice rink in the main square where the town's actual live pine tree is fully illuminated, with various other sculptures.

 

I'm pleased to see that illuminated decorations go right down the coast road through town for many miles. The also decorated the ugly concrete security blocks (to prevent a Nice copycat attack) to look like Christmas gifts, which is pleasing.

 

 

Monaco and Monte Carlo

Monaco has a lot of money and they don't stint on big displays. The old town on the rock (Le Rocher) is more traditional in its offerings. The palace has a line of Christmas trees outside between the cannons, all decked out in red.

 

It was fun to watch the daily changing of the guard with the festive tree backdrop.

 

With music if you prefer...

 

Down below at the main harbour, Port Hercule, there is a Christmas funfair and market, and a skating rink on what is normally the outdoor pool.

 

The funfair is better than the ones in Nice and Sanremo, being much more family friendly with good rides and better stuff for kids. And the market wins hands down over the one in Nice since the prices are entirely acceptable. I got some spiced tea for Christmas in preference to that from my usual outlet in Italy, and I also found the kind of unusual rings I've been looking for for some years and bought one that I really like ... more on that in another post.

The ice rink is certainly unique. Where else can you skate surrounded by fancy yachts and belle époque architecture?

 

The main Christmas decorations are in Monte Carlo, though, outside the Casino and the Café de Paris, and in the neighbouring Boulingrin Gardens. These are altogether on a different scale with a huge decorated Christmas tree, many smaller decorated trees and shrubs, and half a dozen huge glass balls containing tableaux of goofy animatronic reindeer doing various Christmassy things. See for yourselves ...

 

 

 

 

 

So here are just some of the lights, decorations and entertainments on the riviera this winter. There's a whole lot to be said another time about Christmas nativity scenes, which are a big tradition along this whole coast. In fact, villages and parishes can get quite competitive about it as the local crib is often a tribute to local craftsmanship and local pride, especially when a model of the locality stands in for Bethlehem. From the vast nativity scene with 300 statues that takes up half a hillside at Manarola to this tiny one carved in a wine cork that formed part of the crib displays around the palace at Monaco, it's something that's very much part of the winter festivities in this whole area. 

 

There's a lot to be said about winter flower displays, too, as flowers bloom all year in the mild climate. I'll stop here, though, as I have Christmas preparations to get on with. But I'll be posting again before Christmas. Good luck with your own preparations.

 

 

Sue x 

Enhancing femininity

 Wishing my lovely friend Roz a good outcome for her breast augmentation today. 

Roz has significantly more confidence in surgery than I have. I visited her after her gender confirmation surgery (or GRS) back in May. She then had facial feminisation surgery (FFS) in the summer. She is pleased with the outcomes of both so I'm hoping this final item will go perfectly, too. After all, if you've had your chassis rebuilt and your bonnet smartened up, it seems only right to treat yourself to some nice new bumpers as well! 

All this in one year, though, is quite heavy going but these days you have to accept your surgery when it's offered or go back to the end of the queue and likely wait years.

I mention this in case others are contemplating it. The breast surgery is, surprisingly, the most awkward to recover from: no driving for at least six weeks and no lifting or stretching above the head. So Roz tells me that she has been practising acting as though she was a tyrannosaurus rex, trying to do housework and other tasks with just little arms stuck out in front!

Anyway, I think I'll send her some cherry buns to celebrate! Appropriate?

 

Walk in heels

Thank you for all the positive feedback on my new footwear. I'm happy with the choices I made. 

Obviously, I have an unusually small foot for a TGirl and I know how hard it can be to get nice shoes in larger sizes. Market forces rather than biology dictate what we can wear these days; once upon a time everything was hand-made and so fitted each individual. And who's going to make their own clothes these days? It's actually tempting to contemplate getting a sewing machine, knitting needles and so on but, realistically, it's a lot of work, and I've only ever done a bit of cross-stitch before, which is not as easy as it looks at first, and some crochet work. Women I have known who have looms, spinning wheels, sewing machinery and so on love what they do as it's creative. It's true that there is nothing like working with your hands; industrialisation seems to have removed satisfaction from a lot of work like this. One of my grandmothers did beautiful needlework, notably embroidering sheets, covers and cushions, and any holes that were irreparable often had her adding patterns and images round them, giving them a new lease of life as decorations. I keep insisting that being a trans women is not just about the clothes but the interests we have and activities we do, too.

Back to shoes. One topic that arose from my post was heel height. I learnt to walk in 3¼-inch (8.25 cm) tapered heels because that was the preferred style and height of heel in the late 1990s. That was when I stopped purging, accepted I was trans and bought a whole new female wardrobe, including lots of shoes and boots which all had that heel style because it was 'in' at the time. So that's what I feel most comfortable in even now. Maybe if the heels had been 5 inches or 1½, that would have been my preferred height to this day, who can say? 

Obviously, walking in heels for years on a carpet at home was one thing but actually walking out in the street was quite another and it took a while to get used to hard pavements and puddles. But that's how it went for me. 

So when I saw these new shoes, and they had the same heels as thirty years ago, I knew they were right. It's a bit like riding a bike: you never really forget. As with all things, walking in heels involves practising until you're perfect.

 

Sophie Kinsella

I am a voracious reader and I usually have some chick lit in the pile of books I have on the go. A personal tribute, therefore, to Sophie Kinsella who has passed away just shy of her 56th birthday after a struggle against cancer. Her books - "romantic comedy" as she preferred to call her brand of chick lit - are always quirky, funny, even zany, and certainly enjoyable, and she was undoubtedly one of the better - and perhaps best known - writers in this genre. I always enjoyed her anyway. 

I've some of her Shopaholic books here and I'll have a reread in her memory. Many thanks for the entertainment, Sophie. Rest in peace and free from pain.

 

Coming up on Sue's News & Views

It's a busy time of year but I am drafting my second Makoevers and Photoshoots post, which will be up shortly, and another one about the rather beautiful winter illuminations here on the riviera. I went to the switching-on ceremony in Sanremo, which was impressive. I've also been to Nice with its pretty illuminated Christmas sculpture park, Christmas market and illuminated main street, and I'm planning to go to Monaco and Monte Carlo shortly as it seems to have some beautiful decorations. There are funfairs and ice rinks and a lot of events going on here so it's going to be a nice month. 

 

Sue x 

Fab footwear

 Yesterday I picked up the items I'd ordered from Pittarosso. It's been some years since I went on a shoe spree and I was a bit nervous as I prefer to try on in a shop rather than just hoping that what they depict online is what things are like in reality.

I'm pleased to say, I'm happy with my purchases.

I know I keep going on about my legwear and footwear way more than frocks and hair but this is because I am a petite girl. To explain: I am just 163 cm high (that's five foot four inches) in my stockinged feet and that's average height for a woman but quite a bit less than the typical height of a trans woman. Added to that, my shoe size is just 38 (that's 5½ in the UK and, I believe, 7½ in the US). I have rarely been able to buy men's shoes in a size that really fitted me from my late teens onwards. Either I have gone to the children's department at the shoe shop (embarrassing!) or I have had to buy women's shoes, even when I have had to present as male. Nowadays a lot of shoes can be unisex so trying to get a less obviously feminine pair for male presentation is less of a problem. 

The result is that my legs need to look longer and slimmer so that I appear taller. Hence the importance to me of high heels, good hosiery, leggings, skinny jeans and skirts that are shorter than maybe suits a women of my age (although that notion is changing). I tend to dress from the ground up, therefore.

I know that for many TGirls finding women's clothes and shoes to fit is a problem. Most things are too small. You can see that being petite has advantages when buying women's clothes but it brings it's own considerations, too. 

So I wanted some nice new ankle boots to replace a pair that I bought in an emergency when the only style I could find was chunky heeled. I've always hated them, although they get points for being soft and comfortable. This is that ugly pair. 

 

As narrated last week I finally found a pair that would suit well, plus another pair that really caught my eye, and quite unnecessarily - but why not? - a pair of three-tone patent leather shoes with a stunning heel.

The main replacement boots have a nice solid rounded 7.5 cm (3 inch) heel. They're quite rigid and they'll take some breaking in so I shall wear them round the house for a bit. But they seem stylish, versatile and sensible, which is what I want.

 

They'd go well with legging, jeans, etc. more than a skirt.

The delicious ruched patent black ankle boots with slim 9 cm (3½ inch heel) were irresisitible and they fit beautifully. I love these. The manufacturers, bless them, have included some spare heel tips in the box.

This is something to wear in the evening with some smart or skinny jeans, say, or funky tights.

And then the shoes. I couldn't resist the black and cappuccino body with pink straps all in patent leather and the same slim, tapering 9 cm heel.  

 

I've no idea when I'll wear these but Christmas Day could be an opportunity. Sometimes you just have to get things because they look fabulous not because they serve a definite purpose!

I made a bit of an effort with my makeup today so here's me relaxing with my new purchases. This is exactly the same pose as the photo at the top where the chunky heels make my legs look chunky, too. The  new boots with slim heels make my legs look slimmer.

 

What do you think? Honest reviews appreciated. 

I'd have liked to have worn different outfits with each item but time is a bit limited today. 

Have a good weekend. It's going to be fun here as the Christmas lights get switched on and the local council has spent a lot of money on decorating the place, so I think it should look good.

Sue x 

Winterval, and Elle

 Back in the 1990s the city of Birmingham, England, called its range of winter festivities "Winterval", a conflation of winter and festival. Naturally enough, the British tabloid press, quite possibly the worst media outlets in the world, engaged in their unique form of rabid, frothing rage saying how traditional Christmas was being "banned" (a favourite misrepresentation of theirs) in the name of "political correctness" (which had doubtless "gone mad", ditto). I thought it was quite a good name for winter festivities that include but are not exclusive to Christmas. A more astute city administration could have said the term was coined by local boy William Shakespeare and since your average tabloid journalist probably wouldn't know how to check if that was true, Birmingham could have avoided a lot of aggravation.

Since becoming self-employed back in 2008 and working at home, I too tend to have a Winterval of my own, which stands for winter and interval because nothing, be it workwise or socially related, works in any normal way between early December and mid January. Or, as an old Nigerian colleague of mine put it when I had just started full-time permanent work and he was thwarted in completing something by the usual pre-Christmas chaos, "Oh man, it's Christmas; everything goes beserk!" And what with the severe effect that the short days and cold weather three weeks either side of the winter solstice have on my mood and ability to function, I need a cheerful, bright home at this season. It's not so dark and cold where I now live as it was in London, but yesterday I put up lights and decorations, candles and perfumed things, and set up and decorated the tree. The advent calendar is stuffed with chocolates, because you need these nibbles to keep your strength up every day, right? And so in this way I survive the crazy season, when it's dark and nothing works properly, with a bright, cosy home. Keeping the winter blues away one chocolate at a time... 

That said, it was lovely at lunchtime today and I was able to eat outdoors and get those essential sunrays. Last night, though, I celebrated the first day of Sue's Winterval with a glass of prosecco (which went straight to my head!) wearing another favourite old dress in blue wool (I've had this old faithful at least 25 years but I love it!) and winter boots.

 

 

Elle magazine

Once again - and it's not the first time - I have to pay tribute to Elle Italia for being a non-trans publication that is uniquely and openly supportive of the trans community. 

 

I try to write regular posts about what's happening in the world of the arts that's supportive of trans people or involves related interests but this year it's not been so easy to dedicate time to researching for these posts because of family matters. 

This week I am delighted to hear via Elle of a new exhibition by Andrea Francolini, an Italian photographer based in Sydney, Australia, whose latest exhibition is entitled Eyedentify and specifically celebrates the trans community, focusing on their eyes, the windows to the soul. Elle prints five of the portraits, each one full page. They're beautiful and you can see them online here, though the site seems to provide text only in Italian:

https://www.elle.com/it/magazine/arte/a69542629/eyedentify-andrea-francolini-identita-trans-progetto/ 

 

I'd like to thank Hearst Publishing and Elle Italia specifically for being such constant supporters of the trans community, always presenting us positively and genuinely. We can do with support right now. 

 

New items

I've had an email that my new boots and shoes should be arriving at my local outlet tomorrow. I'm looking forward to trying them on.

I also have a new nightie, a long black satin one with spaghetti straps. Although light, I think it should be warm as well as pretty. 

I'm wondering if I need a party dress for Christmas ... 

 

That's a nice, positive start to December. Yay!

Sue x