Visiting Vallauris

After a hard day of housekeeping, we decided a little escapade somewhere would be a nice way to spend the afternoon. We decided upon Vallauris, since that also gave us the opportunity to do a short walk. Vallauris is not one of the most touristy towns on the Cote d’Azur – it has neither the cosmopolitan feel of Cannes or Nice, nor as picturesque an old town as say Grasse or Antibes.

But we kind of liked it anyway – the old town is pleasant enough, and has a real, almost gritty feel to it (the ugly suburbs which surround the old town are doubtlessly gritty for real). And it doesn't feel very touristy - which counts for quite a lot in this part of the world. Vallauris has been made famous by its two honorary citizens – Pablo Picasso (who lived here between 1948 and 1955) and Jean Marais (who lived here from 1980 until his death in 1998). It’s also well-known for its pottery. I even had myself a small lesson in Provencal (see the picture – “cu manga ben caga ben” means “who eats well, shits well” – excuse my provencal ;-).

After our brief walk around the town centre we walked (which at times felt dangerous, what with all the crazy dogs barking at us from the posh villas) up to the Oppidum of Cardela, situated on a small hill just outside Vallauris. Apparently there was an old Roman town here, which is being excavated. Well, nothing much for the casual visitor except for a lot of loose stones, I’m afraid… On the way back we popped into the cemetery to check out Marais’ grave.

Le Circuit du Paradis

As today turned out to be rather a typical day on the Cote d’Azur weather-wise (with the sun shining, and bright blue skies), we figured a healthy hike was in order. We chose a walk in the Vallee du Loup for today, the Circuit de Paradis.

The walk started from Bar-sur-Loup, which is a typically picturesque Provencal village – one that we have already visited a couple of times. So without further ado, we set out towards the destination of the walk Gourdon (another pretty village). The beginning of the walk was easy enough, gently climbing up along the Loup (which in this case is a river, rather than a wolf ;-) – with some great views over the river valley.

Things got quite a bit tougher as we arrived at the Chemin du Paradis – which is the footpath that leads down from the valley up to Gourdon (which is at an altitude of about 800 meters – so it’s a bit of a climb). We cheated as we were already at ~350 meter’s altitude – but it was still quite a steep hike. I wonder why they’ve named the footpath as they have –it could be a bit of French irony, but on the other hand the views from the path are pretty amazing…


After a picnic at a very scenic spot indeed just outside the village, we spent a while walking around Gourdon. We’d already been there a couple of times, and there isn’t much to see to be quite honest, but it’s a pleasant enough village in spite of all the touristy trinket shops. After what we thought was a well-deserved ice cream, we headed back down the chemin du Pararis, and back to Bar-sur-Loup along the bottom of the valley.


I had ambitious plans in the evening to watch the Nice Aigles ice-hockey team play against Lyons – the stakes were high – promotion to the French first division. Alas, it was not to be, since the game was sold out (probably for the first time in the history of the Nice Aigles). So I ended up catching a film instead, followed by a meal and a couple of beers at Mori’s bar with Sami…

Easter in Provence

Just as I was recovering from my trip to England, it was time for the next trip already, as Easter weekend was upon us. Provence was our chosen destination – the plan was to meet our good friends Philippe and Aniko there (who were coming from Toulouse).

So off we set, punching in the name of Roussilon (where we were supposed to stay) into the TomTom. Things didn’t look promising weather-wise, as it started raining around Aix-en-Provence. From there the road took us over the Luberon mountain range (great fun, zigzagging along the twisty roads in pitch dark) to our final destination – Roussilon. We were staying at a Chambre d’Hotes (French version of a bed & breakfast) just outside the village. Having been entertained by stories of the latest escapades of (mostly) Philppe and Aniko over a nice dinner and some good wine, we headed for the room for some well-deserved sleep.

As we got up a bit before Philippe and Aniko, we decided to take the opportunity to explore the village. Roussillion is famous for its ochre-coloured houses – which comes from the quarries just a couple of kilometers from the village. It was very picturesque indeed – especially as the skies were clear and the sun was shining. After a quick conference over breakfast, we decided to do a bit of trekking. We selected what seemed like a pretty straightforward Canyon walk near Opedette in the Luberon. Obviously, since I am involved, the walk turned out to be anything but straightforward. Things didn’t start particularly well as we didn’t find the start of the walk. But we did find a path, which eventually took us into the canyon. Well, to the bottom of it – which we quite soon realized was a bit beyond our skill or motivational levels. So we doubled back and eventually found a path that followed the rim of the canyon – from where we were treated to some pretty amazing views (a bit like a miniature Gorges de Verdon). The end of the walk was pretty hair-rising, as we had to descend into the depths of the canyon, and up to the other rim (where the car park was) – thanks god for those metal bars along the vertigo-inspiring paths we could cling onto… Once we finally made it, we treated ourselves to some well-deserved beers at the local bar in Opedette.

After a quick visit to Apt, we headed to the Colorado de Rustel – which is an ochre quarry - for another considerably less sporty walk. A very nice finish for the day – the colours were truly amazing in the fading afternoon sun… Although it has to be said the waterfall was a bit of a disappointment (water stream would be a more appropriate name…). In the evening we had a great meal at a local restaurant in Roussillon, washed down by some local wines…









We had ambitious plans (which didn’t involve any trekking this time – our feet were still sore from Saturdays adventures) for Sunday, so set off relatively early. We started off by visiting Gordes, one of the most picturesque and famous villages in Provence. Well, it has to be said, it is very pretty, perched on its hilltop. We spent a good while walking around its cobble-stoned streets – only slightly put of by the howling Mistral winds… Having explored the village, we headed for the nearby reconstructed Village de Bories (Bories are ancient stone dwellings originally dating back to 2000 BC), where we spent a while exploring this fascinating aspect of Provencal history…

In the afternoon, we headed to what is probably the most famous town in Provence, Avignon. It is mostly known for two structures – the Palais des Papes and the Pont St-Benezet (made famous by the song “Sur le Pont d’Avignon”). After a quick and very disappointing lunch (that’s what you get for going to the most reasonably-priced restaurants on the main square of one of the most touristy towns in the south of France…) we set about exploring the Palais des Papes, armed with a VERY informative audio-guide (by the end of the tout, my head really did feel like exploding, and naturally I’d already forgotten 90% of what I heard by the time we left the palace). The palace is, of course, where the catholic church was run for nearly 100 years under 7 French popes. To be sure it was a very impressive building, a pity all it has been raided of all furniture and decoration – so on the inside it’s quite plain. Still, it was interesting, and we were treated to some great views from the top. After this, we headed for the Pont St-Benezet, and yet more audio-guide information overload (I mean how much is there to say about one bridge? A lot, as we found out…). To cut a VERY long story short, the bridge was built by a shepherd called Benezet (who had been told to do so by god – hence he became a saint) – and was later made famous by a song.

As the day was yet young, we decided we had time for a quick detour to Chateauneuf-du-Pape, which is just 10 kilometers north of Avignon. Chateauneuf-du-Pape is famous for its Cotes-du-Rhones red wines. So naturally we headed straight for the first cave we could find for some wine tasting. The wine was good, but the experience was a bit of a disappointment compared to previous wine-tasting experiences (let’s just say that the lady could’ve made a bit more of an effort…). Well, we did buy a couple of bottles in the end… We finished the night off with another great dinner in Roussillon - followed by a couple of pints in the local bar with the friendly locals.




On Monday morning we were faced with a somewhat unexpected sight – a snow-covered ground! Having had our breakfast, we checked out and headed off towards today’s destination – an abandoned troglodyte village near Lamanon (in the Alpilles hills, in Southern Provence). After a couple of hours spent exploring the cave dwellings and the surrounding areas, it was time to start making our way back home, after a pleasant lunch in Salon-de-Provence. A nice finish to a very rewarding, if somewhat tiring Easter weekend!

More photos here!

Back to my favourite island nation...

After a few quiet weeks in the tranquillity of our Cote d’Azur office, it was once more time to experience the buzz of the UK office. My flight time on Monday was even earlier than normally (that's what you get when you book your travel for the week before Easter shall we say last-minute) – I had to get up before 5 o’clock in the morning… I was fully expecting problems with my journey, as I had a changeover in Paris and something always seems to go wrong when I travel. Imagine my surprise then, when I landed in Heathrow 10 minutes before the scheduled arrival time! Even more surprisingly, the sun was shining!

Monday night was spent, as it often is during my travels to England, in Guildford. This time the occasion was not only St. Patrick’s day, but also my birthday. The venue was the Stoke, our old local pub from our years in the UK. All the usual suspects turned up (except for Stephane, who did have a godo excuse as he had finally managed to sort out his ski trip) - even Adrian had made it all the way out to the bush from Richmond. Predictably copious amounts of Guinness were consumed. This time I even managed to avoid a fate worse than death (the dodgy late-night bar known as Flares), and crawled into bed at a nearly reasonable time...

For Tuesday night, Louise had most kindly booked a nice Mexican restaurant called Las Iguanas near Waterloo station in London (which makes getting back home a lot easier...). As we left work just after 4 to catch an early train into London, we had time to down a couple of pints at a nice pub near Blackfriar’s bridge before eventually stumbling into Las Iguanas, where we finished off the night with yet more beer (and a bit of food to go with it).

The rest of the week was more or less spent recovering (and working, of course ;-)... I had some worries about my trip back again, especially since my flight was from London City airport. Crossing London just as Easter holidays were starting seemed like a recipe for disaster to me. Amazingly though, I made it – with minutes to spare (I arrived 30 minutes before take-off – fortunately City airport is the smallest airport in London).

More pictures here.

Crete du Mont Macaron walk

It’s been a while since we’ve gone hiking, so since the weather was magnificent as nearly always in my hiking blog entries, we decided today was the day to get back into the swing of things.

We selected an easy walk near Nice this time, near the village of Chateauneuf-Villevieille (the name is a bit of a paradox – it means “New castle – old town”). The walk first took us to Vieux Chateauneuf (to continue on the theme of funny names - it means Old new castle ;-), an old ruined fortress which has been abandoned since the 19th century.

Having explored the ruins and enjoyed the panorama of snow-covered Alps visible in the distance, we set off for the highest point of the walk Mont Macaron (at 806 meters), passing by the Chapelle St-Joseph. From there we were treated to some nice views over Nice and the Med.

All in all, a very nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon! And we still left us plenty of time for Mathilde to vote in the second round of the local elections (which I had been to lazy to register for...), as well as catch a movie (“Be kind – rewind” by Michel Gondry, I can warmly recommend it…).

Birthday celebration in Nice

It’s that time of the year again, something I used to look forward to, but do so less and less with each passing year… Yes, that’s right, the dreaded birthday… It being on St. Patrick’s Day tends to make it hard work as well ;-). We decided to celebrate this occasion in Nice. After a rather busy day of opening pressies (yes, I opened them a bit early, I have to admit…), taking my parents to the airport etc. we eventually made it to Nice.


Our original plan was to meet up with Mikko and Marianne at a swanky restaurant in the old town called Le Meranda – but turns out it’s closed on weekend (must be pretty good if they can afford to stay closed during the weekend…). So we opted for an Italian restaurant in Cours Salyea instead – where I had an impressive-sized and –tasting plate of pasta, followed by an even more impressive-sized bowl of chocolate (put it like this – I didn’t manage to finish it!).

Afterwards we headed to Ma Nolan’s (where else?) to have a few pints of Guinness in St. Paddy’s honour (and mine?). Sami and Pete joined us for the merriment, having seen Nice triumph in the Ice Hockey 2nd division semi-finals! Ismael and Youcef also popped over for quick chats….

Team building in Meribel

Our main office in Paris had most kindly invited us to a mandatory 3-day team build event in Meribel (a ski resort in the Three Valleys area) – yeah they really had to twist my arm on that one ;-).

So off I set with the other participant from our office, Hannu, bright ‘n early Wednesday in Hannu’s Ford Galaxy. The drive took us about five hours, passing through Italy via Turin, surrounded by the Italian Alps…. After the twelve kilometre Frejus tunnel (which cost us 32 euros!), we finally arrived on the French side again. Shockingly, the sunshine on the Italian side was replaced by mist and rain… So not a very good start to the event…

Anyway, we checked in, and waited for the rest of our colleagues from Paris. We eventually managed to identify them (not as easy as it may seem – as we had never met any of them!), and joined them for the opening activities (after sneaking in a quick beer in the bar) – speeches and watching videos the others had prepared during their train journey. The team building continued (as they tend to…) in the bar – we even managed to overcome our customary Finnish shyness (by drinking alcohol, of course!) and speak to a few of our distant colleagues.

The next day (which was, thankfully, perfect weather-wise with a clear blue sky and sunshine) kicked off with some more physical team activities, including sawing a tree trunk and giant skis (four people on a set of skis does take a bit of team work and coordination, actually….), followed by some Vin Chaud as a reward for our efforts. After a quick lunch at the hotel, we had the afternoon to ourselves to try the ski slopes. It was pretty amazing – the best skiing I’ve done so far. I guess the Three Valleys is one of the best ski areas in the world (at least the ski ticket said it’s the biggest in the world ;-).

In the evening, after some relaxing in the hotel spa (they even had a Finnish-style sauna, although my favourite was the heated outdoors swimming pool, surrounded by the Alps…), we were treated to a Savoyard dinner – raclettes and fondue, and some nice local wines. Nice…. This was followed by an open bar (which me and Hannu made the best of, obviously), after which we headed to a nightclub. Eventually we stumbled into our rooms at about 3:30 in the morning…

Thankfully, the program for Friday had been cancelled, and we were allowed to ski all day. So we really got to take advantage of the slopes, which were in great condition, especially in the morning (in the afternoon things got a bit too bumpy for my taste). We managed to ski to one of the other valleys all the way to the highest point in the Three Valleys (Pointe du Bouchet at 3230 meters). What a great day – but hard work as well, I tell you that… (skiing back to Meribel took us about 4 hours – although admittedly a large part of that was spent queuing for ski lifts…).

All in all, we had a great three days in Meribel – best team building I’ve attended so far ;-) More photos here.

Ollie's birthday in Gréolières

Olivier and Raphaële were visiting Gréolières again this weekend, the occasion being Ollie’s birthday. Naturally, we could not pass on the opportunity to celebrate this great event, so up we got early in the morning, jumped in the car, and set off.







The plan was to start the day with some skiing, so we drove up directly to Gréolières-les-Neiges (which is, according to Ollie at least, the most beautiful ski resort in France). Having rented our ski gear, we met up with Ollie & co, and had completed our first run before 11 AM (pretty good going I reckon, considering my head was still a wee bit sore from the cognac last night…). We had a good ski session, even if the conditions were not as good as last time (the snow was good, but ominous clouds covered the sky).

After a quick kebab lunch, we headed back for the slopes, but our worst fears were confirmed as the fog swept over the slopes… 

So the afternoon session was somewhat less exciting than the morning, although we did manage to do a couple of good runs… Ollie, avid snow boarder as he is, even did a couple of runs on skis (show-off…).After a nice after-ski beer at Ollie’s parents house, and a refreshing shower, I set out to explore Greolieres a bit. My tour took in the village church (which was first mentioned in 1079 and is of the typical Provencal style – whatever that means) as well as the half-ruined castle (apparently somebody tried to get it renovated but only managed to finish half of the job until the local population decided they didn’t like what the guy was doing to the castle – hence its current state).

Then it was time for the main event of the evening – the birthday dinner. After a nice apero at Ollie’s uncle (I once more had his speciality – an Americano) we headed off for the restaurant just around the corner for a very nice dinner (I had a deer daube, which was good but obviously not as good as the Ollie’s mum’s daube we had during our last visit!). After the dinner we went back to Ollie’s parents place where his dad brought out a bottle of Johnny Walker’s blue label – what a perfect way to finish off a great day. (Ollie coming up with excuses for not being able to finish the game of solitaire he started also provided great entertainment ;-).

Dinner in Antibes

Tonight, we were graciously invited for dinner to my parents place in Antibes. The occasion was to celebrate my birthday, and also to see a bit of Jukkis (my cousin, who was visiting for the week, all the way from Joensuu).

The evening kicked off with a nice apero of Kir Royal (Kir Royal is normally made up of Champagne with Cassis, but this time the Cassis was replaced by peach liqueur), during which I gave my five pennies’ worth to Jukkis about the pros and cons of living abroad (young as the chap is, he’s already planning to go abroad!).

The meal consisted of some tasty pasta, accompanied by a nice bottle of Nebbiolo (which actually came from La Morra, which is the village we stayed in during a weekend in Piedmont last year). The grand finale was a delicious birthday cake, along with an espresso and a glass of cognac. Mathilde was kind enough to drive back home ;-)

Aude and Magaye visiting

It’s been pretty quiet on the visitors’ front recently, so it was about time for somebody to pop over. This time it was Aude’s and Magaye’s turn, who came on the night train all the way from Nantes for the weekend.

After a steady breakfast of baguette, croissants and other French delicacies, off we set on our tour of the Cote d’Azur. Our first stop was Dolceacqua, a picturesque village on the Italian side of the border, about 10 kilometres north of Ventimiglia (which is about as far as most visitors from France make it, Ventimiglia has about the same role for the French as Calais for the English and Tallinn for the Finns - which is to say it's a place for cheap shopping). Dolceacqua, which is one of the prettiest villages on the Italian Riviera we’ve been to, is famous for its medieval bridge which links the two halves of the town, and for it’s castle. After aimlessly wandering around on the narrow and charming alleys, and having tasted some of the local delicacies with some proper Italian coffee in one of the bars, we headed on to the afore-mentioned Ventimiglia for a bit of shopping (it’s a great place to stock up not only on wine & any other alcoholic beverage you can imagine, but also on pasta and other Italian specialities).

After this, Catherine (our selected TomTom voice) guided us back over the French border to Menton. We made a brief stop here to take in the Fête du Citron, which is, as the name suggests, a lemon festival (coinciding with the Nice carnival). Since we didn’t want to pay the 10 euro entrance fee for the exhibition area (where people have put up various statues and constructions made of lemons and oranges), we had to contend ourselves with a few dodgy, out of focus and badly framed photos blindly taken by yours truly over the exhibition fence (sometimes being tall has its advantages…).

The next stop on our tour was Eze, one of the prettiest and most dramatically located (sitting on a cliff overlooking the coastline between Monaco and Cap Ferrat) – not to mention touristy - perched villages on the coast. After a quick walk around the cobble-stoned streets, we pushed on towards Nice.

Our stomachs (not just mine!) were growling by now, so we decided to stop for a Socca (a Nicois speciality made of chickpea flour and olive oil) in Lou Pilha’s (a real Nice institution for Socca). Fortified by this tasty snack, we headed on and spent half an hour or so exploring Vieux Nice. After a quick look at the Promenade des Anglais, our stomachs (or at least mine) were growling again, so we decided to go for dinner. We chose La Tapenade, another Nice institution serving up all the local specialities.

After a filling meal, we headed off for the main event of the evening, which was of course the Nice Carnival. We had a great time looking at the procession of mice (which was the theme this year – interesting choice). There was a rather impressive dragon as well, quite scary contraption. Most of the time was spent ducking kids (including Sami, who even attacked me from behind, bloody coward) spraying sticky stuff at us. After this exhausting activity, we had well-deserved Belgian beers at Mori’s bar, and headed back home to catch some sleep (graciously, Aude offered to drive, faithfully guided by Catherine).

After a night of very little sleep (I had nightmares about my TomTom and Andorra – don’t ask…), and another solid breakfast, we set off to show our guests Haut-de-Cagnes – our very own old town (and one of the prettiest on the coast, I feel obliged to add).

In the afternoon, we headed off towards St-Paul-de-Vence, which is without doubt the most famous historic village on the Riviera. In spite of Catherine’s most confusing driving instructions, we eventually arrived, and parked in a car park with no less than ten levels underground! (I guess that says something about how popular St-Paul is…). Well, there is a good reason for St-Paul’s fame, it is an incredibly picturesque place, a pity about all the shops… On the other hand, you can’t claim the shops are your average tourist traps; what rules the day here are art shops, most of them for people with a fair bit more purchasing power than us.

Having spent an hour or so walking around and making all the appropriate comments about what a charming and lovely place St-Paul is, it was time to head to Antibes, from where Aude and Magaye were catching their train. Before that, we did have time to have a quick walk around the port and the old town, though. And of course stop for a refreshing coffee and a tasty cake ;-). All in all, a nice finish to an exhausting but great weekend!

More photos here.