More grilling and testing a jacuzzi

Only two weeks to go until our trip to Mongolia… So today was shopping day at Decathlon – time to buy all the stuff that might come in useful in the Mongolian wilderness (tent, sleeping bags, torches, hiking socks, you name it….). For the evening, we had invited Mikko and Marianne over for dinner. Since the weather was still great, BBQ was pretty much the obvious choice.

A few chicken and lamb brochettes (and not your super-market fare, these ones came from the butcher at the local market) and three bottles of wine later, we decided to do what any bunch of normal 30-somethings would do on a Saturday night: play “Buzz! : the Hollywood Quiz” on the old PS 2. After a good finish, Marianne won by a whisker (I’d like to blame all the wine I drank, but I graciously admit she deserved her victory – although I have to admit it hurts a bit since I consider myself a bit of a cinephile). After this we (that would pretty much be me and Mikko, actually) proceeded to drink half a bottle of Calva (distilled by Mathilde’s grandma – pretty strong stuff, I tell ya…).

In spite of the sore head the next morning, we figured we really do need more practice for Mongolia, so we decided to do a walk. I was a bit apprehensive of the whole thing, since hung-over Finns and scorching hot weather don’t really go well together. But anyway, as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. So off we set to conquer the Puy de Naouri from Tourrette-sur-Loup (a typically pretty Provencal village). About two hours later, and 600 meters higher, we made it. Well, the views were certainly worth it, as was the ice cream we had later back in Tourette… (we both tried the local speciality, which is violets – pretty yummie).


Mikko and Marianne had most kindly invited us over to their lovely house for a dinner for the evening, and we quite happily accepted the offer. So yet another BBQ ensued, with yet more tasty meat… And some good wine, of course. No complaints about the venue either – the views over Nice are splendid indeed as is the place itself (conveniently located next to Marianne’s parents – and their swimming pool and Jacuzzi ;-). Having finished dinner, we hurried inside to watch the Euro 2008 final between Spain and Germany. Entertaining stuff – and a well deserved victory for the Spanish after some clinical finishing for Torres. And we even had time to pop into the Jacuzzi during half time. Now that’s life on the Cote d’Azur…

Another barbeque...

The hot weather still holding up, we were very happy to accept the invitation for a BBQ at Stephane's and Sandra's place (teacher colleagues of Mathilde). I guess there were quite a few things to celebrate: the arrival of "proper summer weather", Sandra’s and Stephane’s newly-born baby, not to mention the school year having finished (just the matter of a few baccalaureats to correct…).

So down we headed to their charming house, just down the road from us in Cagnes, for some Beignets de fleurs de courgettes (which were a bit more successful than the ones I prepared/burnt a few days earlier), merguez sausages (which are nearly as good as Finnish ones – or even better, some would argue ;-) and other local delicacies (both Sandra and Steph are authentic locals from the Cote d'Azur) – along with some excellent wine. And to top it all off, a delicious limoncello as a digestive).

The conversation subject was something I couldn’t always contribute a lot to (being, you know, about teacher stuff) – although there were a few blokes to discuss the footie European championships with ;-) (the semi-final between Germany and Turkey was on, actually - but the food was just too good for us to let such things distract us) A great time was had by all – and did I already say that the food was great? Walking back was quite a struggle, I tell ya...

A weekend in Liguria

This Saturday was Mathilde’s birthday. I thought it would be a nice idea to organise a surprise weekend for her. Italy was my destination of choice – kind of obvious since Mathilde is possibly even more of a fan of the place than me, and of course it’s just down the road from us… So I typed “pretty village in Liguria” (Liguria being the region closest to us – the Italian Riviera, basically) in Google, and out of the many options opted upon Balestrino.

So off we headed, bright n’ early Saturday morning, basking in the glorious sunshine. After the 90 minute drive we arrived in Balestrino, and found the hotel without any hassle. It was a nice enough family-run place, although we were a bit disappointed by the fact that the swimming pool was out of order. So instead of a swim to cool us down we decided to go and explore the old town, which we had driven past earlier. Much to our surprise, the place was totally deserted, and on the verge of collapse. Kind of spooky walking around, the place felt a bit like a ghost town… Later, we found out that the town had to be abandoned because it was on the verge of sliding down into the valley below from its hilltop… Having explored the town, we headed to the local Trattoria for a delicious lunch. It was just great – tasty pasta, followed by some wild boar stew, and with some nice views over the ruined old town.

After the filling lunch, we headed to the neighbouring village, Toirano. After a quick walk around the predictably cute old town, we headed to the caves for which the town is famous for. After paying the hefty 11 euros entrance charge (per person!), we followed the guide through the dark tunnels. It was all very impressive – especially cool where the cave man footprints still visible in the caves (well, that’s what the guide said the marks were, anyway ;-). After this under worldly visit, we headed back to Belestrino. After a relaxing walk through the neighbouring hamlets, we headed for dinner – the restaurant was owned by the same guy who ran the hotel. We had a very cosy dinner, with good Piedomntaise wine, great Ligurian cuisine and great service (turns out the guy used to live just down the road from us – in St-Paul de Vence!).

The next day we got up bright n’ early again, and decided to have another walk (really need to practice for that upcoming trip to Mongolia…). So off we set, randomly down the road. After a while we came across a footpath that said “Sentiero della via Crucis” (which means “path of the road of crosses” or something along those lines) – which we boldly walked down. It seemed like a good idea, since it took us into the forest – into shelter from the heat of the sun. After about 50 minutes of constant climbing, we started to question whether it was a good idea after all – but we did eventually make it to the destination – the Sanctuary of Monte croce di Balestrino (so basically it was a pilgrimage walk up to a chapel – I guess the name does kind of implies it ;-). Well, I reckon it was worth it, we were greeted by some great views over the surrounding valley and mountains.

Having had our dose of sporty activity for the weekend, we continued our exploration of the valle del Torrente. Our next stop was Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena, another unbelievably picturesque little village. Our hosts from last night had actually told us about it – apparently the village was in nearly as poor a state as Balestrino, until a bunch of Scandinavians decided to restore it, apparently. Well, the end result is very nice, anyway. Having spent a bit of time walking around the narrow lanes, soaking in the old-world atmosphere, we decided it was time to eat. So we headed down to the bottom of the village, where we found a cosy little bar. The only thing they could come up with was some cold antipasti – but boy was it good. So simple, yet utterly delicious. Italian cuisine at it’s best.

By now it was time to start slowly heading back towards France, although we did make a stop at Albenga. After a walk around the old town (very nice, again), we headed down to the beach for some relaxation. Unfortunately, this being Italy, we had to pay a 6 euros entrance fee to be able to go to the beach at all! Daylight robbery, if you ask me… Well at least we got some sundeck chairs. But anyway, a nice and relaxing way to end a fabulous weekend!

More pictures here.

Jallu's leaving BBQ

Our office here on the Cote d’Azur isn’t exactly what one would call busy (although we are, of course, very busy) – there are only three of us working there: myself, Hannu (the “site manager”) and Jean-Luc (or Jallu, as he is affectionately known as amongst us Finns). And soon we will be down to two, as Jallu regretfully has to go back to the land of the thousand lakes, having finished his 6-month placement.

Jallu and his family are actually lucky enough to be residents of a villa in Roquefort-les-Pins (just down the road from where we work, towards Grasse). So we were more than happy to accept his invitation for a leaving do/BBQ. And a nice villa it is, with a HUGE garden, without forgetting the decent-sized swimming pool (and nicely tucked away from the hassle of the busy, over-constructed towns by the sea).

Hannu and his family also made it, so with all the kids and the swimming pool (pity I left my swimming trunks at home…), it turned out to be quite a lively occasion. We adults contented ourselves to drinking wine, eating French sausages (and debating whether or not they are better than Finnish ones…) and discussing life in the South of France. So all in all, a very nice evening was had by all!

Julia's confirmation

Quite a few years ago, when I was still young and foolish (now I’m just foolish), my brother Tomi bestowed a great honour on me – he made me godfather of his new-born girl, Julia. Over the years, I suppose I’ve not always been the best of godfathers (I use living abroad as an excuse, a bit lame I suppose).

This weekend she had her confirmation, which is a pretty big thing in Finland, so it was an easy decision to go. So off I flew to sunny Finland on Friday. Well, actually, not so sunny and warm – it got cloudy and windy by the time I arrived (pretty typical, really…). After a lazy Saturday in Helsinki (seeing the latest Indiana Jones flick, watching footie, and having too many pints in Mr. Pickwick with Riku), it was time for Julia’s big day.

So off we set, after the usual kerkuffle that takes place whenever the Turtiainen’s try to do anything basically (ironing the shirts last minute, rushing down to the florist last minute to buy the flowers etc.), toward Kauklahti. In spite of my pessimism, we actually mate it on time! After the typically austere Lutheran ceremony, with the wise priestly advise to the youngsters for how to face the challenges of the modern world, we headed back to Tomi’s and Leena’s place (my childhood home – oh the sweet memories…) for cakes, conversation, cakes, music and cakes (and coffee). Yummie. It was really nice actually, great to see my cousins Jukkis and Mikko (with his wee twins) as well. Julia, the star of the show, handled it all with grace and style.

After the festivities we headed back to my parents’ in Helsinki, and embarked upon the nearly impossible mission to find a decent restaurant that is open on Sundays. We eventually ended up going to Saslik – not a bad choice at all, actually. Saslik is one of the oldest and most famous Russian restaurants in Finland, a really atmospheric place (with cyrillic writing and authentic Russian waiters ‘n all). And the food really is something to write home about – we had some tasty Russian starters including bear sausages (probably the tastiest sausage I ever tried) followed by an equally tasty chunk of elk steak. Janne and Katja had to shoot off early for a poker tournament (my dear brother has set his sights high – he’s trying to qualify for the Poker World Series in Las Vegas this summer).

After a productive day of work in our Ruoholahti office on Monday, I met up with my old mate Jaro (former landlord of the famous pub Polloranta in Guildford – invitation only) for a couple of pints, before taking the bus to the airport. Jaro has taken our decision to escape the cold northern climate for a bit of warmth even further – he is now working literally in the middle of the jungle in Manaus, Brazil. And seems very happy there indeed ;-).

More photos here.

a BIG pot of chocolate

I got a surprising message from Jamie, a mate of mine who used to work in the same team as me back in Southwood, who decided to emigrate to Vancouver, Canada a couple of years ago. Turns out he was in Nice to visit his dad, who lives there (has a restaurant on the beach in front of the Negresco, no less…). So naturally some beers were called for.

Undeterred by the Since SNCF (the national train company) strike (this is France, after all…), we decided to drive in. Having parked our car conveniently under Cours Saleya, we met Jamie and his lovely girlfriend, Jessie, and promptly headed for dinner. We headed for the same Italian restaurant we had my birthday meal at earlier this year. Like last time, the oversized bowl us chocolate just jumped out of the menu – the challenge was just impossible to pass up on… This time, I rose to the challenge and finished it (last time the 1 ½ massive bowls of pasta that preceded the desert somewhat hampered me…)! Have to admit, though, it was a case of quantity over quality…

After the most filling (at least for me!) meal, we headed over to Ma Nolan’s (where else?) for some more catching up on old times and a couple of pints of Guinness… Very good to meet ol’ Jamie, seems like he’s having a very good time indeed over in Canada (well, Vancouver vs. Southwood – not really a tough choice, is it?)….

Walking, eating, drinking - the usual stuff...

If you’ve spent a bit of time on this blog, you’ll have noticed a lot of my blog entries start with something along the lines of “As the skies were blue as often, we decided it would be a good day to go for a walk…”. Well, the way the weather has been on the Cote d’Azur the last few weeks, there hasn’t been much reason to start the blog entries like that recently… But in spite of the less than beautiful weather, we decided to go for a walk anyway – we’re planning to go on a walking holiday to Mongolia in about a month so a bit of practice wouldn’t go amiss, I would say!

This time we picked a walk near the Massif d’Esterel, which is one of our favourite places for a bit of walking. The ambitious objective was to scale the dizzying heights (er, 287 meters) of Mont St-Martin. The walk took us past a less-than-picturesque chapel (it looked more like a graffiti-covered bunker from world war 2 than a religious edify), through a quarry, and finally into the Massif d’Esterel. After a rather steep climb up to Mont St-Martin, we rewarded ourselves with a picnic lunch, enjoying the nice view… The rest of the walk was easy going – although we actually managed to get lost and ended up on the Route National 7. Fortunately, there was a footpath along the road, which took us back to the starting point.


Once back home, the sun even made an appearance, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to try out our (communal ;-) swimming pool – really nice. In the evening the plan was to meet up for dinner with Mikko and Sami (who were playing their last hockey game for the season), and then have a few drinks in Ma Nolan’s (where else?). Having had my most expensive pint of Guinness ever (13 bloody euros, couldn’t believe it – me and Mikko made the most of our pints, you can be sure of that!) and a nice dinner at Safari’s, it was time to catch the train. So no Ma Nolan’s this time (tell you what though - next time I'm having my Guinness there and not at "Les 3 Diables").

On Sunday we were planning to do another walk, this time near Gourdon. But as ominous dark clouds gathered around the Plateau de Cavillore (which was our destination), we aborted the walk. As a lighter alternative, we decided to walk down the Chemin de Paradis (a very steep footpath which leads from the bottom of the Loup valley up to Gourdon – breathtakingly beautiful of breath-stealing hard work, depending on how you want to look at it…), and then back up! After that we felt we had more than deserved an ice-cream…

Not sure we’re quite ready for Mongolia yet, though…