Villeneuve-Loubet

After a rather lazy Sunday of doing stuff around the house, we decided it was time to get out a bit. Since we didn’t feel like taking the car anywhere, we decide to pay the old village of Villeneuve-Loubet a visit. It’s not what some would call an obvious choice, since a lot of Villeneuve-Loubet could be used as a bad example of town planning, especially the seaside, where concrete really rulez. I also work in Villeneuve-Loubet, actually, so I figured it was about time to visit the place properly.

Well, as often is the case on the Cote d’Azur, the old part of Villeneuve-Loubet was a lovely spot. Our short walk took us by the old castle of Villeneuve-Loubet (what we saw of it behind looked pretty cool – unfortunately the place is closed to the public), then down the hill to the old village, down typically winding little lanes, bordered by well-kept, cute houses. I guess you could say that the old town of Cagnes is more harmonious, and prettier, and, well, older. But Villeneuve-Loubet was still a very pleasant place to stroll around, and feels greener and more colourful somehow.

Having explored the streets of Villeneuve-Loubet, we decided to visit one of the two local museums; Musee Escoffier de l’Art Culinere (for some reason Mathilde preferred that one to the military museum…). Well, I wasn’t exactly opposed – any museum dedicated to the noble art of cooking must surely be worth a visit ;-). Actually, we couldn’t have picked a better place to visit, as the museum put on a wine-tasting/lecturing session for the afternoon. The wine tasting was preceded by a very thorough lecture on the wines of Bourgogne. As far as lectures go, this was one of the most interesting and entertaining ones I’ve ever been to. I didn’t realise there was so much to say about the wines of just one region (and the guy was obviously just scratching the surface). And did the guy know his stuff, or what. And I can’t really fault the wines we got to taste afterwards, either – although my criterias for what a good wine is supposed to be like are rather easier to fulfill than for the average Frenchman, I suppose…. ;-)

We only had about half an hour to visit the museum itself afterwards – which turned out to be enough. The museum is dedicated to one Auguste Escoffier, who was (according to that well of knowledge known as Wikipedia) one of the most important leaders in the development of modern French cuisine. The museum is actually located in his birthplace (he died in somewhat more glamorous surroundings - in Monaco). The museum was interesting enough, with old recipies, cooking utensils and menus on display (I especially liked the ones by Toulouse-Lautrec). There was also an exhibiton about the tragic life of Bernard Loiseau (who shot himself, rumour has it, because The Michelin guide was planning to remove one of his restaurant's 3 stars). Well, a well spent five euros, all in all!

Île Saint-Honorat

Since the sun was shining over the Cote d’Azur, as it often does, we figured some outdoors activities were called for before a dinner data we had booked for the evening in Cannes. After pondering various options, we decided on a trip to Île Saint-Honorat, just outside Cannes. So having prepared a picnic, we jumped on the train to Cannes. A brisk walk through sunny Cannes took us to the Vieux Port, where we jumped on the ferry.

Île Saint-Honorat is the smaller of the îles de Lérins (the other one being île Sainte-Marguerite, which we visited a while back). Apart from 30 or so good brothers living in the local monastery, the island is uninhabited. In spite of its diminutive size, its history spans back all the way to the 5th century, when Saint Honorat came to inhabit an island. Rather quickly his disciples followed him there, which prompted him to found a monastery there.

We started off our visit by walking around the island, taking in the crystal-clear waters (and all the yachts anchored there) and the neighbouring île Sainte-Marguerite. A 30 minute walk brought us to the still solid ancient monastery, stubbornly clinging to the shoreline on a small piece of land, surrounded on three sides by water. It actually resembles a castle more than a monastery. We spent a good while there, climbing up the narrow staircase all the way to the top, where we enjoyed some amazing views over the island and the adjacent modern monastery.

We then hurried down to the modern monastery, which dates from the 19th century. As the place is still in use, it’s only possible to visit the church, which in spite of its impressive façade disappointed somewhat. I was a bit gutted about the fact that we didn’t have time to visit the monastery shop, as reliable sources tell me the monks are famed for the wines they produce… Next time, I s’ppose…

We hurried back to catch the last ferry to Cannes, rather pleased with our little excursion. After doing a bit of shopping (hey, it’s Cannes, after all, right?) it was time for our dinner date. We were meeting up with my parents, and a big bunch of relatives who had come all the way from Karis, Finland, to visit (our good friend Karita was also there). My parents had chosen a restaurant called Caveau 30. The place was nice enough (and spacious enough for the horde of Finns) with good seafood, although the bill ended up being a bit steep (maybe I should’ve skipped the Kir Royal…).

Phil and Stephane visiting

Finally, after a couple of aborted visits, our good friends from Guildford, Phil and Stephane graced us with their presence this weekend. You may know these two gentlemen from several previous blog entries – as I seem to run into them in pubs whenever I’m visiting the UK.

We kicked off the weekend’s activities by picking the lads up at the airport, and driving straight down to central Nice. Having showed them the Things One Must Absolutely See in Nice (Place Massena, the promenade des Anglais, the old town), we got down to business and went to the Thor Pub – or rather the Althor or some such silly name. Well, in spite of the name change, the place was much the same as always. After another drink in Ma Nolan’s (must show them the regular watering holes, after all) – where I much to my shame had to settle for a Coke (the woes of being the designated driver, eh…?), we headed down to Place Garibaldi for dinner at Le Petit Gari – a cozy little restaurant we’d read good things about on the ‘net. And a nice place it was – if a bit pricy. The waiter was especially entertaining – who amazingly even managed to figure out I was Finnish (I can tell you that's something that doesn’t happen very often…). Having wined and dined very well indeed, it was time to speed back home. But there was still time (there always is!) to have a couple of digestifs before going to bed – time to take out Mathilde’s nan’s bottle of Calva again - any excuse will do ;-)

Surprisingly, we didn’t get up very early on Saturday (I put part of the blame on Stephane – but then his lie-ins are rather legendary – I think on most days I probably have my lunch before he gets to the office – only due to the time difference, obviously ;-). After a nourishing breakkie (having guests has the upside of giving me the excuse to buy those lovely croissants and Pain de Chocolates), it was time to hit the road again. This time we decided to take our guests to Italy – to the lovely village of Dolceacqua. Having walked around the village's narrow cobble-stoned streets and taken in the lovely view of the castle overlooking the famous old bridge, we drove on to Isolabuona, the next village in the valley. It was a lovely little community, as these places usually are in Italy, if somewhat less picturesque than Dolceacqua. The village tour was quickly done, especially since our stomachs were grumbling rather loudly by now. So off we went in search of an open restaurant – a nearly impossible mission in Italy as it was after 2PM. But eventually we found a place, up a long and windy road, nicely perched on top of a hill. And what a gem of a restaurant it was. Not only was the food great – and reasonably priced – but the proprietor was a real laugh. Of rather interesting origins (Danish-Russian-Italian, brought up in Monaco), he entertained us with stories of what an adventure it was to go fishing with his wife, of how to cook poisonous mushrooms, amongst other things. I even managed to nearly have a conversation in Italian (although for all I know he might’ve been talking about something completely different from me all along).

Having downed a grappa (the old chap told me off for not drinking enough to “clean my glass” – that’s another thing that doesn’t happen very often to me…), we said our farewells and promised to come back, and drove back towards France again. Our next stop was Monaco – where we took the boyz on the standard tour (the old town, the palace, the port and of course the Casino). All seemed well in Monaco (the Ferraris were there, the yachts hadn’t gone anywhere etc.), credit crush ‘n all. I was even told off by the police for not crossing the road at the sidewalk – I thought things like that only happened in Finland and Singapore!

We had to keep our Monaco tour a short one, since we had a table booked in Haut-de-Cagnes for 8PM. This time we had decided to try out Josy-Jo, a classy-looking establishment just on the outskirts of the old town. Wd did have time for a quick walk around the town before dinner – good for working up the appetite. The dinner was tasty enough (reassuringly meaty – their speciality seems to be various types of meat, prepared next to the dining room in plain view), as was the wine, which was just as well, considering the rather steep bill. Shouldn't complain – but of the eateries we frequented this weekend, this one had the the least entertaining staff. As the local pub (which I affectionately call "Le Pub") was closed as always, we were happy to contend with digestifs back at the flat again.

And that was it for this weekend. Having taken Phil & Stephane to the airport, We pretty much spent the rest of Sunday assembling IKEA furniture….