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!