For the barbeque, I’d decided to continue my integration into local culture by preparing a Tapenade (Mathilde undertook baking a cake). A tapenade is a very typical local dish, perfect for an aperitif, or why not a BBQ ? It’s basically a dark paste, composed of black olives, anjovis, olive oil and some capers. Sounds pretty simple, right? And actually, thankfully for me, it is! Basically just a case of putting all the ingredients into a mixer, and 5 minutes later you have your tapenade. So even a wannabe chef like me can’t fail here ;-). 
The BBQ turned out, not surprisingly, into a bit of a CIV reunion (CIV is the school where Mathilde, and also Sandra and Stephane, teach). In addition to us, Antoine and Claire, Anne, Melanie and her husband (who was, apart from me, the only non-teacher) were present. And too many children to count (especially Antoine has been a busy man in that department). It was good fun, actually. I mean, all it takes for me to enjoy myself is good food and drink; both of which was available in abundancy! But I also found the political intrigue and gossip of CIV rather entertaining (my company is positively boring in comparison!).Anyways, quite a few grilled sausages, lamb cutlets, meat skewers, and glasses of wine later (all enjoyed in glorious sunshing – the summer truly is here!), it was regretfully time to head back home, not to miss our appointment in Antibes.
My parents had booked a restaurant called Le Taverne du Safranier, a place we’ve wanted to go to for quite a while. It’s located in the area called, not surprisingly, Safranier. It’s quite a special little place, located on the periphery of the old town. It’s a “free community” of artists and free thinkers, apparently they even have their own mayor. Not sure how official that is, but anyway, it’s a lovely part of Antibes, with its cobble-stone streets and flower-covered houses. The restaurant is beautifully located on the “main square” of Safranier, with a large terrace (where we naturally sat down). Before the meal, we had time to spend a bit of time walking around Safranier, and enjoy the nice views from the city walls overlooking the sea...After the meat-feast I’d had earlier in the day, I decided to have fish this time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really able to appreciate the fish, due to my stomach still being somewhat bloated by the BBQ... But we passed a very pleasant evening nonetheless, and the wine was good!
After the meal, we decided to enjoy the warm evening and have a drink... We opted for the somewhat unimaginatively named Café de la Porte du Port, located (you guessed it), next to the main gate leading from the port into the old town. It’s where my parents go with the other expatriate Finns after their weekly petanque sessions. A Guinness later, it was time to catch our train, after saying our goodbyes to my parents (not only were we having an early birthday celebration for my dad, they were also going back to Finland where they spend their summers in a couple of days’ time...).
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