Night out in Nice

Having taken Alix and Mathilde to the airport in the evening, it was quite soon time to hop on the train and make my way down to Nice, where I was meeting up with Youcef and Ismael and the “Irish gang” Sometimes I suspect Ismael knows half of Ireland, or at least half of the Irish who live on the Riviera. I suppose having an Irish girlfriend helps…

We met up near the Vieux Port, at a nice little restaurant/bar called Café Borghese, where we had dinner and a few beers. I really had a great time, the international atmosphere reminded me a bit of the “good old days” in the UK. Apart from the Irish, our group included a Swede, a Dutchman, a couple of French and a couple of Moroccans. And two Finns of course – Pete was also able to join us.

Having finished our “rather long aperitif” and dinner, we made our way towards the old town, and ended up in a real Nicois institutions – Wayne’s. Not an institution in the traditional sense – I suppose you could say it’s an institution for students and ex-pats and drunkard. So I suppose I fit right in (I’ll let you, dear reader, decide which category I fall into).

A couple of drinks later, me and Pete, acting our age for a change, took a taxi back “into the sticks”. Whereas the youngsters carried on partying until 5 in the morning. Oh, those were the days, eh? Actually, the night out turned out to be a bit of a leaving-do for Pete, who’s relocating with his family to Singapore at the end of August…

A week with Alix

We didn’t get much of a breather after our trip to Finland, since Mathilde’s niece Alix was coming to stay with us for a week, the day after our return. So, after a night of well deserved sleep, and a hasty morning of preparations, it was time to pick up Alix at the airport.

We awaited other visitors as well, since Delphine and Christophe (as well as the younger members of their family) were planning to stop over and stay the night, on their way to Corsica. Thankfully, we had time to enjoy the swimming pool a bit before welcoming our guests.

Since our flat isn’t really big enough to accommodate that many people, we decided to go for the easy option dinner-wise; pizza on the beach. So, the rest of the day was a rather lazy/pleasant one, with some more quality time spent by the swimming pool, followed by a rather pleasant picnic on the beach, with rose wine (only for the adults, naturally!) and pizza. And ice cream for desert. We really should dine like that more often ;-).


The rest of the week followed a rather pleasant routine. I would go to work early in the morning (well that bit isn’t maybe that pleasant), get back to the flat around noon for lunch with Alix and Mathilde, and then spend an hour or so by the swimming pool after work. It once again made me think about how lucky we are, living in this part of the world…

I was rather impressed with Alix, that girl really is growing up fast! She’s even taken up chess – not bad for a 9-year old. Thankfully I was still able to beat her, let’s see for how long… ;-). Apart from amusing ourselves playing various games in the evenings, we also watched the Fantastic Mr. Fox (Alix twice, I believe), a typically off-beat effort from the rather uniquely talented Wes Anderson.

I decided to take Wednesday off, to be able to spend some quality time with the two lovely ladies. After a visit to Sophia-Antipolis, where Mathilde works, we headed down to Antibes for the afternoon. After a pleasant walk in the beautiful old town (where we naturally had an ice cream – no choice in that heat, really…). We finished our Antibes visit with a couple of hours at the sand beach near the old port, a really nice spot (a tad busy though, damn tourists…!).

On Friday it was time for my two ladies to desert me (Mathilde was going to Angers for a week to visit her dad). Their voyage was not without trouble, as their flight was delayed by six (!) hours (way to go, EasyJet)! All in all, it was a very nice week for all three of us, I think. At least it was for me!

More Finnish summer

After sending off Rafa and Ollie to Paris, we still had the rest of the week to spend in Finland. The “main event” of our stay was to be the Archipelago ring road, an itinerary I’ve wanted to complete for quite some time now. It is, as the name suggests, a road which connects the islands of the inner archipelago (in the virtual sense, since often the crossing between islands is done by ferry), taking in the islands of Nagu, Korppo, Houtskär, Iniö, before finally hitting the mainland again at Kustavi.

Before taking on this daring road, we spent a relaxed day at Rågård together with my younger brother Janne, enjoying the unusually magnificent summer. We also took thye opportunity to play a bit of board games perhaps to bring back memories of our innocent summers of our young years, spent playing role playing games...




We set out towards the first island on the journey early Wednesday morning, leaving respectably at about 8 o’clock. We hit Nagu as planned, and sped on to Korppo from there. We decided to stop there briefly, since it’s a pretty nice island, and one that we rarely visit far (normally we stop in Nagu, which is obviously closer to our summer house). We started our visit with a short “educative hike” around Rumar (having checked out the views from the panorama tower). We didn’t learn all that much, to be honest, since the signposts along the trail were a bit too cryptic for us. Nonetheless, it was a pretty nice walk. We then decided to check out Korppo town (quickly done – it consists of a church, a shop and not much else), and gathered provisions (smoked fish purchased at the local market, yummie…), and then carried on towards Houtskär.

The thing about the ring road is that you need to keep moving, as the ferries between the smaller islands are small, and not very frequent (the archipelago gets pretty busy with tourists during the summer as well). We sped across Houtskär to make it to the Iniö ferry. But alas, our rushing was for naught, as we missed the ferry by a whisker (we were the third car not to get onboard). The trouble with missing the Iniö ferry is that there is only one every 3 hours or so, and there’s absolutely nothing to do at the ferry terminal. Well, there is a camping, and a café, but that’s pretty much it. Not even a good beach for swimming. So, we got slightly bored, and happily welcomed the eventual return of the ferry. Iniö is a very small island, and according to some, nice in the sense that it’s very much off the tourist trail, and hence quite "authentic". However, we had a ferry to catch again, so apart from a quick stop by the old church, we didn’t see much of it… This time we made it – the Iniö-Kustavi ferry is pretty big so no problems boarding.

A 40-minutes journey later, and we were back at the mainland. By now, we were rather hungry, so decided to have dinner in a very nice-looking restaurant at the guest harbor in Kustavi. Good choice, the food was very nice as well. And it was nice to sit down for a while and enjoy the evening sun, having spent all day either waiting for ferries, in the car, or on a ferry ;-). After a short walk around the harbor we carried on to Taivassalo, where were spending the night (or rather, nearby Hakkenpää). Not much to say about Hakkenpää – to call it a sleepy town would be an understatement. Our guesthouse was attached to the only bar in town – and there were no customers tonight. So not much excitement for tourists, then. I suppose that’s not why people would come to these types of towns, though.





After a good night’s sleep, we carried on, passing Asikainen and Merimasku, until we arrived in Naantali. Naantali is one of the nicest seaside towns in Finland, a lively little town with a bit of history as well. And finally, we found a nice beach for swimming, a couple of kilometers from the town centre ;-). After a relaxing and cooling swim, we walked to the town centre, where we spent a couple of hours taking in the traditional wooden houses (and grabbing a bit of lunch as well as an ice cream for dessert, naturally!). On the whole, Naantali is even nicer than I recalled. It is very busy, with loads or restaurants, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling it a tourist trap (not sure they exist in Finland yet?).

From Naantali, we carried on back towards Pargas, making a brief stop in Turku for a bit of shopping. We also made a slight detour to Bjursäng, where my friend Jani’s mum has a summer cottage. In spite of its remote location off the main road, we found our way rather easily, seeing as it’s located next to one of the biggest strawberry plantations in Pargas (Jani’s mum and her sisters run the place). Nice to see Jani and Katja again, and their little twins…

That brought an end to our little road trip. I guess my narrative has hinted at the problem with the ring road. There are just too many ferries to take, so it’s hard to actually enjoy the islands themselves. Hard to plan the day as well, since you never know whether you make it on a ferry or not. In retrospective, we should’ve probably spent the night at one of the smaller islands, like Iniö. But, anyway, I think the best way to see the archipelago is by boat (or perhaps by bike?). Oh well, at least I’ve done it now ;-).

On Friday, it was time to head back to Helsinki. Kind of wistful, really, leaving the peace and quiet of summery Pargas. On the way back, we stopped in Kuusisto, where we did a nice hike, and then visited the ruins of the old “Bishop’s castle”. The castle was built in 1317 - respectably old for a young country like Finland – . Not much left of it, but it was pretty interesting nonetheless. The museum in the nearby wooden manor was interesting as well – didn’t have time to go through it all this time.

We arrived in Helsinki late afternoon, in time to prepare for the evening’s activities. After grabbing a beer with Jonas, we headed off to Virgin oil, where we were all meeting up for dinner. Jocke, Aki and his bride-to-be were all present. Janne, the master organizer, also eventually showed up with Katja (only about 3 hours late – that’s impressive going even for a Turtiainen). Great to catch up with everybody, and the food was pretty decent as well…

We didn’t have time for much on Saturday, but did have the chance to have a family lunch in a real Helsinki institution called Salve. The place dates back all the way to 1897 (which, by Finnish restaurant standards, is WAY back…), when it was just a kiosk selling fish, tobacco and the like to fishermen and other unsavory types. In 1927 it was transformed into a sailor’s saloon, and not one with the cleanest of reputations. These days it’s a very nice restaurant, and only some photos on the walls recalls the less-reputable days of the past… Their speciality is still herring with mashed potatoes, though, which I naturally had… (followed by Finnish pancakes). A nice way to end a memorable week, catching up with my family!

With Two Parisians in Finland

The time was ripe for our summery visit to Finland. And for once, the weather forecast seemed rather promising. The summer in Finland’s been a bit of a scorcher so far, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees quite frequently – in fact I think it’s been the hottest summer for 80 years or something so far – often it’s even been hotter than here on the Cote d’Azur. So we were really looking forward to our trip.

We’d invited Olivier and Raphaelle, our friends from Paris along for the ride. I’m quite pleased about that, gives me a chance to repay their hospitality (we’ve stayed at Ollie’s parents’ place in Greolieres on quite a few occasions…).

After a trouble-free flight, we arrived at Helsinki more or less on schedule, on Saturday afternoon, from where my dad kindly drove us to Helsinki city centre, where we met up with Ollie & Rafa (who had arrived earlier that morning). After a quick stroll in Katajanokka (an architecturally very beautiful part of Helsinki, where my parents actually used to live), and a beer by the sea-side to slacken our thirst, we headed down towards the Senate square (certainly the most famous square in Helsinki, and one of the nicest scenic spots in town). After rather a rather lengthy photography session (and at this point I would like to point out that Olivier is even worse than me!), we headed down to my parents flat at Fredrikinkatu (stopping on the way to check out the Railway station, which is also rather well known…).







After an aperitif, it was time to head for dinner. My parents had booked a rather special place for the occasion, called Ravintola Saari. The restaurant is located on an island (actually, Saari means island in Finnish), and you have to go there by boat (even if the distance crossed is only about 50 meters!). Definitely worth the boat ride – the location is absolutely stunning, with views across the cliffs towards the Helsinki archipelago. No complaints about the food either… All in all, we spent a very pleasant evening there indeed. This was followed by some digestifs at my parents’ place.

After a good nights’ sleep, we get up, ready for a bit more Helsinki sight-seeing. I had a rather ambitious program involving both Seurasaari and Suomenlinna in mind, but decided to just go for Seurasaari in the end, after a somewhat lazy morning. Seurasaari is pretty much the perfect place to take visitors during the summer, as it combines some pretty nature trails, some traditional Finnish country-side architecture (it’s an outdoor museum), swimming (including a nudist beach) and of course Seurasaari’s most famous residents – the cute, furry brown squirrels. And the weather today was pretty much perfect for it as well. So we ended up spending the entire day there – squirrel spotting (me and Ollie took “a few” pictures again…), walking, swimming and checking out the arts & crafts fare that was taking place.

After a nice enough dinner in an Italian restaurant near my parents’ place, it was time to head west – to our summer place in Parainen, near Turku. After a just under two hours’ drive, we arrived (hipp-hurray – they finally completed the Helsinki-Turku motorway, it only took, what, 30 years or something?). The hour was rather late, so we all went to bed immediately.

We got up the next day again – not too early ;-). I was once more reminded what a restful place Rågård can be. You just never get the same kind of quiet over here in France (well, not on the Cote d’Azur anyway) – when the only sound you can hear is the wind blowing in the leaves. After a relaxed lunch, I decided to take my guests over to Nauvo for the afternoon, to give them a bit of an idea about what the Turku archipelago is like. It’s a pretty nice place with a couple of nice cafes (the nicest one was closed, unfortunately), a lot of boats, nice nature, and not much else, really… Pretty representative of the Finnish country side, I suppose? And they have a very nice beach there too (although Rafa and Mathilde didn’t seem to be convinced enough to go for a swim ;-) ).

For the evening, I figured it was time for two more authentic Finnish experiences: a sauna, and a grill sausage dinner. The grill sausage bit left our guests somewhat unimpressed I think (I can’t really blame them, French sausages are a lot better if you ask me – they actually contain some real meat!), but the sauna experience didn’t. I don’t think all foreigners actually enjoy the Finnish sauna experience, but I think they at least appreciate it as a quite unique and special custom. I hope so, anyway ;-). Anyway, at the end of the day, we spent a very nice evening together, I think, which is most important, right?

The next day, it was time for Rafa and Ollie to head back to busy Paris. But we did have time for a nice rowing trip before that, which was kind of good fun. Yet another Finnish experience ticked off the list… For the final lunch, we went to Hesburger – the Finnish version of McDonald’s. Not a culinary experience to write to the Michelin guide about, perhaps, but I still reckon their rye bread burger beats your Big Mac any day of the week ;-).

And that brought an end to our friends stay in Finland, as we took them to the bus stop. Hopefully they enjoyed their stay – I think at least it should be a pretty relaxing way to spend a weekend after a busy week at a Parisian office!

Bastille Day

The 14th of July (a couple of centuries ago) is, as you may be aware, the day when a few unhappy French decided to storm the Bastille, which kicked off that rather hectic period of history known as the French Revolution. It’s celebrated as national day in French, and is of course a public holiday as well. I’ve not actually ever been in France so far on the Fete National, actually. So to honor this tradition, we decided to go to Italy.

We did enjoy the “eve’s eve’s” fireworks at the seaside of Cagnes-sur-Mer. We needn’t have bothered, really, the fireworks were really rather rubbish. Hopefully the ones in nice on the eve itself will be nicer…

So, like I said, we decided to head to Italy on the 14th – it has, after all, been quite a while since our last visit. We didn’t really have much of a plan, other than wanting to have a nice lunch somewhere, and checking out the Hanbury gardens at Mortola (apparently rather impressive, and we’ve not gotten around to visiting them yet). So, off we headed after a reasonably lazy morning, heading for Bordighera (no particular reason, just thought it might make a bit of a change from the places we usually go to). After wandering around the rather uninspiring modern town centre aimlessly, unable to locate a cozy-looking restaurant, we ended up in a simple yet popular looking little eatery on an out-of-the-way little square, where we had some pretty decent pizzas.

Before heading back towards Mortola, we decided to head up the old town, which is located on a hilltop overlooking the modern town. Actually, we should’ve definitely had lunch there, the place being a typically charming Italian old town, with its windy, cobblestone streets and charmingly run-down houses. We passed by a couple of cozy-looking trattorias where I’m sure our appetites would’ve been amply sated… Oh well, perhaps next time…

After this little detour, we made our way back to Mortola, a small village located near the French border. It houses the famous Giardini botanici Hanbury. These impressive botanical gardens (apparently one of the most important ones in Europe) are located in rather stunningly on a small peninsula, overlooking the Mediterranean. The gardens were founded by one Sir Thomas Hanbury, an Englishman who made his fortune in India. Like a lot of his countrymen in those days (and even more these days, come to think of it…), he made his way to the French & Italian Riviera in search for more pleasant winters than what England can offer… Having travelled back and forth across the Riviera, he decided to settle down in Mortola. The gardens him and his wife founded are certainly impressive (even to one such as myself, who is not easily impressed by flowers, trees and such…), covering 18 hectares (and housing over 7000 species !). It took us a good 2 hours to cover the marked footpath across the gardens. Well worth the visit, even though gardens aren’t perhaps my favorite touristic attraction…

We then made our way back towards Nice, stopping in Menton for a well-deserved swim, making it to Nice well in time for the big fireworks. Unlike the evening before, we were not disappointed – the fireworks were very impressive indeed… A very nice ending to a great day out !

Flat-hunting on the Cote d'Azur

My aunt Tutta, who lives in Strasbourg, has been wanting to move to the Cote d’Azur for a while… Based on her experiences, seems that it’s pretty much impossible for a pensioner (foreign, anyway) to get rental accommodation. I find that rather change, since I’d have thought they are pretty safe bets (not likely to have late-night parties, or cheat on payments?). Well, that’s life…

Luckily (for Tutta), a couple of Finnish friends of mine, Pete and Anne (and little Jasmine, of course), are leaving France in a couple of month’s time, which will leave their apartment free. It’s a pretty nice place with a nice garden, located in the Domaine de Haut Vaugrenier. The domain is a bit of its own little gated community, with pretty much all services available on-site – including a 50 meter swimming pool.

After a quick photo session on-site, I sent the photos to Tutta. She didn’t hesitate very long, and booked a flight for the same week to come and inspect the place herself.

Before paying a visit to Pete’s and Anne’s place, we decided to meet up with Tutta for lunch at the Hamac, a beach-side restaurant located just next to Tutta’s hotel. And guess who we ran into at the restaurant ? Yep, that’s right, Pete, Anne and Jasmine – they were just finishing their lunch. After a laid-back lunch (with some Brazilian musicians entertaining us), we drove up to the Domaine for the visit. Clearly, Tutta was pretty much sold. Garden, swimming pool, view over the sea, peace and quiet; what more can one ask for?

We invited Tutta over for a dinner at our balcony, after which we watched the Football world cup final (seems that Tutta is a bit of a football fun, somewhat to my surprise). Spain, of course, clinched it after a rather convincing performance. Well deserved winners of the World Cup!

We got the news a couple of days later – Tutta had come to agreement with the apartment owner and will be moving in October!

Yet more partying with teachers...

Last week was a bit mad for a working man like myself – with colleagues of Mathilde inviting us to various dinner/parties/aperitif’s pretty much every night of the week. It pretty much took me all of the weekend to recover – I s’ppose I ain’t no spring chicken no more… ;-).

So today, we decided to return the favor and invite the gang over to our humble abode. We were a bit worried about how we could handle it logistically, if too many people accepted, since our flat isn’t really designed to host soirees for party-hungry teacher hordes. Our worst fears were confirmed, as pretty much everybody accepted.

We put up the best effort we could, with a light buffer on offer for the hungry ones (which our guests generously contributed to), and a couple of canisters and wine, along with pastis and a fair few bottles of beer to slacked the thirst. And animated film DVD’s for the younger participants of the party.

It was all good fun – great to see the gang for one last time (before everybody heads off to spend their well-earned, long holidays in various parts of France and elsewhere). And there was even one other non-teacher present, an engineer to boot (yet another teacher-engineer couple – seems that engineers are the most popular spouses among teachers, apart from other teachers?).

The festivities ended rather late – so yet another hard day at the office followed, then…

A Buffet lunch, football, and walking to Antibes

We’ve been invited for dinner to Ismael’s and Sarah’s place quite a few times recently, so we figured it was about time to return the favor, and invite them over to our humble abode. Warda was visiting the Cote d’Azur this weekend, so we decided to invite her and Youcef as well. We gave our invitees the choice between lunch and dinner, noting that our swimming pool was at their disposal as well. So, not surprisingly, lunch was the final choice…

We decided to go for a buffet-style meal, which we served on the balcony – thankfully the weather was perfect for it. I think the meal went down pretty well – I was particularly pleased about the positive comments made about my strawberry-speculos-tiramisu I once more prepared as a dessert. The swimming pool turned out to be quite a success as well. We’re putting it to quite heavy use now, that the weather is well and truly “summery”.




Our guests decided to stay and watch the Football world cup quarter-final between Argentine and Germany, as well. Quite a surprising match, Germany massacring Argentina 4-0 after some very impressive play. A bit of a disappointing effort from Argentina, but Germany definitely looked impressive. Definite contenders for the cup…

The evening promised yet more football, with Spain taking on Portugal. A bit of a disappointing and boring game considering the offensive potential of the two teams – especially Portugal really played on the back foot. Thankfully, Spain clinched it after a late finisher by the always-dangerous David Villa.

The next day, wanting to do something active, we had the brilliant idea to walk to Antibes and back – in searing heat. No idea what got into us? It’s not a particularly pleasant walk, since there isn’t a dedicated footpath for most of the way. So we had the choice of walking on the rocky beach, or next to cars, stuck in a traffic jam… A couple of swims on the way provided respite, and the generous salads we had for lunch in the old town of Antibes were a nice bonus. We also took in some nice views of the Fort Carré (the impressive fortress overlooking the port, dating back to the 16th century) of Antibes. I suppose it was good exercise as well. Still, I think we’ll take the train or car the next time ;-)

Quand on fait la fête avec les pro(f)s...

It’s that time of the year that kids are looking forward to, that’s right, the end of the school year! What it means for us is loads of parties, dinners, get-togethers for the teachers, finally starting their well-deserved summer holidays.

Things kicked off with a party at Anne’s place in Valbonne. It was also a leaving-do of sorts, since she is relocating to Lyon with her kids. All the usual suspects were there, that is, “the cool CIV teachers”. After a slow start, things kicked off properly, with the usual assortment of great food, wine and other drink (a pity I was the designated driver…). I could talk shop as well, since there were a couple of “other half” engineers there as well. It’s funny, it seems that teachers often end up dating/marrying either other teachers or engineers (or maybe that’s just the case for CIV, being in the middle of the “French silicon valley“ and all..). Apart from eating, talking and having a great time in general, I also befriended Marie’s Canon 5D camera. Now that’s what I call a nice toy – if a slightly expensive one… The next day at the office was a wee bit challenging…

The next session was scheduled for Wednesday. Actually, I figured that would be a teachers only night, so I was already mentally preparing myself for a movie night at home, when I got a text message from Mathilde, inviting me to join her at Valerie and Gilles’ place, located in Bonson. I naturally said yes (no self-respecting Finn could possibly turn down free food and/or booze, that would just be rude…), even though I had no idea where the place was. Not deterred, I punched Bonson into my GPS, and hit the road. Turns out it was a bit further away than expected – as the road took me up the Var valley, up past twisting mountain roads, past the more known village of Gillette, until I finally arrived at Bonson. It’s yet another one of those picturesque villages, perched on its little hilltop. A really pretty sight – and what’s nice about it is the fact that it’s not at all touristy.

Gilles and Valerie’s house is one of those stone-built town houses I’ve always wanted to check out. And it is quite a delight, with it’s three (or four?) floors, winding staircases taking us down to their cosy garden. What awaited us was yet another feast of great food, wine and yet more food (finished off with a great tiramisu). This time the occasion was serious, as Antoine, Valerie, Mathilde and Aurelien had planned a bit of a farewell song for Anne (who’s place we were at the night before). They had chosen to reinterpret one of Louis Attaque’s songs. The girls ‘n boyz were a bit shy at first (perhaps since the maestro Antoine wasn’t able to make it), but a few pastises and glasses of rose, they shed all inhibition and really went for it. Success assured! (nonetheless, another planning session was planned for the next day). And I reacquainted myself with Marie’s 5D again – but alas it seems that either me or Marie did something stupid as the lens seemed to be stuck and take out of focus pictures?? (apparently one of us had in fact activated one of the advanced features for short-sighted people, or something!)

So the next day, it was off for another “sesh” then, this time at Antoine and Claire’s place, at Carros. This time, I was happy not to be the designated driver ;-) Things followed pretty much the same formula as the night before, with drinks, great food and music setting the tone of the evening. Our little band did a pretty good job at perfecting their little dedication to Anne. They really nailed it a couple of times. So inspired were our little group that they even came up with another song for another colleague of theirs who was retiring. Rarely has “Capri, c’est fini” been reinterpreted with such humor, passion and emotion… After finishing the rose bottle, and the tiramisu, it was time to leave… (good thing too, it was hard enough to get up for work as it was!)

So it’s been a busy, rather tiring week, but very good week! Now I need the weekend to recover… Whoever it was that once told me teachers can’t party obviously had no clue what he was talking about!