Nick is one of our good friends from our beautiful years in the UK. A ski trip in the South of France had been on the cards for a while, so ‘twas sort of a case of now or never.
My parents had actually got us tickets for a spectacle at Monaco (yes, that would be the 3rd time in Monaco during a week – that is definitely a record for us!) for Friday night, so we made our way straight there, after picking up Nick at the train station (thankfully, he made his connection in Paris, rather than getting lost in the Louvre like last time ;) ). After a quick pizza in Monte Carlo, we made our way to the venue of the night – no less than Le Salle Empire. Le Salle Empire is normally used as a restaurant in the Hotel de Paris (the poshest hotel in Monaco, which is saying something…).
Tonight, the sumptuous hall was the venue for a tambourine quartet concert. It was a nice concert indeed – even if the quartet might’ve looked a bit more at home on the beach than at the Salle Empire… We finished off our bling-bling night with some drinks across the street, at the Café de Paris, with my parents and some other fellow Finns…
The next day, we got up real early, to hit the ski slopes. This being late march, we had to go for Isola 2000, rather than Greolieres-les-Neiges, where we normally do our skiing on the Cote d’Azur. After the 1 ½ hour, very scenic drive, we finally arrived – to a scene of glorious sunshine. After renting our gear, we hit the slopes. We really did have a splendid day – the sun was shining, the snow was good (considering the time of the year, at least!), and what’s best – the ski slopes were relatively empty.
That is the good thing about skiing at Isola compared to Greo – the fact that there are so many more ski lifts, means that one can actually concentrate on skiing, rather than queuing for ski lifts…
Maybe the only disappointment was that we didn’t “go to Italy” – there is actually a ski lift that takes skiers up to the Italian border – unfortunately it was closed today, though… (being on the south-facing slopes, so more exposed to the sun…). All in all, pretty much a perfect way to spend a nice early spring Saturday, then!
For the evening, we took Nick to one of the nice villages near Cagnes – Biot, to one of my favorite restaurants on the Cote d’Azur; Le Pierre a Four. I go there quite often for lunch, and find it good value for money, with good-sized portions and good service. However, I wouldn’t recommend the place for dinner, after the experience we had… Obviously the cheaper menus were not available, and the place was under-staffed. So it turned out to be quite a long meal – for the wrong reasons.
The next day, we decided ‘twas time for a bit of exercise. So, after having done our weekly visit to the local farmer’s market, and after a relaxed lunch, we jumped on the Velo Bleu, and made our way to Nice. Once there, we did the usual things we do in Nice after a bike ride – ie. got an ice cream at Amarino’s in Rue Massena. Yummie. After walking around for a bit, we made our way to the old town for a well-deserved drink. Naim joined us there – turns out he used to live in Luton, like Nick, so they spent a bit of time reminiscing on the “good old times”… We finished off a very pleasant weekend with a movie night – we saw Limits Control by Mr. Jim Jarmush.
My parents had actually got us tickets for a spectacle at Monaco (yes, that would be the 3rd time in Monaco during a week – that is definitely a record for us!) for Friday night, so we made our way straight there, after picking up Nick at the train station (thankfully, he made his connection in Paris, rather than getting lost in the Louvre like last time ;) ). After a quick pizza in Monte Carlo, we made our way to the venue of the night – no less than Le Salle Empire. Le Salle Empire is normally used as a restaurant in the Hotel de Paris (the poshest hotel in Monaco, which is saying something…). 
Tonight, the sumptuous hall was the venue for a tambourine quartet concert. It was a nice concert indeed – even if the quartet might’ve looked a bit more at home on the beach than at the Salle Empire… We finished off our bling-bling night with some drinks across the street, at the Café de Paris, with my parents and some other fellow Finns…
The next day, we got up real early, to hit the ski slopes. This being late march, we had to go for Isola 2000, rather than Greolieres-les-Neiges, where we normally do our skiing on the Cote d’Azur. After the 1 ½ hour, very scenic drive, we finally arrived – to a scene of glorious sunshine. After renting our gear, we hit the slopes. We really did have a splendid day – the sun was shining, the snow was good (considering the time of the year, at least!), and what’s best – the ski slopes were relatively empty. 
That is the good thing about skiing at Isola compared to Greo – the fact that there are so many more ski lifts, means that one can actually concentrate on skiing, rather than queuing for ski lifts…Maybe the only disappointment was that we didn’t “go to Italy” – there is actually a ski lift that takes skiers up to the Italian border – unfortunately it was closed today, though… (being on the south-facing slopes, so more exposed to the sun…). All in all, pretty much a perfect way to spend a nice early spring Saturday, then!
For the evening, we took Nick to one of the nice villages near Cagnes – Biot, to one of my favorite restaurants on the Cote d’Azur; Le Pierre a Four. I go there quite often for lunch, and find it good value for money, with good-sized portions and good service. However, I wouldn’t recommend the place for dinner, after the experience we had… Obviously the cheaper menus were not available, and the place was under-staffed. So it turned out to be quite a long meal – for the wrong reasons. 
The next day, we decided ‘twas time for a bit of exercise. So, after having done our weekly visit to the local farmer’s market, and after a relaxed lunch, we jumped on the Velo Bleu, and made our way to Nice. Once there, we did the usual things we do in Nice after a bike ride – ie. got an ice cream at Amarino’s in Rue Massena. Yummie. After walking around for a bit, we made our way to the old town for a well-deserved drink. Naim joined us there – turns out he used to live in Luton, like Nick, so they spent a bit of time reminiscing on the “good old times”… We finished off a very pleasant weekend with a movie night – we saw Limits Control by Mr. Jim Jarmush.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment