Deeper into the Basque country...

For Wednesday, the plan was to check out a few more cute Basque villages. We started with Bidart, which is a small village just south of Biarritz, located at the coastline. It's what I would call a “typically pretty Basque village”, with its pretty, white, half-timbered houses and picturesque church.

For lunch, we decided on a truly Basque experience, so based on the recommendation of my good friend David and our dear friend Guide de Routard, we made our way to Txopinondo, a traditional cidrerie at Ascain. And a Basque experience it truly was. I really love the concept: you basically pay a fixed fee which includes pintxos (Basque tapas) for a starter, and as much cider as you can drink. For the cider, the idea is basically that somebody opens the tap of a cider barrel, and calls the customers up by shouting “Txotx”,and people then basically queue up and fill their glasses. A nice tradition, that I was more than happy to honor many times ;) The food was really good as well –after the pintxos, we had some fabulous grilled meat. A truly great experience – if somewhat touristy perhaps.

After our rather drawn-out lunch, we made our way towards Sare, which is “yet another of those pretty Basque villages”, except that this one is possibly the most famous one. We started our visit with Ortillopitz, an extremely well-preserved traditional Basque houses. We took the guided tour –and boy was it worth it. Not only was our host extremely knowledgeable of Basque culture and customs, he was also obviously extremely proud to be Basque. So we got a rather deep immersion into Basque culture and customs, and got a taste of what some of that Basque nationalist attitude is like... Thankfully, he didn't give us the “practical lesson” in Makila (a kind of walking stick that is also rather an efficient weapon, only used in self-defense, naturally!), as he jokingly (I think) suggested to one guy. So, as you can imagine, it was a very interesting visit!

Having had our lesson in Basque culture, we made our way to the village itself, which was unsurprisingly picturesque (I think you already know what Basque villages look like, right?). After a bit of grocery shopping (including a couple of those delicious Basque cakes, yummie!), it was time to head back to the VTF.

The next day, the weather looked rather miserable, as we hit the road for Spain, with drain pouring down as we sped down the motorway. By the time we reached our destination, San Sebastian (or Donostia, as it is known to the Basque), the rain had thankfully reduced to a drizzle, which allowed us to explore the town for a bit.

We quickly got quite a positive impression of San Sebastian. It seems like a pretty prosperous and lively place, at least based on what we saw in the old town, and later on in the port. There were plenty of restaurants and Pintxos bars (Pintxos are the Basque version of tapas), which seemed to be pretty popular. None of this came as a surprise – San Sebastian (and the Basque country in general) belong to the most prosperous regions in Spain, and San Sebastian is also one of the best places to eat in Spain, from what I have heard and read. What is also noteworthy is that the Basque language is definitely more in evidence then Spanish on street signs etc.

After checking out a couple of churches in the old town (in particular the elaborate Basilica de Santa Maria del Coro made quite an impression on us), we headed down to the port area. The port is active and modern, and rather active (not just a tourist attraction), so quite an interesting place to visit. We walked all the way to the observation platform at the top of the aquarium, from where we had some good views over San Sebastian and the surrounding bay.

The touristy stuff done, we figured we deserved a bit of food. Since we were in San Sebastian, we decided to head to one of those Pintxos bar – an excellent choice as it turns out. I really like the concept: you walk up to the bar, pick the pintxos that catch your fancy, ask for drinks (Basque cider, what else?), and eat. No complaints about the food either – it was all really good. And excellent atmosphere too! After a coffee and dessert in a nice café next to the old town, we walked around the modern part of town for a bit (checking out the cathedral, which was unfortunately closed for visits – that famous Spanish siesta!). Then it was time to hit the road and start heading back towards France.

We made another stop on the Spanish side, at Hondarribia (or Fonttarabie, as it is known in Spanish ;)), which is located just next to Hendaye, on the French side of the Basque country. We spent a couple of hours exploring the charming old town – which had a much more “Basque look” than San Sebastian, but on the other hand had a more “real feel” than some of the villages we'd seen on the French side. The perfect place to while away an afternoon. After exploring the old town for a bit, we made our way down to the lively port area, where we had a short walk around. And then, 'twas time to head back into France.

Friday started with my last surfing lesson. Unfortunately I have to report that in spite of my three lessons and my best attempts, I failed miserably to do any proper surfing. But hey, I did my best, and it was fun. Maybe I should just stick to other watersports like Scuba diving & sailing ;)

For lunch, we decided (again, based on a recommendation from David) to try another cider house, this one located Biriatou – called Camino Berry. We really struggled to find it, but eventually managed, after consulting some locals at the village. This place is a real gem of a cider house. First of all, it is definitely less touristy than the place we did day before yesterday – this place was packed with locals (naturally always a good sign). The cider was good (even without the Txotx ritual), and the food was also really excellent.

From there, we headed towards Saint-Jean-de-Luz, stopping over at the Domaine d'Abbadia. This splendid place is a natural reserve, created to preserve the rugged coastline between Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Hendaye, and it's true that the landscapes are truly magnificent. Actually, they reminded us quite a lot about Cap Frehel at Brittany, where we went a while ago (except with better weather). After an hour or so of hiking, taking in the clean sea air, and enjoying the views, we carried on towards Saint-Jean-de-Luz (we took the scenic coastal route).

Saint-Jean-de-Luz is one of the most active ports in France, and a very picturesque one at that. The old town is also very nice, if somewhat touristy. One of the events that made Saint-de-Luz is rather famous for the fact that Louis XIV got married here, in the cathedral (Mathilde actually bought some macaron biscuits from the shop that provided some of them to the king – I wonder whether the recipe has changed since – they were delicious at any rate). We had a nice walk along the picturesque seafront, and then walked back via the port to the town center. All in all, a very nice way to spend a sunny afternoon!

For our last evening, we'd signed up for the guided tour of the castle that holds the reception of the VTF. Pretty interesting stuff – I have to say it's one of the most original places I've stayed on for holidays!

That brought an end to a most fascinating week of exploring the Basque country! It is definitely a region that merits a second visit – perhaps more of the Spanish side the next time? Great to spend some time with Joel and Francoise as well – next time in Angers, I suppose!

Exploring the Basque country!

After an easy 2 hours' drive from Pau, we finally arrived at our holiday destination – Biarritz, where we met up with Joel and Francoise. We were staying at a kind of holiday complex owned by the VTF (an association that tries to offer affordable holidays to families). But not just any old holiday complex – this one is built on the grounds belonging to a 19^thcentury castle, built by an English sea captain (the rather impressive castle – actually a “monument historique” - is still the main building). Our apartment was very nice, with an equipped kitchen and two bedrooms, as well as a little terrace.

The action started the next day with the welcoming session by the site director. We took the opportunity to sign up for some activities (a hike, and a surfing course for me, yikes!). The intro session out of the way, we set out to explore the Basque country. The appropriate place to start the exploration is, I believe, Bayonne. Bayonne is the capital of the French Basque country, and also the soul of the French Basque country, one could say (especially during the big Fêtes de Bayonne in beginning of August – too bad we missed it!).

We started off our visit by checking out Grand Bayonne, which is the oldest part of Bayonne (there used to be a Roman settlement here), and also the most lively and commercial part. It's a very picturesque part of town as well, with traditional Basque architecture dominating (white half-timbered houses). We spent a bit of time in the beautiful cathedral, a rather important stopping point on the Santiago de Compostella pilgrimage trail, with its famous organ, as well as the neighboring cloister (which is, apparently, one of the biggest ones in France).

We then made our way across the river Nive to Petit Bayonne, also a very picturesque part of Bayonne. Apparently, it's a bit less fancy than Grand Bayonne, and also more lively. There are a couple of museums that are apparently worth visiting here (such as the Basque museum), but we didn't linger for long... We decided to take the scenic drive back to Biarritz, which gave us a pretty good introduction to Biarritz, actually. Biarritz is quite different from Bayonne – it feels much less Basque. I guess that might be due to the fact that most people in Biarritz are tourists, at least this time of the year ;) The architecture is also rather different – Biarritz used to be one of the most fashionable seaside resorts in France, as reflected by the fancy and impressive villas that dot the rocky coastline (the villas reminded me of those we saw in Dinard, in Brittany, more than of those found where we live, on the Cote d'Azur). But Biarritz surely has a kind of classy charm, and those beaches do look very inviting indeed!

On Monday, we decided to head out and explore the Basque countryside a bit. We started our tour by heading to Espelette, a famous Basque village, known for their dried red peppers, used to spice the local cuisine around here. The red peppers are very much in evidence everywhere you look, since most of the houses are decorated with them. Espelette is justly famous as a very picturesque place – all the buildings in the village are pretty much built in the traditional architecture, resulting in a very harmonious look.

After spending a fair bit of timing walking around the quiet streets, me and Mathilde made our way to the church, located a bit outside the town center. It is a rather typical example of a Basque church. From the outside, they look pretty unremarkable, in general, but the interior is quite different to churches elsewhere in France. The main distinguishing feature are the multi-story wooden galleries along the sides of the church (often built on three levels), and there is also often a model ship hanging in the ceiling. I really like the Basque churches, and in particular the one in Espelette.

We ended up having lunch in Ascain, another pretty little Basque village. We found a nice hotel restaurant with a terrace, where we tried a bit of the local cuisine, with some Basque cider to go with it (more about the cider later...). The interesting thing about the hotel where we had our lunch is that it's here that Pierre Loti wrote his famous novel Ramuntcho – a very symbolic novel for the Basque people, apparently. Mathilde actually spotted a copy of the book in the restaurant... After lunch, we visited the church that was located just next to the restaurant –another great example of Basque church architecture, it was very similar to the one we visited in Espelette.

Our short village tour done, we made our way back to Biarritz, where we took the opportunity to visit the famous rocher de la vierge at Biarritz – possibly its most famous landmark. The statue of the virgin was mounted on the rock in 1965, and a few years later a footbridge, designed by Eiffel, was added to gtive access to the rock. Can't deny it, the views from the rock towards the coastline and the Biarritz seafront are hard to match! Me and Mathilde then spent half an hour or so walking around Biarritz.

To finish off a very active day, I had my first surfing lesson (I mean the kind of surfing that's done with a board, not with a computer). It was quite good fun, although I reckon my physique and sense of balance (or rather, lack thereof) aren't really suited for this sport. Well, I did my best, and did get a few nice glides in – but the moment I gracefully tried to jump on top of the board, things went all wrong... Oh well, at least I tried it ;)

The next day, 'twas time for our hike. The hike was taking place at Panes d'Ichusi, just on the Spanish side of the border. The drive up to the beginning of the hike was quite an adventure, taking us up some pretty narrow, sometimes vertigo-inducing, mountain roads, until we finally found ourselves at the start of the hike, at Col de Mehatche. We then dutifully followed our guide though some very pretty landscapes, until we arrived at the Panes d'Ichusi, a kind of canyon, known to be frequented by vultures.

The vultures were indeed the main attraction of the hike, we were lucky enough to see literally dozens of them, either perched on clifftops, or silently gliding amongst the mountain peaks. A truly amazing experience – and I certainly put my teleobjective to good use! Our guide was also very knowledgeable, we learnt loads about not only vultures, but also about the surrounding landscapes (like how the pastures and hilltops are managed and exploited by the locals) and Basque culture in general. A most interesting way to spend half a day – and nice to see a bit of pristine nature as well!

For the evening, we had signed up for the Basque evening at the VTF. Things kicked off with a rather nice Basque dinner, buffet style, where we got to try a few Basque specialties. Things then continued with some folkloric Basque dances. Quite good fun , all in all!

The next day, it was time to explore the Spanish side of the Basque country!

Westwards via Foix and the Bearn

After a very relaxing week in Cagnes-sur-Mer, 'tis time to hit the road again, this time direction Biarritz, in the South-West France. Since Biarritz is rather a long drive from the Cote d'Azur, we decided to spend the night in Foix, on the way.

We hit the road pretty early, and decided to stop for lunch in Saint-Gilles, located in the Camargue (a big swampy area, basically at the Rhone river delta). Saint-Gilles is a famous pilgrimage town (it's on the Santiago de Compostella), with a well-known abbey church being the highlight of the old town. Unfortunately, we really struggled to find an open restaurant, so we ended up having a kebab. Well, pretty good value for money, at least!

Our stomachs filled, we carried on towards our final destination for the day, Foix. Foix is the main town in the Ariege department, located at the foot of the Pyrenees, near the Spanish border. After checking in at our hotel (located a bit outside the town center), we headed off to explore Foix (with the rather long-winded tongue twister Mathilde told me ringing in my head: “Il était une fois, une marchande de foie qui vendait du foie dans la ville de Foix. Elle se dit 'ma foi, c'est la première fois et la dernière fois que je vends du foie dans la ville de Foix.”). Foix is a quite a typical provincial French town – with the distinction of having a stunning castle overlooking the town. After a most pleasant walk around town, we found a rather curious organic food restaurant, where we decided to have dinner. An excellent choice, although we were a bit perplexed as to why we were the only guests at the place, considering the quality of the food (as opposed to the tourist traps in the center of town, filled with customers...).

The next day, we headed westwards, stopping by to visit a curious attraction – the underground river of Labouiche. We decided to take the guided tour (only option if you want to visit the place), on a boat. It was rather a fascinating underground journey, taking us 1.5 kilometers, through twisted tunnels and caverns, past stalagmites, stalactites and other funny rock formations. A very interesting way to spend a couple of hours!

The next step of our journey was Pau, which is the capital of the historic region Bearn (you know, as in sauce Bearnaise). Having parked our car, we started hunting for a place to eat, trying to ignore the rain pouring down. A lot of places were already closed, as we were a bit late, but we did eventually find a quite nice eatery to sate our raving appetites...

The main sight in Pau is the historic castle, which is the birthplace of Henry IV, who was king of Navarre and France (and apparently an excellent king, at that). It's mainly a military castle, having been built in the middle ages, dominating as it does Pau. We took the (mandatory) guided tour, well worth it. The interior of the castle has seen quite a lot of changes over the centuries, especially under the reign of Louis-Philippe, during the 19^thcentury. All in all, a pretty good way to spend a rainy afternoon!

I reckon the city itself would have merited a bit more exploration as well, but alas we didn't have time, as we were expected in Biarritz. Another time, perhaps!

Flore and Christian's Big Day!

So today, on this sunny Saturday (with heat waves hitting France with full force!) was Flore's and Christian's big day, time to tie the knot. The grand occasion was taking place in their home town, at Le Roche sur Foron. We made our way down to La Roche with Chie and Geoff, dropping them off at their hotel and then checking it at ours (a nice place, but a bit outside the city center – we were very happy with the swimming pool though, given the heat!).

After a brief walk around the historic center, Mathilde headed off to get her hair fixed, whilst I joined the rest of the gang for lunch at the main square. Great to see everybody again – although the gang was the same as last night. After a couple of aperitifs, a simple but filling lunch, and some socializing, we parted our separate ways to get ready for the evening's festivities. Naturally, a quick jump in the swimming pool was absolutely called for – the heat was on, as they say...

The evening's festivities started off at the town hall (that's where all the legal papers are signed). It was a very nice little ceremony, it looks like the mayor (or vice-mayor) had actually put a fair bit of effort into the speech – in fact it sounded more like a best man's speech than the usual formulaic stuff the mayors come out with at French weddings. He even gave little Lilian a medal (for being a nice boy?). After all the paperwork had been signed, and all the photographs had been taken, the couple headed off with their children Lilian and Melodie, in true French style – yes, you guessed it, in a Citroën 2CV! How cool is that?

The post-wedding celebrations were taking place in a true Savoyard castle – now that's what I call style. Food-wise, everything was tip top, starting with the starter munchies and aperitifs on the terrace, continuing with the spit-roasted pig (a true delight) as well as all the other stuff that went with it. One thing is sure about French weddings – you always eat well at them! We were seated at the “French foreign legion table” (ie. the French friends from our group who used to live in the UK) – does this mean I'm becoming French ? Hmm...

As can be expected when the groom is called Christian, the entertainment was well taken care of. Most of the entertainment was actually provided by the groom himself, as he sang together with his band, and then proceeded to conquer the dance floor, running around topless towards the end of the evening. I think you've guessed it, everybody had an absolutely brilliant time! There were rather a few strange photos in my camera, of people I don't really know – I wonder who took them (surely not me!?).
A few hours of mad partying later, we were happy to be whisked off to our hotel by Philippe (him and Aniko were staying at the same hotel as us). There was a bit of a nasty surprise in store of us, though, as we'd handed in our key at reception before heading off. And naturally the reception was closed. Thankfully, I actually had a look behind the reception desk, and found our key, before jumping over the desk and breaking down the office door ;).

The next day, we headed over to the happy couple's for the traditional “post-wedding brunch”. Yummie, more eating and drinking. After a couple of hours of eating, drinking and socializing (I like that about France – a lot of that taking place here!) it was time for us to say our tear-filled goodbyes to everybody and hit the road!

We stopped for the night at a small village in the Ardeche called Saint-Andéol-de-Berg, where Mathilde had booked a rather nice Bed and Breakfast. We were quite lucky to be there during the village fete. We were treated to the local version of punch at the rather reasonable price of one Euro per glass. There was also a petanque competition (the Lyon version of the game), which was rather entertaining to watch.

The next day, we had a brief stop at Orange, before heading home. I've been keen to visit Orange for quite a while, since I've heard the Roman theater is rather impressive. And impressive it was! It was built during the 1^st century AD, and is possible the best-preserved Roman theater in Europe (certainly in France) – it is one of only three Roman theaters in the world with the wall behind the scene still standing. The audio-guide visit was rather interesting; tracing the theaters colourful history over the centuries, and also going into quite a lot of detail in describing the role of the theater in Roman culture. The rest of Orange is not overly interesting, and the historic museum opposite to the theater is actually rather disappointing (I would've expected more items from the Roman era to be on display...). But the theater on its own certainly was worth the diversion!

From Orange, we drove back home without further stops. All in all, a memorable week spent in the Alps, with a fantastic wedding to top it off. Merci beaucoup, Flore et Christian!

Via Italy to Haute Savoie!

Time to head to the Alps then, for our dear friends’ Flore and Christian’s wedding. We decided to spend a few days in Chamonix before the great occasion, passing by Italy…

Our first stop on the way to Chamonix was Andora, a small town on the Ligurian coast, where we stopped for lunch (pizza in a Chinese restaurant in Italy – that’s a first! No complaints about the pizza, though!). Our next stop was at Alessandria, a rather big town in the Piedmonte region. The main sight at Alessandria is the citadel – a rather imposing construction, which reminds me a bit of Suomenlinna at Helsinki (architecturally speaking, the setting is rather different…). The place could do with a bit of a revamp – interesting challenge for Alessandria to find a use for the place as it’s absolutely huge. There are already a couple of museums there, which we didn’t visit though… After a short walk in the town center, which is rather typically northern Italian, we carried on…

We stopped to sleep at the picturesque town of Ivrea, which is the capital of the Canavese area. It’s a pretty interesting place to stroll around, with a rather impressive medieval castle overlooking the old town, with an equally imposing cathedral nestled next to it. Today was actually an important catholic holiday in Italy – Assumption. Well, to be fair, it was actually the day after, but seemed that pretty much all the restaurants had decided to close already the night before… Thankfully, we found a very nice little Enoteca to sate our appetite…

After dinner, it was time for the big spectacle. Next to the cathedral, they had put up a big wooden frame of a woman (in the Blessed Virgin Mary’s honor, I suppose?), which they proceeded to cover with flowers. It was quite an operation, involving ladders, firemen, carts brining in flowers, an orchestra providing the music, and the townspeople cheering on the work. Nice little tradition – but we did decide to head back to the hotel before they finished…

We hit the road early in the morning, to tackle the Mont Blanc tunnel as early as possible (we were afraid of traffic jams…). The last leg of our voyage was surprisingly painless, and we arrived in Chamonix well before lunchtime… We were staying at a rather nice hotel, with an outdoors swimming pool with a view of Mont Blanc and the Aguille de Midi. Not bad… Our dear friends Chie and Geoff were also staying at the same hotel – the plan was originally to wait for them at the hotel and then do some stuff together. Unfortunately, they had some trouble with their flights getting to Geneva, so we ended up heading out on our own.

After a tartiflette (potatoes, lardons and cheese – that’s Savoyard cuisine for you!) for lunch, we took the Aguille de Midi cable car up the Plan de l’Aguille (which is kind of half way up to the Aguille – at 2317 meters’ altitude). It’s a rather stunning cable car ride, that’s for sure… From there, we first hiked up to the blue lake, an easy 15 minutes’ walk from the cable car stop. After that, we tackled the legendary walk up to the Mer de Glace (which is, at 7 kilometers, the longest glacier in France). The hike was pretty amazing, the views over Chamonix and the surrounding mountains were just absolutely stunning. No other word for it.

La Mer de Glace, of course, is equally stunning. The view of the glacier, creeping down between Aiguille du Moine and Trélaporte, is absolutely amazing, as you approach it from above, on the hike… I was quite busy with my camera for a few minutes, I can tell you that. The walk then took us down past the Montenvers hotel (yes, those crazy Frenchmen actually built a hotel next to the glacier), to the train station! Yes, there is a cogwheel train up to the glacier as well! All the modern comforts provided, eh… As we’d have enough hiking for one day, we took the train down to Chamonix…

For dinner, we met up with Chie and Geoff. It was absolutely fantastic to see them – we hadn’t seen them for a couple of years, which was when they were suddenly sent over to Malaysia on a construction project with very short notice. So we were very eager to hear about their adventures! We picked a very nice French restaurant for the occasion (thanks Tripadvisor for the good advice!), and spent a very nice evening catching up and hearing about those adventures (it seems Chie and Geoff spent a couple of very interesting and busy years over in KL!).

The next day, we were meeting up with Mathilde’s colleagues from her school, a large number of whom had decided to spend holidays in Haute Savoie for some reason (I don’t know what it is – but we always seem to run into Mathilde’s colleagues on our holidays!?) . Anyways, we decided to meet up for a picnic at Lac Leman (a.k.a. Lake Geneva). Before the picnic, we decided to pay a quick visit at Yvoire, a rather famous historic village located on the lake. Yvoire is undeniably a very picturesque medieval village, and stunningly located, but unfortunately it seems a bit overrun by tourism.

After our brief visit, we met up with the gang at the lake, near Thonon-les-Bains. Our dear friends from California; Gilles, Valerie, Celian and Hector where there (very well stocked up for the picnic!), and we were later joined by Vincent (who’s a real Savoyard) and his family, as well as Bruno and his girlfriend. We spent a very pleasant day at the lake indeed, eating, drinking wine & pastis, chatting away, swimming, and playing tarot cards! (the kind of game I could get into, methinks!). Very nice to meet up with everybody again.

We had dinner back at Chamonix – Chie had picked a place with the rather interesting name “Moustache et ses filles” in one of the back streets. And it was an excellent choice indeed – I really liked the food they served there (and the company was of course top-notch as well!). We even spotted Mr. Moustache having his food towards the end of the meal as well (I suppose the waitresses must be his daughters then?).

The next day, a bunch of friends were coming over to Chamonix, the plan was to head up to the Mer de Glace (yes, we had already been there, but hadn’t really had the time to properly check out the glacier). Aldo and Dorine came with their two little ones, as well as Nathalie and Patrick with their clan (including, of course, my dear godson Florian!). After the train journey up to the glacier, and a quick picnic lunch, we started exploring… We first made our way down to the ice cave, which is carved each year into the glacier. It has to be redone every year, as the glacier moves about 90 meters down the valley each year… It’s pretty cool, the ice cave, with the light effects, and various statues carved out of the ice (a pity they don’t serve any drinks at the bar, though…).

We then made our way back up to the train station, and checked out a couple of rather interesting museums. All in all, it’s a very interesting place, well worth spending a few hours at. We then made our way back to Chamonix on the train. After an hour or so of strolling around Chamonix (and trying to meet up with Chie and Geoff – we managed eventually), we decided to have dinner at one of the touristy restaurants in the town center.

For the evening, me, Chie and Geoff made our way over to the Roche-sur-Foron, where we were meeting up with the rest of the “English gang” going to the wedding, for a couple of drinks. Almost all the usual suspects were present: Nick, Sinhung, Olivier, Raphaelle, Philippe, Aniko and Isabelle (and of course Flore and Christian). Apart from drinking beer, we also tried the local rodeo – fortunately the bull wasn’t a real one though… I was quite pleased with my 19 seconds on the mechanical bull (which entitled me to a 3rd place behind Philippe and Ollie, I reckon).

What a fantastic reunion, and pre-wedding celebration!

Isabelle on the Cote d'Azur

About one week from now, Flore and Christian, good friends of ours from our stay in England, are planning to get married in the Alps. Due to some complicated practical arrangements, our other good friend from our stay in England, Isabelle, had decided to come down for a few days down to the Cote d’Azur before making her way up to the Alps - but not with us, but rather with OIivier and Rapaelle, who were also heading down to the Cote for a few days. But Isabelle was staying at our flat. (I told you, the arrangements were complicated!)

So to cut a long story short, we picked up Isabelle at Antibes train station, where she arrived at Sunday night after a rather long trip from Paris. Which meant we had Monday to spend with Isabelle, as we were planning to head off towards the Alps on Tuesday.

As I mentioned, our friends Olivier and Rapahele were also on the Cote, so after considering various options, we decided to all meet up in Vence for lunch. Vence is a pretty nice Provencal town, located conveniently between Cagnes-sur-Mer (where we live) and Greolieres (where Ollie and Raphaele were staying). We started off our visit by walking around the lovely old town – very typically Provencal, and very well preserved – with its medieval gates intact.

After our stroll through the historic town center, we decided it was time to eat. We ended up going with the nr. 1 restaurant on Tripadvisor, Les Lavandes – a very good choice indeed. It’s a rather small establishment run by a couple, very nicely located on a lovely little square. The service is friendly, and the food is really great, all prepared from fresh ingredients. It’s true that the service was a little bit slow, but that is to be expected with one person waiting the tables and one person in the kitchen (at least the waiting means the food is prepared, rather than heated in the microwave oven…).

After lunch, us and Isabelle headed off to kill off some of those just-acquired calories by doing a bit of hiking near Vence. The area of Vence (more specifically, towards Col de Vence) is really excellent for hiking, we’ve done quite a few walks over there. This time, we decided to do the Plan des Noves walk, which we’ve already done, about 5 years ago. It’s a nice little walk taking in some pretty nice views, especially towards the Baou de Saint-Jeannette, with some nice rough terrain to cross. We took a wrong turn at one point, but thankfully managed to find our way again – so we ended up doing a bit of an improvised variant of the hike in the end. Anyway, a very pleasant and scenic way to get rid of a few calories!

In the evening, we took it easy, and had dinner home, catching up on old times (we discovered some old photos and videos from our years in the UK which we watched with great amusement!).

Dinner & Fireworks!

Our good friend Naim was visiting the Cote d’Azur this week. I had already attended one of his legendary Nice meetups on Wednesday, but Mathilde was also quite keen to hear what Naim had to say about Brussels (where he has at least temporarily relocated for work). So, we decided to invite him over for dinner. Since Aki and Henna haven’t been over to our place either, we decided to invite them over as well.

The dinner went rather well, sitting as we were on the terrace. We had prepared a spinach & saumon lasagna for main course, and to finish off, Mathilde had prepared an absolutely delicious apricot crumble. Yummie. It was great to hear about Naim’s adventures in Brussels (he seems to have integrated rather well – although he does seem to miss the good weather), and also good to see that Henna’s belly is growing encouragingly (not because of our lasagna – as you may have guessed, she’s pregnant).

The dinner finished, we decided to head out to next-door Villeneuve-Loubet to check out the fireworks (one nice thing about the Cote d’Azur in summer time is that there are some fireworks going on at least somewhere on the Cote every couple of days). Parking turned out to be a real nightmare, but we made it eventually. After the uninspiring fire acrobatics show, the fireworks kicked off – and rather impressive they were, I have to admit, especially for a small town like Villeneuve-Loubet. Samar joined us to check out the fireworks as well, good to catch up with him as well.

All in all, a rather nice evening amongst friends!

Fine dining in Menton

As you may be aware, dear reader, I greatly appreciate good food. We are quite lucky to live on the Cote d’Azur, which is very much blessed with plenty of good and interesting restaurants (mind you, we are also cursed with a fair number of over-priced tourist traps as well!).

One restaurant I’ve heard good things about is a place called Le Mirazur, located in Menton, just the Italian border. They were just rewarded their second Michelin star, and the place is also ranked as the 24th best restaurant in the world (on one list, anyway). We’d also noted that their lunch menu is rather reasonably priced at 39 euros for starter, main course and desert.

So, we decided to try it out on this sunny Friday – we didn’t have much trouble in convincing Aurelien and Julie to join us, either. The place is located a bit uphill from downtown Menton (the pre-Alps go almost out to the sea where Menton is built), which naturally means the views from the restaurants towards Menton and the sea are outstanding (unfortunately, our table didn’t have that view…). The décor is tastefully bright (almost entirely white).

And then for the food… Basically, the menu we were having was a surprise menu, which means you don’t get to pick any of the dishes (even for the a la carte menu, you can only pick the type of dish, so an element of surprise there as well…) – which suited me just fine (I trust these Michelin-starred chefs to know what’s good for me…).

The meal, from the first amuse-bouche to the macaroons we had with the coffee, was an absolute delight. Every dish was pretty much perfect (if I was to make any criticism at all, it would be that the desert was “unsurprising” – which isn’t to say it wasn’t delicious). The service was also top-notch.

When including the aperitif, wine and coffee, the bill did end up being close to 60 euros per person, but I would say the experience was worth every euro. Especially considering you can quite easily end up paying nearly that much money at some of the tourist trap restaurants on Place Massena in Nice as well… I recommend without reservations, then!