Westwards to the Basque country

After our short but sweet visit at Barcelona, we carried on westwards, towards the Basque country. Our first stop was the medieval village of Montblanc, which dates back to the 12^th century. It's a pretty enough place, with rather impressively preserved city walls, with the rather nice cathedral probably being the touristy highlight of the place. After our short walk around the cobble-stoned streets, we decided to have some tapas for lunch on the pleasant main square, enjoying the sunshine on their terrace. The tapas were a bit disappointing compared to what we'd had in Barcelona the other day, but they did fill our stomachs.

From Montblanc, we carried on towards our stop for the next night, Tarazona, crossing some pretty arid, almost desert-like landscapes (and pretty deserted, as well). Tarazona is another pretty little medieval town, although a bit bigger than Montblanc. It has a rather glorious past, having been an important town all the way back during Roman times, and also during the Muslim era. We were rather impressed with our hotel, a very tastefully reworked medieval palace (especially considering we only paid something like 50 Euros for our room!). After checking in, we had a walk around town, which was rather charming, with quite a few impressive churches (unfortunately it was too late to visit any of them). We finished our pleasant day with dinner in a very mundane little dining establishment outside the town center. Kind of indicative of the fact that Tarazona is a bit off the beaten path – not really a tourist hot-spot.

After a rather filling and fancy buffet breakfast, we hit the road again, heading towards the capital of Navarra, Pampluna. Pamplona is of course famous for the running of the bulls, which takes place in July (so we were out of luck, then...). Our hotel was nicely located on the outskirts of the old town, near the river Arga, which crosses Pampluna. After deposing our bags, and parking our car, we set out to explore the old town. We really liked Pampluna. It reminded us quite a lot of San Sebstian, with its tidy, well-ordered streets, and well-preserved old houses. But at the same time, it had that Spanish liveliness and business to it. We had lunch in one of the many inviting eateries lining up the streets near the picteresque Plaza del Castello. We enjoyed what I would call excellent value for money – a three course meal with unlimited wine and coffee for 18 Euros. Not bad, especially since the food was excellent.

After lunch, we continued exploring the old town, and also visited the famous cathedral. After the rather mundane and uninsipiring exterior, we were most impressed with the stunning interior. Especially the cloister, located behind the cathedral, was really impressive. There was also a very nice modern exhibition there, which examined the history of the cathedral and Pampluna through the ages. Very nicely done indeed! We finished a very nice day with dinner in another nice little restaurant near Plaza del Castello. Again, we paid 18 Euros for a three course meal, unlimited wine, and coffee (seems that there is some price-fixing going on in Pampluna?). Not quite as nice as the place where we had lunch, but still, excellent value for money for some pretty good food. A nice way to end our short but most interesting visit.

The next day, we hit the road and made our way for Bilbao, one of the main towns of the Basque country. After confronting some rather menacing mist and some rain, we arrived in a sunny Bilbao. After checking into our hotel, we headed out to explore town straight away. We started by exploring the old town, which isn't quite as big as the one in Pampluna, but equally charming. The architecture is very basque, very simiar to what we saw in the old town of San Sebastian (unsurprisingly). Plenty of nice-looking pintxos (pintxos are Basque tapas) bars everywhere. Having checked out the historic parts of Bilbao, we crossed the Nervion river into the modern part of time. We stopped for lunch in one of those charming pintxos places, and were very happy with our choice. Excellent food – and amazing value (we paid something like 10 euros each for a very tasty and filling lunch).

We then made our way to what everybody comes to see in Bilbao, the Guggenheim museum. I was kind of expecting to be disappointed, but, surprise surprise, I was not. The building really is amazing. It's probably, together with the Sydney opera house, the most impressive modern building I've seen. And the interior is equally amazing (as opposed to the Sydney opera house, where the interior is quite disappointing) – I really like the smooth and harmonious curves of the place (I don't think there is a single straight angle in the place). The exhibitions were moderately interesting, modern art is a bit hit and miss for me. But seeing the interior of the building itself is worth the entry fee (which is actually surprisingly low). Having checked out the museum, we made our way back towards the old town, walking along the river. What they've done by the river is very impressive too, with some very nice bridges spanning the Nerion river. They complement the Guggenheim museum very well.

After some further exploration of the old town, we made our way back to the hotel, and got ready for dinner. We selected a rather special venue for the night, called Aizian. It's a proper gourmet restaurant located near the Guggenheim museum, in a 5 star hotel. Proper fine dining – Michelin star quality food and service, I would say. As a cherry on the cake, we got to see the Guggenheim by night on the way back home.

All in all, we were very impressed with Bilbao, I think they deserve all the tourists they get. Of course, the main thing to see here is the Guggenheim museum, but even without it, there is plenty of stuff to see. And that food is just amazing. Anyway, time to hit the road again and head north towards France!

Via Collioures to Barcelona

Time to hit the road for our grand road trip! We had a rather ambitious itinerary planned – through Catalonia in Northern Spain, across the country to the Basque country, and then up to Angers along the west coast of France, then back home via Paris. Should keep us pretty busy for the next two weeks!

Our first stop on the way to Catalonia was Collioures, a seaside town located on the French side of Catalonia. The drive up to Collioures was what could be called adventurous – we were hit by some pretty of the worst rainfall in France (apparently it rained the equivalent of one month during an hour or something silly like that). Thankfully, we arrived unscratched... Since we arrived pretty late, we hit the sack after having a rather nice dinner in one of the numerous restaurants near the port area.

The next day, we spent a couple of hours exploring Collioures. It’s a real gem of a city, actually, located in a rather amazing bay. We were not surprised to learn that quite a few painters (such as Derain, Matisse…) had spent time here, painting the amazing views, the picturesque port and the medieval, cobble-stone streets. We spent a good hour walking around the port area, the citadel (overlooking the port). The gale-force winds made the visit all the more, hmm, exciting. All in all, pretty much the perfect choice for a stopover!

From there on, we hit the road and headed down South all the way to Barcelona, where we were planning to stay for two days with our friends Mireia and Richard (and their young son, Eric, whom we’ve not had the pleasure to meet!). After checking out their lovely apartment, we made our way to have some lunch. We spent the afternoon exploring central Barcelona, mostly Barrio Gotico. We know Barcelona pretty well already after a couple of visits, but it was very nice to re-discover this great city.

After a very pleasant dinner at Richard’s and Mireia’s place, we decided to explore the local bars. We kind of struggled to find any place that was open, but finally found a somewhat dodgy bar, which was nearly deserted. We had a bit of a surreal experience there, first watching Pulp Fiction without sound (a testimony to what a great film it is, since we still enjoyed it a lot!), and then mingling with some locals who spoke nearly as bad English as I spoke Spanish (one of the guys, who was very proud to show a picture of himself and Barca half-god Messi, seemed to be very keen for me to “watch his shoulders” and “dance with him” – I politely refused his proposal several times…)

The next morning, we hit town for a bit more tourist action. We started off in Montjuïc (means something like Jewish hill in Catalan), at the Caixa Forum. It’s a pretty cool exhibition center, located in an old modernist factory complex (not surprising, considering Barcelona is one of the cradles of modernist architecture). The views from the rooftop over the surrounding area are pretty nice…

From there, we made our way up to the Catalan National Art Gallery – which is located in an old palace up on a hilltop, with predictably amazing views over Barcelona. We spent quite some time there, mostly so I could take loads of pictures…

The next stop was a rather unusual shopping center, just down the road from the museum. The complex is basically located in an old bullfighting ring (which has apparently been banned in Catalonia) – quite a creative solution I would say. Since it was a Sunday, the shops were actually all closed, but turns out it was quite a good spot to have lunch, so we decided to do just that. We ended up in a nice little place serving proper Catalonian cuisine – I decided to go really local and have pork trotters. Not really my sort of thing, I have to say, but at least I can say I’ve tried it! We then had dessert in our favourite ice cream shop – Amorino!

For dinner, we headed downtown to hunt for a proper, authentic tapas bar. Richard found one for us, and it turned out to be a rather excellent choice. It was frequented by locals only, was quite atmospheric without taking it too far, and most importantly, the tapas they served were excellent.

The next morning, we got up early, to make carry on with our road trip. After saying bye-bye to Richard, Mireia and little Eric, and thanking them for a super weekend, we hit the road. Before leaving Barcelona, we followed Richard’s advice and did a nice hike in the foothills near Barcelona. The weather was perfect, and so were the views.

All in all, an excellent stay. Barcelona is still the fantastic city we remember from our last visit. It’s true that there is some tension in the air with the economic crisis in Spain waking up the Catalan spirit of independence. There was a fair bit of tension in the air, hopefully it all works out for the better for both Spain and Catalonia…

Sami is back in town!

Sami was one of the “original Finns” here on the Cote d'Azur. Sadly he headed back to Finland a few years ago, and he has been sorely missed since. So we were happy to welcome him back to the Riviera this weekend.

Mikko (another of the original Finns) volunteered to pick up Sami at the airport, and also to put him up in their classy residence overlooking Nice, at La Roche. To kick off the weekend in style, we decided to meet up at one of my favourite wine bars in Nice, Le Cave d'Origine. That pata negra they serve is just succulent... Anyway, this time I decided to try their Angus beef instead, and I was not disappointed. IT was simply delicious – no complaints about the wine either. And naturally, it was great to catch up with Sami as well. As always, my stomach was hurting from all the laughing as I made my way back to Cagnes...

For the next day, we'd decided to head to my favourite Italian restaurant over in Vallebona, Il Giardino. I really like their concept: 9 antipasti, 4 pasta dishes, 3 main dishes, dessert, coffee, wine, grappa: all this for the more than reasonable price of 30 Euros. Think grandmum's cooking. Can't get much better value for money than that, if you ask me. Anyway, the meal was as great as ever, and my stomach was sore again, like the night before, after the meal (both because of all the laughing, and all the food...).

For the evening, we quite naturally decided to go and see the Nice Aigles take on Mont-Blanc in ice hockey (naturally, since both Sami and Mikko played for the Nice amateur team – Mikko still does). It was a good game, with plenty of action and drama (Nice clinched a 6-4 victory in the end, with the last goal being in the empty net). Good fun to catch up with some of the other Riviera Finns as well (there are always quite a few attending the games) – and to see Henna is doing OK (she is expecting a little arrival to the Kettunen family in the next couple of weeks).

After the game, me, Sami, Mikko, Henna and Aki all squeezed into Mikko's Audi S3, and headed down time for a bite to eat, and ended up in one of the tourist trap eateries on Rue Massena. Be that as it may – the calzone pizza I had was perfectly edible, and the beer tasted just fine too.

On Sunday, we planned for one last lunch with Sami in the old town of Nice. The plan was to go the Bar du Coin (where they reportedly serve the best pizzas in Nice), but alas, the place was closed. So we ended up on Place Rossetti, at a tourist trap restautant (again!?). Anyway, the food was perfectly edible, again, the service was good, and we all got to sit outside together. And as an added bonus, the most famous gelateria in Nice, Fenocchio, is just next doors ;)

After a short stroll on the Promenade des Anglais, it was time to say bye-bye to Sami, who had a flight to catch. Hopefully we will see him again soon here in Nice!

Finnish lunch in Vence

My parents tend to be rather busy during their stays here in France, welcoming various groups of friends and relatives. Just now, my mum's cousins were visiting. Since I have some spare time at my hands at the moment, I decided to meet up with them for lunch. After some deliberation and negotiations with my parents, we decided to meet up in Vence – I really like the old town, and there are some very nice restaurants there.

After some investigations on the internet, I ended booking Les Agapes, a small, cozy little restaurants tucked away on a small street near the main square of the old town. A good choice, it turned out, their lunch menu was rather tasty. I had the filet mignon – good choice. Good to catch up with uncle Lorenz, as well as my godmother, Birgitta (and Ole as well, of course).

Night out in Nice

It's been a while since we've done a night out in Nice, and as Dexter would put it: “Tonight is the night”. Youcef and Ouarda were visiting Nice, so that was a good excuse as well.

We started off by meeting up with Marie (in a clothes shop, where else?). After a bit of shopping, we headed over to a coffee shop on Avenue Jean Medecin for an aperitif, to catch up a bit one last time before her big trip to Thailand.

We then headed off for a romantic dinner at Sense, a new chic restaurant near Place Massena. Their main selling point is that they only use organic ingredients. Not much to complain about here – the place is nicely decorated, the service is good, and the food excellent. It is a bit pricey, but then you would expect that from a restaurant serving organic food. And the service wasn't exactly quick (this is one of those places though where I kind of take that as a sign that the food is cooked rather than heated in a microwave oven – positive thinking I suppose ?)

We then made our way to Ma Nolan's (where else?) for our reunion with Youcef, Ouarda and the other usual suspects (mostly ex-colleagues of Youcef's). it was good fun as usual – looks like Youcef and Ouarda really needed a break from their hardcore DIY (they had made the trip from Paris to prepare their flat for rental).

All in all, an excellent night out on town!

Janne and Katja visiting

Time to welcome some visitors again! This time my brother Janne, and his girlfriend Katja, were visiting.

We decided to start the visit by showing them our beautiful hometown, Cagnes-sur-Mer. After picking up our visitors from the airport, and a bit of chilling out at the flat (after all, our guests had gotten up at 5 in the morning to catch their flight), we headed out for a bit of lunch. After trying several restaurants at Haut-de-Cagnes (the old town, where we would normally take our visitors for a meal out) without success, we decided to head to the Kaffe-In, a little eatery by the Hippodrome which is pretty well rated on various web sites. A good choice indeed – the place doesn't look like anything special, and the wait was pretty long (due to the fact that the place was absolutely packed), but the food was really excellent (which is the main thing, right?)

To digest our tasty and filling lunch, we decided to do a bit of cycling, to explore the seaside of Cagnes-sur-Mer. So we rented a few velo belues, and made our way to the Cros de Cagnes – which is the old fishing village of Cagnes. From there, we made our way to the town center, and changed mode of transport, taking the free shuttle bus up to the Haut-de-Cagnes – passing by the busy street market. We stopped for a coffee at the main square of the Haut-de-Cagnes, which was unfortunately being renovated, after which we walked around for a bit, taking in the beautiful medieval cobble-stone streets and well-renovated houses. We finished a rather nice Sunday off with dinner at our place.

The next day, the plan was for me to head out to the Parc National de Mercantour with Janne and Katja. The plan was to visit Alpha – a kind of safari park which houses three packs of wolves. The drive up to Alpha is rather spectacular – the plan was to drive up the Gorges de Vesubie, but the road was closed, so we had to take a bit of a detour. Still, a magnificent drive, taking us past pretty villages, until we finally arrived at our destination.

After checking out a couple of expositions and audio/visual shows dedicated to this much-written about animal, we headed out into the park itself. The idea is basically to follow a marked footpath, with a fence separating visitors from the wolves, which can roam freely in the park behind the fence. Wolves being rather shy animals, we only saw about three of them, resting quietly in the bush. Still, it's quite a special moment, to lock your gaze with one of these beasts. Later on, we were treated to the spectacle of the wolves being fed by the care-takers – and that was indeed quite an impressive sight!

All in all, a very interesting visit, well worth the trip! On the way back, we stopped at Saint-Martin-de-Vesubie, one of the main towns in the Mercantour park. Quite a typical Provencal village, I would say, with a couple of interesting churches which are worth a look.

On Tuesday, I met up with the Janne and Katja, and also my parents (who were back from their rather successful wine and truffle tasting trip to Piedmont) at Antibes for lunch at the Taille de Gueppe – one of our favourite restaurants in Antibes. Their cooking is, rather interestingly, based on the theme of flowers. So all the dishes are basically decorated with flowers of various kinds (all edible, and some of them rather tasty – the main dish had some flowers tasting like oysters for example!). Very much recommended, should you ever find yourselves in Antibes, looking for a restaurant...

On Wednesday night, we headed over for dinner to my parents place, very nice indeed! We were even treated to some truffle-flavoured oil from my parents visit to Piedmont, guess we need to figure out what to cook with that then!
That brought an end to Janne's and Katja's visit, as they were carrying on their journey towards Italy & Tuscany on Thursday. Great to see them again!

Vintage @ Cagnes

One of the most famous features of Cagnes-sur-Mer is the Hippodrome. When the horse races aren't on, they often organise various fares and other events there. And on this particular Saturday, there was a Vintage fare on. Since we had no other plans for the day, we decided to give it a go...

Before heading down memory lane, we decided to try a new Japanese restaurant (the only one in Cagnes, unless I am mistaken?), Yoko, for lunch. Really lovely place: intimate, with just a few tables. Great, authentic food, properly Japanese, cooked by a Japanese lady. And the prices area pretty reasonable too. Quite liked the green tea tiramisu for dessert as well. Warmly recommended!

The vintage fare was, mm, interesting. Actually, it was mostly about vintage clothing, which is not really my cup of tea, as the Brits would say... But it was good fun, anyway! We ran into our good friend Marie as well, who was there with a friend of hers. I did get my share of vintage fun too, as there was a booth selling vintage movie posters, and there was a pretty nice collection of vintage cars outside as well (some nice Mustangs, 'Vettes and custom hot rods on display...)

All in all, a pretty nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon. And good to catch up with Marie as well (who's off to Thailand for 6 weeks – lucky her...)