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!