Hanging out @ Montpellier

Our good friends Gilles and Valerie took the big decision to pack their bags and move over to sunny California a couple of years ago. To get to spend a bit of time with them back here in France, a bunch of us decided to rent a villa near Montpellier and just basically chill out for a week (well a bit less for me since I had a trip to Finland planned as well...).

We arrived at the villa, located in a small town called Latte, just South of Montpellier, after a bit of a nightmarish drive down... (hardly surprising, as the school holidays are in full swing). The villa itself was pretty much perfect for us - big enough to house all of us (there were, after all, no less than 14 of us), with a nice big swimming pool, a supermarket a couple of minutes' walk away, a tramway stop providing quick access to Montpellier, and a crazy host called Mr. Gonzales (a young-at-heart 60 year old who gave us solid recommendations about where to go clubbing ;-).

Since we had splendid weather (almost too hot!), since we all got along just great, and since it would've been logistically difficult to get everybody organized to go anywhere anyway, we ended up basically just chilling out at the villa. The usual suspects were all present - that is to say: Gilles, Valerie, Julie, Aurelien, Antoine, Claire and a bunch of kids. The days passed at their own pace: late breakfast, late lunch, long aperitif, dinner, with plenty of swimming and enjoying the sun in between. Now, normally, me and Mathilde are quite active during our holidays, but I think a few days of just relaxing and resting did us a lot of good.

We did manage to get out to visit Montpellier one evening, which was good fun. It's a pretty happening city, with a nice vibe. The usual student crowds (Montpellier is one of the biggest student cities in the South of France) were replaced by tourists, given the time of the year, but we still enjoyed the vibe of the place. Feels like a much younger place than Nice. Me, Mathilde, Aurelien and Julie stayed on for a nice meal one evening, and had a couple of drinks at the lively Place de la Comedie (the main square of Montpellier).

Alas, for me, the stay was all too short, as I had a flight to catch to Finland. We did decide to do something other than just chill out at the villa for my last day - we headed out for a nice hike to the swamplands area just down the road from our villa. It was good fun, in spite of the rather oppressive heat. And then, time for me to head down to the train station and catch my train down to Cagnes-sur-Mer. I was quite looking forward to spending a few days enjoying the Finnish summer (especially since the weather looked rather promising this time around), but it was still a bit sad to say good-bye to everybody.

More Corsican exploration!

We continued our exploration of this beautiful island by visiting one of the top sights in Northern Corsica - Cap Corse. Cap Corse is a peninsula just north of Bastia, circumvented by a 110 km road, offering rather stunning views over this stunning, rugged coastline... We started on the West side of the penninsula, making our way northwards. Our first stop was the stunningly located Nonza, perched on its dramatic clifftop, overlooking the amazing coastline. We hiked up to the "Paoline tower" (named after the Corsican statesman Pascal Paoli), from where we had predictably good views over the village and the surround scenery (including a rather odd sight - a black beach, the colour being due to the asbestos deposited there from a nearby mine. Unsurprisingly, no swimmers in sight!).

We continued our tour around the capte, which took longer than expected, due to the rather poorly maintained roads (a lot of the time, only about half of the road was paved, leading to rather slow progress...). Our next stop was at the eastern side of the Cape, Macinaggio, a rather modern port without much of interest. After a quick ice cream, we headed up to a secluded beach just north of town, from where we hiked up the coastal path for a bit. Oh, what bliss! Stunning coastal scenery, deserted beaches with crystal-clear, turquoise waters. A pity our schedule didn't allow more than a short hike (and a couple of swims to combat the heat...). A brief visit at the tiny, picturesque fishing port Erbalunga brought an end to our Cap Corse tour...

The next day, we were rather surprised, and disappointed, to be confronted by bad weather - as Corsica was struck by storms and thunder. So we took the opportunity to just chill out at our flat, not a bad thing actually... During the afternoon, the weather cleared up, so we decided to head out to explore the Nebbio. The Nebbio is a picturesque region located just a few kilometres inland from Saint-Florent, blessed with plenty of charming little villages. We checked out a few of them - we particularly liked Olmeta and Murato. The Romanesque Saint-Michel church at Murato in particular was sublime... (I would say it's almost the perfect medieval church, if there is such a thing: simple, graceful and at a stunning site). We finished off the day in style by having a nice fish dinner at Saint-Florent.

On Friday - our second last day in Corsica - we decided to head westwards, to Ile Rousse. The drive, as often in Corsica, was just great - we were treated to some fantastic views over the Agriates (the gorgeous strip of coastline we'd visited by boat a few days earlier). After some rather horrific traffic jams, we finally managed to park at Ile Rousse, we ended up quite far away from the town centre (Ile Rousse is one of the transport hubs of Corsica, with its ferry connection, which probably explains the traffic jams...).


Ile Rousse is a medium sized town by Corsican standards (which makes it pretty small) - a nice little place, if a little bit overrun by tourists. We started our tour by checking out the main site in town - L'île de la Pietra. This beautiful ochre-coloured "island" (now joined to the mainland by a road - hence making it a peninsula) has some nice little beaches, and also a Genoan tower and a lighthouse. And the views over town and the surrounding coastline are predictably impressive... After a nice lunch in town, we headed back to our apartment to prepare for the evening.

The plan was to head for dinner to a nice-looking place me and Mathilde had spotted in nearby Patrimonio, with Julie and Aurelien. After a nice aperitif at our place, we headed off to sate our appetites. The place was pretty busy, due to the yearly guitar festival taking place (the list of bands was quite impressive considering Patrimonio is a village with a couple of hundred inhabitants: Patti Smith & M were making an appearance, amongst others...). Since the restaurant we'd picked was next to the venue, it was packed, hence the speed of the service left quite a bit to be desired. No complaints about the beer and the burgers though - and we had a very nice night out - that's the most important thing of course!

The next day was sadly our last day in Corsica - all good things come to an end, as they say. We started off the day (after saying our tearful goodbyes to our kind host Rene and his wife) at Patrimonio again, where we procured a few bottles of local wine (and actually got to attend a rehearsal for the concert taking place later that night). We then made our way to Bastia, where we were staying the night before catching the ferry back to Nice the next morning.

We started off our visit by checking out the famous Santa Scala at the

Monserato church. This staircase  - or rather the original in Rome
(according to the locals the one in Bastia is the only other Santa Scala in the world, although wikipedia seems to list several others ;-) ) was apparently walked by Jesus before his crucifixion... We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the streets and port of Bastia. It's a pretty nice little town all in all - and actually surprisingly untouristy compared to for example Ile Rousse. 

We finished our Corsican holiday with a nice meal at La Taverne, a nice little eatery with a terrace overlooking the sea, with Julie and Aurelien. I chose the Gargantua menu, naturally. A bit of a mistake as it turned out - I knew I was in trouble when the starter included 4 cooked eggs!). Much to my shame (and the shock of my co-voyagers),  I ended up skipping the cheese platter and even part of my desert, after even struggling with my XXL-sized steak. Shocking end to a perfect holiday! ;-)

As you've probably figured out, we really enjoyed our short but most restful stay at this beautiful Mediterranean island. It's quite surprising that such a beautiful island has managed to stay so authentic and untouched by tourists. I think a third visit is on the cards!

Île de Beauté

After a rather busy time with plenty of work and visitors, we were quite keen to spend a week in Corsica. Our first visit to the "beautiful isle" was three years ago, and at the time we had promised ourselves that another visit was definitely needed to fully appreciate this beautiful place.

It just so happened that our good friends Julie and Aurelien were going to Corsica at the same time as us, and were in fact even taking the same ferry as us. We arrived at Bastia quite late on Sunday the 14th of July, which is of course national day in France. So after checking in at our hotel, we hastily made our way to find a nice restaurant from where to check out the fireworks (we were hoping for normal fireworks rather than the more "explosive" kind sometimes exercised by the rather active Corsican nationalists).

And no complaints at all about the fireworks, they were pretty much as impressive as anything we've seen on the Cote d'Azur. Nothing bad to say about the food either - we had a very tasty Corsican platter, covered with local specialities. The service was rather amazingly slow - but we were quite OK with that since it gave Julie and Aurelien the time to join us (they joined us in Bastia, having taken their stuff over to their flat a bit South of Bastia).

After a good night's sleep at the hotel, we decided to spend the morning exploring Bastia, before heading to our rented flat over near St-Florent. Our walk took us through the picturesque (if rather touristy) old port, and up towards the Citadel, which overlooks Bastia. It's a pretty nice area to walk around, with its shady cobble-stone streets. We stopped for a coffee and an ice cream at one of the squares, and then enjoyed the stunning views towards Bastia for a while. The citadel bit done, we headed back to find our car, and hit the road westwards.

We stopped for lunch at Patrimonio, just a few kilometers from our destination - a decent little eatery recommended in our guide book. We also had a quick walk around the village, checking out the old village church and the famous Menhir of Patrimonio. The preparations for "Les Nuits de Guitar de Patrimonio" (a music festival) were well underway...

After a couple of wrong turns, we eventually found our little apartment, in what  our landlord Manu had referred to as "a piece of paradise". And actually it's not much of an exaggeration. The setting is superb - peaceful, with a fantastic view over the nearby mountains. The beach is just a couple hundred metres away (with turquoise, clear water...). The apartment itself is small, simple but charming, with a nice garden (with some chickens and exotic birds for extra entertainment value). Our host Rene, who seems to know everybody within a 20km radius, was a real character, genuinely friendly. So, we were most happy with our choice of accommodation. We spent the rest of the day chilling out, enjoying a rather stunning sunset at our "almost private" beach... Oh, bliss!

For the next day, Rene had managed to convince us to join his private tour to the "Desert des Agriates". The Agriates is a truly paradise-like piece of coastline, located between St-Florent and Ile Rousse, which thanks to its protected status has escaped completely from the clutches of property developers. Plenty of absolutely stunning beaches to be found. The only way to access those beaches are by foot (count several hours of hiking), 4x4, or boat. We chose the boat option, along with a family who was also staying at Rene's place. The boat tour took in all of the stunning Agriates coastline, including the legendary Saleccia beach (where the film "The Longest Day" was shot - hard to imagine a beach in Corsica posing as Normandy!). We stopped for a picnic lunch at a stunning little beach, where Rene left us for a couple of hours of chilling out. We spent most of that time snorkeling...  Beauuutilful!

For the evening, we were meeting up with Julie and Aurelien for dinner at a rather charming little village called Venzolasca, south of Bastia up in the foothills (quite a drive up there, along rather windy mountain roads). After a quick walk around the picturesque, we made our way to the restaurant, a little gem of a place called U Fragnu. I love the concept - it's basically a farmhouse that offers a set menu (so no choice when it comes to dishes), all made of local produce. It's filling, tasty and friendly. Just my kind of place... ;)

Three days done, 4 days to go at Corsica. So far, more than so good! ;-)

Paul and Lucas visiting

Barely had we seen Phil off back to England, when the next visitors were already knocking on the door - this time we had a visit from Paris, in the form of Mathilde's nephews Paul and Lucas. We were very much looking forward to the visit, but our enthusiasm was somewhat tempered by the knowledge that the boys are very energetic indeed!

After picking them up at the airport, and after a rather filling hamburger lunch at Chez Hollandaise (apparently there is no limit to how many layers you can ask for in your burger - I went triple...), we headed off to Parc Phoenix. Parc Phoenix is a nice little zoo/botanical garden near Nice airport, perfect for a sunny Sunday afternoon with kids. We had a rather nice time checking out the emus, Tasmanian devils, snakes, aquariums, botanical gardens, musical fountains and so forth. You get the idea - if you ever come to the Cote d'Azur with your kids - take them to Parc Phoenix!

The rest of the week unfolded at rather leisurely pace - for me at least, since I was working. I guess Mathilde had a busier time at it, trying to contain the energy of the dynamic duo ;-). I was happy enough to join them at the swimming pool after a hard day of work!

We did pop over to Maite's place on Monday evening, for one of those teachers' soiree (plenty of those, now that the school holidays have started). It was good fun to meet up with some of Mathilde's colleagues that we've not seen so much of over the last year; such as Marie, Chris, Guillaume, not forgetting Maite herself! The boyz seemed to be having a good time as well, playing outside and watching movies.

Wednesday night we were invited to another soiree, this time at Sarah's place in Nice. I popped in just to get a few munchies into my stomach, after which I whisked off Paul and Lucas to the movies, to leave the prof's to their gossip. We saw Despicable Me 2 - brilliant animated feature - it's a long time since I laughed that hard in the cinema!

All in all, it was a pretty pleasant week with the boys - but we were still rather looking forward to have a rest afterwards - good thing we had a week's holiday in Corsica for that ;-)

Visit from England

During our last visit to London, just a couple of months ago, we finally managed to convince our good friend Phil to come and visit as in France.

We kicked off the visit by whisking Phil over to Nice straight from the airport - he was just over for two days, so some degree of efficiency was required to make the most of his stay. Me and Phil kicked off with beers at Place Garibaldi, where we were joined by Mathilde. From there, we made our way to the port of Nice, where we were meeting up with Naim & Simon for dinner. We ended up in a great little unpretentious place called Pass'port (nice change from the trendy brasseries and bistros that we usually go to in this part of town), where they apparently serve the best ratatouille in Nice. Pretty much the perfect choice!

We started the next day in rather leisurely manner, by chilling out at the swimming pool. We then cycled our way to Saint-Laurent-du-Var, where we were planning to have lunch at one of our favourite eateries on the Cote d'Azur, Dame Nature. And as always, they didn't disappoint. Excellent food, excellent wine, excellent service. After enjoying the beach for a while, we made our way back home.

After dinner, we headed back to the seafront for the traditional Fête de Saint-Pierre. Cros-de-Cagnes, where the Fête takes place, has a long history with the sea - it is one of the oldest fishing villages on the Cote d'Azur (and also the last active one...). Things kick off with a ceremony in the church, followed by a procession where a statue of a saint is brought out on the beach. After some singing and a speech from our dear Mayor (who never misses the opportunity to make an appearance), they proceed with the highlight - the burning of an old, disused fishing boat. All kind of good fun, really!

The next day, we picked up Mathilde's nephews Paul and Lucas at the airport, and after a quick burger lunch by the seaside, it was time to take Phil back to the airport for his flight back to old Blighty... All in all, nice to have Phil over, even if it was a bit short...

Italian dinner

Time of our traditional end of the year Italian course dinner. Yes, I've persevered, and managed to complete my 5th year of Italian evening courses, which means I've got my C1 level. So only C2 to go, then... Although I think I might give that a miss, I figure a conversation course would serve me better than more grammar...

To celebrate this milestone, we booked a table at Via Veneto, an Italian restaurant conveniently located on the Cagnes-sur-Mer seaside (a bit of a tourist trap, if you ask me, but the food is decent and as said before, the place is quite conveniently located for everybody). Good to see everybody one last time - especially since it seems that nobody is going to continue with the C2. Perhaps we'll all do the conversation course next year then?

Anyways, a big thanks to Sten, our super teacher, for putting up with our stupid questions (and my appalling hand writing) and getting us this far!