Nick @ the Cote d'Azur

Our good friend Nick came over to visit us this weekend (the confirmation finally came after a few ifs and buts - there were a few complications along the way, as there sometimes are when it comes to Nick ;-).

After picking up Nick at the airport, we decided to have dinner at our favourite Japanese restaurant, Yoko. The food, service, everything in fact, was perfect as usual.

The next day, after some deliberation, we decided to head off to Marseille for a day. We'd booked a table for lunch at La Marine des Goudes, a place specializing in Bouillabaisse. Before that, we had a couple of hours to walk around Marseille. We started off by visiting the revamped port area (it was redone for when Marseille was European capital of culture in 2013) - a pretty successful facelift I'd say (the Ombiere, by Normal Foster - a kind of mirror structure, is particularly striking).

Having checked out the old port, we walked up the main street of Marseille, Le Cannebiere (actually comes from the word Cannabis - a lot of hemp went through Marseille, since Marseille was one of the biggest traders of ropes and baskets in the olden days...), from where we headed off to some of the atmospheric side streets that to me make Marseille such a nice place to walk around (some areas make Marseille seem more like a Souk in Egypt than a major French city).

And then 'twas time for some Bouillabaisse. The restaurant of our choice (recommended by our dear friend Julie) was located in a fishing port at the outskirts of Marseille called Goudes. So pretty much the perfect spot for a bit of Bouillabaisse, especially as the restaurant had a perfect view across the harbour. And no complaints about the food either - the bouillabaisse was pretty much spot on (and cheaper than the last one we had too, at the Ruhl hotel).

Our appetites more than sated (a bouillabaisse does that to you!), we headed bac to Marseille for a bit more tourism. We decided to check out the MuCEM (Musée des civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée). It's built on the site of the Fort Saint-Jean - the old fort can be visited for free (pretty nice place to stroll around, with nice views over Marseille). The museum itself, a rather interesting modern structure, is where the museum is located. We decided to visit it. I have to say the museum itself was quite a disappointment.

A museum dedicated to the Mediterranean is potentially pretty interesting, but the whole place has a rather incoherent feel to it. Normally when I visit a museum, I hope to learn something - it's not the feeling I got from visiting this museum. And how on earth can a museum created in a modern European city in this day and age not have proper signs / explanations in English - that's just ridiculous. So, my advice is to check out the Port Saint-Jean and the museum from the outside, and spend your money & time on another museum...

After a brief walk in the Panier, the old town of Marseille, it was time to head back homewards. We decided to stop over at Cannes for a pint with Julie and Aurelien - good opportunity to thank Julie for a good Bouillabaisse tip!

The next day, time for something else completely. As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, our friends Gilles & Valerie had a bit of a problematic wall to deal with - so we decided to help them out with it. (I'm sure Nick didn't imagine he'd be used as cheap labour when he came over for "holidays"!). So the project - rebuild a wall to prevent Gilles & Valerie's garden from collapsing into the Var valley down the slope... So that was our day sorted out then, as we sweated in the Mediterranean sun, first removing the debris from the old dismantled wall, and then putting up the new one. We were also helped out by a Corsican archeologist also named Gilles, and Valerie's brother. It was all good fun actually, and I supposed I learnt something about walls, at least !? And of course, one is always well provisioned at Gilles and Valerie's place!

Thankfully, we still had time for a swim in Cagnes to wash off all that dirt and sweat afterwards! We finished off a rather tiring but rewarding day with a bit of board playing...

Good fun, this weekend then, as it tends to be when Nick is around. I hope he didn't mind being used as cheap labour ;-)