Barrage de Malpasset

Time for a bit of mountain biking again. And what better place for that, than the wonderful Massif d'Esterel. Of course, I'd already seen the most beautiful place in the Massif (if not the world?) a couple of weeks ago when we visited the unique Mal Infenet. But, today, the plan was to visit another famous place, the Malpasset dam. Or rather, what remains of it.

The Malpasset Dam is, or was, rather, an arch dam, which contains (or rather used to) the Reyran river. Unfortunately, the dam tragically burst on the 2nd of December 1959 (according to our guide, Philippe, due to an incorrectly done geological survey), killing 423 people in the resulting flood (the Roman amphitheatre at Frejus was also partially flooded as a result of the disaster).

Enough history lessons - what about the bike ride ? It all started off well, with me, Gilbert, Philippe and D.B. setting off early in the morning, enjoying the morning sun, ignoring the wintery chill. Unfortunately, Philippe had a puncture early on, which delayed us a little bit. Undeterred, we pushed on, and quite soon reached the ill-famed site ("la où ca s'est mal passé " as the locals would say I suppose?) of the burst dam, the remains which can be still seen from a viewpoint.

Philippe's bad luck continued, as he suffered from 2 further punctures. And we took a wrong turn at one point. But such details did not deter us for one minute, after all, each puncture allowed me to spend that little bit longer in the beautiful Massif d'Esterel ?

So, to summarize, another great bike outing in this beautiful part of the Riviera!

OGC Nice vs. Lyon

It's been a while that I've been wanting to go and see a football game at the new football stadium in Nice. I've been to see games at Monaco a couple of times, but to be honest, the atmosphere there leaves much to be desired. Not surprising, since the stadium could probably fit the whole population of Monaco... And, as any local should say, the REAL football team on the French Riviera is OGC Nice.

So I was glad when Ilario agreed to go and see Nice take on Lyon (one of the best clubs in France) on Friday. We left the office early on, to be there well on time. Due to the tragic recent bombings in Paris, we were expecting heavy security. And heavy it was, indeed, the security guy even asked for my press card when he saw my camera (thankfully, I was able to get in with my toy).

The stadium was indeed impressive, and the fact that it was nearly full, made for a great atmosphere. I would've expected a game like this to be sold out, I suppose people were scared to go due to the recent events in Paris. Anyway, in homage to the victims, the Marseillaise was sung by pretty much everybody in the audience, as was the usual Nissa La Bella. All quite emotional.

And the game itself ? Fantastic! I was more looking forward to seeing some of the Lyon players - the energetic and skilful French international Mathieu Valbuena (currently caught up in a sex tapes scandal) and Alexandre Lacazette (the surgical striker, chosen player of the year in France last year). And Lyon did indeed show off their offensive skills at the beginning of the game, testing the shaky Nice defence throughout the first period.

However, much to the joy of the locals, Nice was the team that opened up the score, in the 20th minute, with Germain scoring a fine goal! All in all, a fine period from Nice, even if Lyon had more possession. During half-time, we ran into some ex-colleagues (who as a side note informed me, much to my bafflement, that all the beer sold at the stadiums is without alcohol. I didn't even notice - and I call myself an avid beer drinker!).

The 2nd half carried on with Nice pushing on, confident in the lead. And in the 48th minute, Nice went into a commanding 2-0 lead thanks to an own goal from Lyon! The victory was sealed by Koziello in the 71st  minute. 3-0 then, an impressive score from the Nicois!

All in all, a great match and a great night out! I will for sure go and see the OGC Nice, rather than Monaco matches from now on should I fancy a bit of footie.

Le Mal Infernet

My good colleague D.B. (whose real name I shall not reveal, so as to protect his identity) has been telling me about this mysterious, amazing place, as long as I have known it. A canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon. Landscapes so beautiful it steals the breath away. A place so magical, that once you have seen it, your life will never be the same again. This place is the Mal Infernet. Hmm, the name sounds a bit scary (a bit of research reveals the canyon is so named since the locals used to throw corpses of people who had dies of the pest in the canyon. Nice...).

Anyway, it was a gorgeus day for a cycle ride, as we set out on our mountain bikes (myself, Philippe and D.B.). The Mal Infernet it located in the Massif d'Esterel, which is one of the prettiest places in the region (or THE prettiest, as D.B. would put it). The views during the rides were, as expected, beautiful, with the ochre-coloured rock contrasting with the green trees and the blue skies.

And the canyon, then ? Is it as great as the rumours would have one believe ? Well, I'll say this, I'm not sure whether the Mal Infernet is as impressive as a Grand Canyon (I've never been there in person, so I guess I'll have to go to judge for myself), but it's surely one of the prettiest places in the region. The landscape is almost lunar here, with rocks in all sorts of weird (and sometimes scary) shapes looming over the canyon. One can almost imagine the name of the place comes from the mysterious rock formations, rather than from the pest-riddled bodies that were chucked down here.

Apparently, the place is even nicer in spring/summer time, when the water running at the bottom of the canyon is higher. Be that as it may, I was well pleased with this autumnal visit as well! After the canyon, the landscaped got back to the normal ones one would expect in Esterel - which is to say very impressive still. One of the section of the ride also followed the seashore, which was pretty nice.

So all in all, a fantastic bike ride! Merci D.B ;-)

Japanese gastronomy in Monaco

Today is armistice day (to celebrate the end of World War I), and also a public holiday. we spent some time contemplating how to spend the day (as it was on a Wednesday, no way to do a long weekend). After contemplating various options (doing sport, hiking, a day visit somewhere, a museum, a good restaurant), we eventually decided on the meal option (the sky was rather grey, which made the choice rather easy). Most restaurants in France are shut on public holidays, but thankfully, that's not the case for Monaco (as the principality is not a part of France)! After some contemplation we decided upon a restaurant called Yoshi.

We took the train down to Monaco, and walked over to the restaurant. And quite a nice walk it was, walking down to the port of Monaco, then walking up to Monte Carlo along the port, taking in all the impressive yachts. We then passed Hotel de Paris (with the mandatory Ferrari parked up front), and the Casino, and eventually found the Hotel Metropolitan, which is where the restaurant is located (as a side note, the Metropolitan shopping centre was rather impressive too)

Yoshi is, as you may have guessed, a Japanese restaurant. And not just any Japanese restaurant - it's the first Japanese restaurant created by acclaimed chef Joël Robuchon. He's had a strong connection with Japan for quite some time, having founded several French restaurants in Japan. The chef is one
Takéo Yamazaki, who earned his spurs cooking French cuisine in Japan. And now he's cooking Japanese cuisine in France (well, Monaco).

We decided to go for the set menu, with Japanese beer to go with it (we considered sake, and quickly changed our minds after we saw the prices...). So what's the verdict ? Well, the food is certainly sublime, as one would expect from a restaurant having one Michelin Star. The service was spot on and friendly (we even had a chat with the waiter about Hokkaido - he had lived their, and we visited this summer!). So, the best Japanese restaurant we've done in Europe, I would say (some say it's the best in Europe!). That said, the food wasn't up to the same level as some of the Kaiseki meals we've had in Japan. But, let's not get overly picky here - we loved Yoshi! ;-)

After the lovely meal, we wandered back down to the port, and checked out a pretty cool photography exhibition on the works of Steve McCurry (one of the great travel photography in the world).  All in all, a great way to spend 11th of November!