Exploring Chicago!

Holiday time again! This time our destination was the US of A. We'd been keen to repay a visit to New York. But, we figured it'd be a good ideas to combine our visit to the Big Apple with something else. So after some research, we ended up on deciding on spending a few days in Chicago, before heading off to New York.


Didn't really know what to expect of Chicago, really. Everybody knows Al Capone comes form Chicago, and I knew it was rather famous for its architecture, but apart from that, I didn't know much about Chicago.

After a routine flight (which allowed me to catch up on the latest movie offering of Hollywood, as always), we arrived at O'Hara airport. After getting through immigration, we jumped on the "L" train (the L is short for Elevated) and headed for the Lincoln Park neighbourhood, where our Airbnb flat was located. Turns out I'd messed up the instructions for getting to the flat a bit, so we ended up heading into the town centre for nothing, but eventually found the flat, located in a nice, lush neighbourhood with Victorian-era flats.

After meeting our host, we decided to head out straight away to explore the neighbourhood. We decided to head off to Lincoln Park (the neighbourhood is named after a big park by the lakeside (Chicago is located on Lake Michigan). It was getting a bit dark by the time we arrived, but it was still pretty nice to walk around the park, checking out the local kids playing baseball, and people just strolling about. We ended up having dinner at a nice enough BBQ place (named Wrigley's BBQ - I suppose due to the proximity to the legendary Baseball stadium Wrigley Park).

The next morning, we got up bright 'n early, keen to properly explore Chicago. We decided to take the "L" to the Loop (which is what the downtown area is called - so named, apparently, because of the tramway that "looped around the downtown area). We were pretty much immediately impressed by the skyscrapers surrounding us. Downtown Chicago certainly impresses pretty much the way Manhattan does. What's great about Chicago is that it's managed to preserve the historic buildings better than New York has - there are plenty of amazing examples of late 19th century and 20th century architecture all over the downtown area.

We decided to do a themed walk around the loop (the theme being public art). We were treated to works of art from such notables as Pablo Picasso (an unnamed 50-feet statue weighing no less than 160 tons), Marc Chagall (the four seasons mosaic artwork) and many others. But the highlight was still the amazing architecture. We really adored the art deco Chicago Board of Trace, dating back to 1930 (adorned with a statue of Ceres on the top), the Marquette building, the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple (a sky scaper church, with a gorgeous interior), the Harold Washington Library Center (the main public library in Chicago - housing a beautiful glass-roof topped garden at the top), just to mention a few of the highlights. We were impressed.

For lunch, we decided to go for a real Chicago institution - Al's Italian Beef. This down-to-earth fast food joint was made famous by that brilliant food show Man Vs. Food (well, it was of course famous even before then). Their concept is deceptively simple - they serve a delicious beef sandwich. And what's so special about this sandwich ? Well it's basically they dip the sandwich in the gravy in which the meat has been cooked (the recipe is of course top secret). The end result ? An absolute delight, and for about the price of a Big Mac menu. Yummie!

Our appetites sated, we headed off to another Chicago landmark - Millenium Park. Located between Lake Michigan and the legendary Michigan avenue, Millenium park was an ambitious city landscaping project conceived to welcome the new millenium. OK, it got a bit delayed, but the end result is pretty stunning, a real showcase of modern architecture (in the positive sense of the word). There are several architectural gems, including a big pavillion for hosting events, the crown fountain and most notable, Cloud Gate. It's a kind of sphere shaped reflective steel structure, which reflects & distorts the Chicago skyline and the surrounding park. A really cool place!

We continued our stroll along the afore-mentioned Michigan avenue. Often known as the Magnificent Mile, or the Mag Mile, it's THE place to go shopping if you've got money. Plenty of fancy department stores, impressive skyscrapers, fancy hotels, and so forth. The spot where Michigan avenue crosses the Chicago river is where the Chicago skyline is arguably at it's most beautiful - with the imposing Wrigley Buildings and the neo-Gothic Chicago tribute building "standing guard" on both sides of the Magnificent mile.

We popped over for Garret's for their (justly) famous popcorns, and then ended up doing a bit of shopping at Macy's. I took the opportunity to visit the Chicago Sport's museum. Chicago has no shortage of famous sport teams, from the amazing Chicago Bulls, to the Chicago Blackhawks (one of the best hockey teams during the past decade) and the "lovable losers" (they haven't won the world series for 106 years!) a.k.a. The Chicago Cubs who play at Wrigley Park, near our flat.

We then headed back to the flat, rather nackered after an energetic day (well, as energetic as it could be considering my feet decided to give me all sorts of trouble since a bit of a sports overdose before our holidays. For dinner, we decided to go for a vegetarian meal (SAY WHAT?!) in nearby Boystown (yes, that would indeed by the gay neighbourhood of Chicago). I had a vegetarian burger, and, well, let's say I prefer the meat version!

The next day, we decided to head down to Oak Park, a nice leafy neighbourhood in the Western part of Chicago. The reason for going to Oak Park is mostly that Frank Lloyd Wright had his home and studio here for many years (actually Ernest Hemingway also used to live here). s The walk from the "L" station to Wright's house was a pleasant one. Oak Park is a kind of idealistic version of what an American suburb should be like, at least in my mind. Beautiful wooden houses with well-kept little gardens lining up the streets.

Visiting Mr. Wright's house was rather an interesting experience. His house was a bit of a architecture laboratory where he tried out new techniques which he would later apply in his more famous buildings. Now, I'm not such a huge fan of all of Wright's buildings, but I really love his interior design and furniture, and this house is a showcase for it. We were also lucky enough to have an excellent guide who gave a great insight into Wright's life, work and influences.

Having checked out his house, we walked around for a bit more in the neighbourhood, which contains numerous architectural gems. Wright designed quite a few of the houses in the area, some of which are pretty cool (others less so - looking a bit like predecessors to some rather ugly architecture we had in the 60's and 70's at least as far as my admittedly untrained eye could tell). Plenty of nice and impressive Victorian town houses as well.

On the way back to the town centre, we walked by Hemingway's house (we didn't feel like visiting another house so decided to carry on without checking out the interior), where we had another brilliant Chicago speciality - a hotdog (as tradition dictates, with mustard rather than ketchup!).

Lunch out of the way, we headed back to downtown Chicago on the L train. We had a walk around the Chicago river area (and taking in the stunning architecture on view - including the rather imposing 423 meter Trump Tower - the third highest building in the US). We then headed on to Navy Pier, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions of Chicago. I can't for the life of me understand why. It's a bit like a less charming and even more commercialized version of Pier 39 in San Francisco (which is vastly overrated to, if you ask me). OK, I suppose it's a nice place if you have kids. Anyway, to be said in Navy Pier's defence, the views towards downtown are great, and they do sell beer ;-)

Having checked out the "unmissable" Navy Pier, we headed back towards downtown, walking north along Lake Michigan, checking out all the sporty Chicagoans having a run or cycling, and enjoying the great views and the sunshine (we were starting to feel luck with the weather, 2nd day of stunning sunshine - none of the fickle weather Chicago is so famous for so far!).

We ended our walk at the John Hancock building (a measly 344 meters high...). The plan was to head up to the top and check out the view (apart from the famous Sears tower, this is THE place to check out the Chicago skyline). But before that - Cheesecake factory - THE place to have a cheesecake. We were even prepared to queue for a table (well, maybe me more than Mathilde, to be honest ;-). And the verdict ? Well, we didn't particularly like the place (it does have a certain, hmm, mass-industry feel to it), but there's no faulting them cheesecakes, that's for sure!

And as for the view from the top ? Predictably impressive... I'm not always such a big fan of these panoramic towers, but in places like New York and Chicago, you just need to see the skyline from the top. So, in spite of the hefty entrance fee, I was at least happy enough to fork out the cash. The view from Hancock tower is particularly great due to its strategic location close to Lake Michigan, along the Mag Mile (so plenty of interesting buildings in sight) - the rivalling Sears tower is located a bit further away from the prettier parts of Chicago.

For dinner, we decided to head West of the Loop, a trendy area for bar-hopping and eating out. We figured chances were slim as far as getting a table without a booking was concerned, but after trying out a couple of places, we ended up in a Japanese restaurant (surprise, surprise!). Not exactly like dining out in Japan, but the food was excellent and the place had a nice, trendy vibe to it. So a perfect way to end a perfect day, then!

Gastronomic meal in Mougins

France is of course one of the top gastronomic destinations in the world. And one positive thing about living on the Cote d'Azur is that it has an exceptional number of gastronomic restaurants even for France - I guess we can thank the large number of rich French and expats who live in this neck of the woods for that... And one village which has an exceptional number of gastronomic restaurants in Mougins. The reason ? I suppose the proximity to Cannes helps, as does the picturesque beauty of the old village. One of the best restaurants in France, Le Moulin de Mougins, used to be located here (well, still is, actually, but it's lost its Michelin stars along with its reputation...).

So, I was quite keen to join Mathilde and a bunch of her colleagues (Julien, Charlotte, Julie and Aurelien) for an impromptu lunch at one of those gastronomic institutions - L'Amandier. It's nicely located in one of the historic stone buildings in the old village. What's great about this restaurant is that their food is not only great, it's also reasonably priced. I went for the Menu Plaisir, as it had a tasty sound to it...

And the verdict, then ? I pretty unreservedly liked it. Everything was great - the service, the food (creative, with big enough portions), not forgetting about the great company either ;-). I reckon this is one of those places that's pretty close to getting their first Michelin Star - just a bit of extra effort and they'd have it I reckon.

Yummie!

Trying out my new mountain bike

Enthusiastic readers of my blog (if there are any?) noticed in my last blog entry that I had a bit of an accident with my trusty RockRider bike. So, for this reason, and due to unrelenting pressure from my fellow mountain bikers, I decided to get a new bike at Chulanka - and ended up with a GT-branded bike, which our bike expert D.B. confirms should do the job (proper fork, suspension, disk brakes and so forth).

So, this unfortunately slightly cloudy Sunday, I decided to try it out with Phlippe and the aforementioned D.B. (who still doesn't want me to use his full name on the blog - hence the cryptic acronym). We started at Philippe's place in Les Adrets, from where we biked uphill to the next village, Saint-Jean de Cannes, from where the "real trek started".

The bike ride took us through some pretty rough terrain (even had to carry the bike from time to time), up to the Col des Trois Termes (the name suggests there may have been a spa here sometimes in olden days?) where we were greeted by a friendly horse. We then pedalled onwards, climbing steadily upwards. It was all pretty hard work - I was pleased to have my new bike as some of the gravelly dirt track would've been pretty hard going with my old bike.

We finished the bike trek cycling down hill through the main village of Les Adrets, heading steeply downhill back to Philippe's place (and here I was very grateful for my disk brakes - otherwise it would've been rather breakneck going!)

All in all, a great way to spend a not-so-sunny Sunday morning. And what about the bike then ? Very happy with it so far!

Mountain biking is always an adventure...

Time to take out the bike again and explore the beautiful Massif d'Esterel (as my colleague D.B. would put it - the most beautiful place in the world). Our rendez-vous was at the Col du Testanier - like last time. My colleagues Philippe, Gilbert and D.B. joined (in order to protect the identity of D.B., I have used all the digital photo postprocessing skills at my disposal to blur out his face, to prevent any possibility of identifying him from the photos on my blog).

This time, the plan was to cycle around that impressive peak, Mont Vinaigre (which we cycled up last time), the highest point in the Massif d'Esterel. The beginning of the bike ride was all fun and games, the vistas across the Esterel and towards the Mediterranean were beautiful. Until disaster struck.

First, I had a puncture. OK, that happens in mountain biking - I was even prepared, I had two spare tubes in my rucksack. No tool box though, thankfully Philippe was better equipped than me. So, we manged to (or rather, Philippe did, bless him) get the tube changed, allowing me to carry on. For about, hmm, 20 meters, when disaster struck again! This time, my rear gears got stuck in my wheel, leading to rather more serious damage - as in, the bike wasn't going anywhere.

I was despairing a bit at this point, as the damage done was way beyond my capacity to repair. But thankfully, Philippe rescued me again, and managed to fix my bike sufficiently to allow me to continue (avoiding a rather long 10 km or so walk with a broken bike). The quick fix meant I couldn't actually put in the two lower gears on my bike - so as an added bonus the rest of the track provided with a bit more exercise than necessary.

Boy, did that beer at Philippe's place afterwards feel well rewarded. Merci Philippe! ;-)

Night out in Nice

After a rather busy weekend at our flat, we decided to head to Nice for the evening for a bit of cinema and a nice dinner, just me and Mathilde.

We saw a pretty nice Japanese movie called Chiisai ouchi (which freely translates to Red House - wow I can manage that one without google translate - must be getting somewhere with my Japanese classes!). Pretty nice film about a servant serving a family leading up to and during World War II. Quite a good description of what I suppose life in Japan was during those times...

After our dose of culture, time to work out the taste buds - I'd booked a place near Rialto for the occasion called Daddies Bistro, which was quite well noted on Tripadvisor. The place was, as the name suggests, your typical modern bistrot - good food with a modern twist. The service was a bit of a slow, a pity especially given that the place was nearly deserted. But anyway, a nice enough place for a romantic night out.

Afterwards I tested out my new Smartphone in low-light for a bit on the Promenade des Anglais, on the way back to the car. My new Sony toy certainly manges better than my Jolla phone, that I've decided to retire (I wish I could say after many years of reliable service - but the unfortunate truth is that it's barely after a year's rather unreliable service...).

Back in Yoko!

This weekend was quite a lazy one. On Saturday night, we decided to check out our favourite Japanese eatery on the Cote d'Azur, charming little Yoko in our home-town Cagnes-sur-Mer. It's a really cozy little place, with tasteful, Japanese decoration, without going over the top.

The dishes are simple yet very well-prepared, and made from quality ingredients. And the deserts are just delicious! But what makes the real difference is the lovely host Yoko, who cookes and does waiting as well. One can easily forgive the fact that there is occasionally a bit of a wait. Nice to be back after a bit of a break - enough to sate our appetite for Japanese cuisine momentarily (still a few months to go until our next trip!)

The next day, we enjoyed the sunny weather that was back on the Cote d'Azur. Time for me to take a dip - I'm afraid I've been a bit lazy as far as my winter swimming is concerned. Today was just a perfect day for a spring swim - the sun was out, the water crystal clear and just a bit chilly.

Easter skiing in Vars

For this year's Easter weekend, we spent quite a bit of time trying to figured out what to do ? Citybreak, a long weekend in Italy, or skiing? In the end, we decided to go for the skiing option, seeing as we'd only hit the slopes once this year... To avoid taking a big risk with the snow, we decided to head a bit further afield than the usual Isola 2000/Auron/Limone. We ended up going for Vars, a decent-sized ski resort near the Queyras massif (where we actually went to spend Easter a couple of years back).

We arrived at our hotel Friday evening, just in time for dinner (which we had at the hotel). We were a little bit anxious about what the weather would be like, as it looked very misty and snowless upon arrival. Things didn't look much better the next morning - even though the ground was now covered with newly fallen snow. Anyway, in spite of this, we decided to hit the slopes - so we jumped on the free shuttle bus to Vars Saint-Marie (excellent initiative, the free shuttle bus!).

And what an excellent idea that was! Things just started clearing up as we hit the slopes, and conditions were pretty much perfect in the morning, what with the newly fallen snow. We had a blast trying out the rather big ski domain around Vars - what made things even better was the fact that we almost had the impression of having the slopes to ourselves (I suppose that's the advantage of going skiing so late in the season).

We finished the rather long morning session in Vars le Claux, the neighbouring village, where we decided to have lunch. Quite pricey, but excellent - I had a local speciality which was basically a kind of tartiflette where they'd replaced the potatoes with a local, home-made pasta (so pasta, lardons and cheese, basically - not particularly sophisticated but boy does it hit the spot after a decent skiing session...).

The afternoon session was a bit less fun, since the snow was getting all soft with the spring sun... So we didn't end up skiing for all that long - I also lost my motivation after falling over rather stupidly on an easy slope. So after a couple of hours of skiing, we made our way back to Vars Saint-Marie, from where we took the shuttle bus back to the hotel. We were well knackered and ended up doing basically nothing for the rest of the day (mustering up the energy to go for dinner - this time we had an authentic tartiflette!)

The next day, conditions were much the same as the day before (sort of partly cloudy) - but the snow was not as good today as it had been the day before. (no new snow had arrived on the night before, so to be expected I suppose....). We decided to head over to Risoul - a neighbouring ski resort with an interconnected ski domain, this time. The morning session wasn't the best possible, the snow was very hard, and the sun wasn't out. So we didn't particularly enjoy the session.

Things got a lot better when we made our way to the L'Homme de Pierre at the extreme end of Risoul. It was a bit hard to find the place actually (we skied past the ski lift that leads up there on the 1st time - and couldn't find it on the second attempt either!) - maybe that's why there were so few people there! So actually it was pretty much perfect for us. The sun was out again, and now we really had the slopes to ourselves, it was just fantastic. Perfect snow, not a soul in sight, and a clear blue sky, what else can one expect ?

After another late lunch, we made our way back towards Vars, and decided to head back to the hotel quite early again, since the snow was getting rather poor again with the warm of the sun. All in all, another great day on the slopes, in spite of a bit of a bad start to the day.

Again, we were well nackered once we got back to the hotel - so no night-clubbing for us! We were happy to hit the sacks after a filling dinner (well, filling for me, since I begged the staff for a second serving of duck - I was still starving after the first one!).

For the next day, we decided to hit the road early and make a couple of touristic stops on the way, so that was it as far as the skiing was concerned. Our first stop on the way was Embrun. Embrun is a small town we passed upon arriving in Vars, which looks pretty interesting, perched as it is on its cliffside, surrounded by mountains. Apart from it's dramatic setting, it's pretty much your typical, charming local town. It does have a real architectural masterpiece - Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Embrun. Actually no longer a cathedral, it's still a very impressive building.

After Embrun, we decided to drive past the Serre-Ponçon lake. It's actually an artificial lake, one of the biggest ones in Europe. The lake gathers the waters from the Durance and Ubaye rivers, which flow down through the Hautes-Alpes and the Alpes du Sud to the Rhone River. The waters are dammed by the impressive Barrage de Serre-Ponçon. We stopped near the dam and contemplated the impressive mountain scenery, reflected in the clear, blue waters, and the impressive dam.

We then carried on through Les Halpes d'Haut Provence and the Var valley (avoiding the motorway, which would've possibly been quicker), driving through yet more impressive Alpine scenery. We stopped for lunch at Dignes-les-Bains, a Spa town and the main town in the department - today being a public holiday, finding an open restaurant turned out to be quite a challenge, actually (we ended up in a local bar by the mian square, where I suppose everybody who wanted a bite ended up, not having a choice!).

We stopped briefly at the impressive fortified town of Enrevaux (which we visited with some friends a couple of years ago), for a couple of photos (of course!). And then we drove straight down to Cagnes-sur-Mer.

A really nice little Easter break then - just what we both needed I think!