Cagnes-sur-Mer = Shopping heaven

Now, I'm not what you would call an enthusiastic shopper - in fact, rather the opposite, some could argue. So I suppose one could say I had mixed feelings about the construction of the Polygon Riviera right in our hometown, Cagnes-sur-Mer.

What is the Polygon Riviera? It's the biggest shopping centre on the Cote d'Azur. But, apparently, it's not just a shopping centre - it's a "Lifestyle centre". Meaning, you can find everything (or nearly everything) your heart desires here: entertainment, shopping, artworks, restaurants. And it's all open-air, by the way. We were a bit sceptical about it all - and quite afraid of the traffic jams the place would results in.

But, of course, we had to check it out, anyway, just a couple of days after it opened. The first impression wasn't great, as we walked to it from our place (it's about 15-20 minutes walking, so doable). Predictably, people parked all over the pedestrian sidewalks, which made it all quite an unpleasant experience.

And Polygon Riviera then ? Well, I have to admit I was quite impressed. Aesthetically speaking the place is quite impressive, offering quite a well-thought out mixture of nature (they planted a thousand trees there!), art works and some impressive, modern architecture. It's actually quite a nice place to walk around. (even if on this particular day, it was very crowded). There's a pretty big selection of shops (including Uniqlo, which Mathilde has been waiting for eagerly!), but something other than clothes shops would've been nice (I suppose people buy there books on the internet these days...).

Really looking forward to going to the cinema, as they will apparently show undubbed mainstream movies, something I've had to go to Nice for so far. So, all in all, much to my surprise, I actually found myself enjoying a visit at a shopping centre!

Boyz Night out

As Mathilde was away this week, it seemed natural to suggest another Boyz Night out to Aki and Mikko. Thankfully, they both accepted.

Things kicked off, as usual, with burgers n' beer. We decided to go to Woody's Diner at Nice, a place we already sampled earlier this year. It's a pretty good attempt at an American style diner (the French aren't necessarily very good at imitating things American, as a general rule). And what's most important, the burgers were good - and so was the beer (as you can see, we went for the "giraffe" option).

The food bit out of the way, we decided to finish off the night out the same way as last time, a bit of pool in a bar just off Rue Massena. It was good fun, as last time. Me and Mikko had to grudgingly admit to Aki's superiority, again. What's more important, again: the beer was good.

This time, we didn't finish off the night playing loud musical instruments at Aki's place (possibly since Henna and the their two sons were sound asleep this time around? ;-). I again cycled back home on the Velo Bleu. Looking forward to the next edition of Boyz Night out ;-)

Weekend in Paris

It's been a while since our last visit to Paris - in fact almost exactly one year (we came about the same time of the year last year). So I was rather looking forward to visiting Paris, a city we truly love.

Like last time, we booked a flat for the weekend via Airbnb, this time in the 15th Arrondisement, at Rue de Commerce. As I'd taken the afternoon off from work, we arrived quite early in Paris. The area where we were staying was rather nice - a busy commercial street (obviously, given the name!) with plenty of cafés and restaurants. The flat was basic, but suited our needs perfectly. We could even see the top of the Eiffel tower from one of the windows.

After having a walk around the area, we made our way to Le Table Libanaise, where we're meeting our dear friend Isabelle for dinner. Great restaurant, with excellent, friendly service and great food (well, I'll have to trust Mathilde and Isa on that, as I was suffering from a bad cold, so my taste buds were not up to the job of assessing the quality of the food). Great to catch up with Isabelle as well, as always!

The next morning, after a breakfast at the flat, we headed off towards Petit Palais, where the plan was to check out an exhibition. We took the metro to Hotel des Invalides, and crossed the Seigne to the Petit Palais (quite a scenic walk, it has to be said!).

Naturally, the exhibition we were checking out had a connection with Japan - the exhibition covered the art of a certain Kuniyoshi, a master of Ukiyo-e (woodblock prints). I loved the exhibition - even more than Hokusai exhibition we checked out one year ago in the Grand Palais! The emphasis of the exhibition was on his depictions of the Japanese legends - so plenty of samurais, legendary monsters and so forth - cool! There was also a second exhibition about fantasy art in Europe, to make the connection between the West and the East, which was pretty cool as well.

We then made our way over to Montparnasse, where the plan was to pay a visit to Muriel and Mathilde's nieces and nephews. We stopped by for lunch at a local favourite of ours -le cantine de Trouquet, which features Parisian/Basque bistrot type food signed by  Christian Etchebest (e chef who's made numerous appearances on various cooking shows on telly).

Our appetites sated, rendez-vous at Muriel's flat, where we spent a rather intensive hour or so with Muriel and the kids (for a moment, I thought Paul and Lucas had calmed down - for a while they seemed to be more interested to play on their tablets/phones than messing with me, but in the end they proved me wrong). Great to see the kids and Muriel, as always!

After that, we decided to do what we love most to do in Paris, kind of stroll around randomly. Well, the plan was to check out a furniture shop (we're planning to buy a sofa!) but that was kind of just an excuse for strolling about. We started our stroll, by crossing the Montparnasse graveyard (a bit less famous than Pere Lechaise, but still, quite a few famous people buried here). From there, we strolled towards Saint-Michel and the Latin quarter, where we crossed the River Seigne, and found ourselves at the Louvre. 

We then made our way to the Opera, and then to Gallerie LaFayette (the big one, in Paris), where we finally checked out some sofas. No luck finding what we were looking for, though. The shopping bit done, we made our way down Boulevard Montmartre to le BAT, where we were meeting up with our good friend CoCo for dinner. Excellent venue, excellent company. Le BAT specialize in tapas, and they were really excellent (if a bit pricey, but that's Paris for you I suppose). I still felt a bit hungry, so went for a main course - excellent as well. Afterwards, we went to a nearby bar for a drink. Great night out - as it always is with CoCo!

The next day (sadly our last day in Paris), we had a rendez-vous at our friend Sarah's place in the 16th arrondisment (la classe - the 16th arrondisment is a rather posh part of Paris!). Being avid walkers, we decided to go by foot. As we were meeting for lunch, we had quite a bit of time to explore Paris in the morning. 

We decided to start with the Parc Andre Citron (yes, that would be the car manufacturint pioneer). This was actually the site of the original Citroen manufacturing plant, which was torn down after production ended in the 1970's. The park is very modern (dating back to 1992), but didn't really impress us. It feels somehow cold and not like a particularly inviting place, with a big lawn in the midlde (with a panoramic balloon being the main attraction. Plenty of joggers having a run around the concrete corridors that line the central lawn. 

We then crossed the Seigne and ended up in the 16th arrondisment. We still had an hour and a bit to kill, so decided to do part of a walk I'd found on the internet. Quite a pleasant stroll, we particularly enjoyed Rue Boileau, with its various Art Nouveau buildings. There are some quite cosy little private (gated) cobble-stoned streets as well, where one could almost imagine being in a village. All in all, I didn't get the feeling of a particularly posh part of town, appearances can be deceiving, I suppose...

Time for lunch, then! Sarah, an ex-colleague of Mathilde whom we often met in the port of Nice for great dinners & nights out, moved to Paris this autumn. Present were also Julie and Aurelien, who just arrived in Paris, and were planning to stay for a week. 

So, pretty much like a standard night out in Nice, then... The lunch Sarah had prepared for us was predictably delicious - she'd prepared a Dal Bhat, a traditional Indian/Nepalese recipe. Actually, it's been a while since my last Dal Bhat (I had plenty of Dal Bhat during my 3 week hiking trip in Nepal - in fact that's about the only thing I ate for 2 weeks during the amazing Annapurna trek I did). 

So a great finale for a great weekend in Paris then! Felt rather sad to head back to Nice, especially as Mathilde was off to La Rochelle for a week.

A few days in Germany

It's been a while since my last business trip, but this week, I was off to Germany. The plan was to visit clients in Stuttgart and Munich. Kind of nice to be back in Germany, it's been a while. Finding a hotel room turned out to be quite a challenge, due to the fact that there was a beer festival and a conference at the same time.


So I ended up in the not-so-glamorous Hotel Espenlaub. Let me put it like this, the only place cheaper available was a youth hostel. Anyway, I was expecting a bit more than what I got, considering I paid 130 Euros per night! The room was noisy (due to the non-existent noise isolation, and location next to one of the main thoroughfares in Stuttgart - I could hear the buses, trains, tramways and drunken beer-festival goers all through the night!), the bed was hard and creak, and I didn't have a private shower/toilet!

Oh well, I'm not one to complain about such details. We were, anyway, very busy working most of the time, so I spent very little time in the hotel room. I did get up one morning to visit Stuttgart for a bit with my camera. I started off by checking out the Altes Schloss, the old castle, dating back all the way to the 10th century. The castle in its current form dates back to the 16th century, when the dukes living there converted the castle into a renaissance castle. These dates, it's a museum.

From there, I headed off to the nearby imposing Schlossplatz (the Castle Square). It's the home of the new castle (Neues Schloss), which was built during the 18th century. A former parade ground, it was opened to the public in 1918, and much revamped after world war 2 (when this area, like most of downtown Stuttgart, was heavily damaged by Allied bombings).

All in all, a nice little walk, before heading into the office, in nearby Leonberg (a small town, which is heavily associated with the mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler). One evening, after a long day in the office, I did decide to head out again with my camera to do some nigh-time shots. After redoing a couple of shots of the old castle, I headed to nearby Schillerplatz (named after the famous poet and philosopher). It's a nice little historic square, with the principal buildings being the old castle, the main lutheran church in Stuttgart as well as the old chancellery. This is the spot where the yearly Christmas market also takes place.

I then redid quite a few photos at Schlossplatz, also checking out the new castle - built in baroque style. I must say, I rather prefer the old castle. I'm not a big fan of baroque, as a general rule. But the square on the whole is rather impressive. I also like the fountains in front of the castle, especially lit up as they are at night-time.

I finished my nocturnal walk by crossing the castle gardens, heading over to the city theatre and opera.

The next day it was time to head off to Munich, so we had to get up rather early in the morning. Unfortunately, our work schedule didn't allow us any time to visit Munich, as it was time to catch the plane in the evening. Maybe next time ;)

The Red Moon

September 28th was quite a special day (or night, rather) for amateur astronomers, as a total lunar eclipse occurred. This basically means that the sun, earth and moon are all aligned (with the earth blocking the moon). The moon is still visible during a lunar eclipse (even if it's blocked by the earth), since the Earth's atmosphere refracts light to the moon's surface (the moon appears red since the atmosphere filters the low wavelength light, leaving only the high wavelength light, ie. red).

I'm not an amateur astronomer, but I fancy myself an amateur photographer, so I was keen to try to catch the event with my newly purchased Canon EOS70D. So yes, I got up in the middle of the night, and headed outdoors to try to catch the moon. Alas, it was not to be seen from our residence (hidden by the clouds, high-rise buildings?). I still decided to drive down the seaside, hoping to catch a glimpse of the moon. And, indeed, there it was, red in all its splendour! I was even able to get a couple of half-decent photos. Well, you be the judge...

Brunch in Nice

We don't see Naim very often these days, since he's moved back to England,  which is a pity. I very much enjoyed the business lunches and meetups he used to organize - seems that Naim knows pretty much everybody on the Cote d'Azur ;-). So we were happy to join him for brunch in Vieux Nice, to have a chance to catch up. Naturally, we cycled down to Nice, the perfect way to get from Cagnes to Nice, when the weather is good (which it usually is, it's the French Riviera, after all!).

The venue chosen was Le Coin Quotidien, located by Cours Saleya (a big square which hosts the famous Nice flower market). The brunch was quite average, with some rather confused waiters who got our orders mixed up, but it was great to catch up with Naim. Sarah was there as well, which was great!

I quite miss the cosmopolitan/international aspects our lives had when we used to live in the UK, so it's always great to meet up with Naim and his multi-national circle of friends!

Visit from England!

Nick is a very dear friend of ours, from our wild days in England, one we are happy to still meet up with regularly. So we were very happy to have him come over and visit us over the weekend (even if, in classical Nick-style, he informed us rather late of his plans, that is to say the day before he was planning to arrive!).

After picking up Nick at the airport and letting him settle in, we decided to head off pretty much straight away, to make the most of a beautiful, sunny Saturday. The plan was to head to Antibes by train, explore this beautiful town for a bit on foot, and then have dinner. And what a beautiful day it was to explore Antibes this particular day, the beautiful autumn sun, the blue sky and the blue Mediterranean all make it a rather stunning place...

We started off by checking out the newly redone area in front of the old city walls, they've created a nice, big, pedestrian space, with some nice modern works of Art to liven up the area. After the mandatory touristy shots, we headed up on the old city walls, checked out the gorgeous view, and then walked along the walls, enjoying on one side, the beautiful Mediterranean, and on the other side, the beautiful old town of Antibes. This yet once more confirms it for me - September/October is the best time to enjoy the French Riviera!

For dinner, we put our trust in Tripadvisor, and booked a place called Chez Lulu. And what an excellent choice it was! We just loved the place. The interior decoration is fabulous - very original, to say in the least. Loads of cool retro objects, a real LP player, and some rather amusing play on words, in French (didn't get them all!). The food is great, too, think grandmum's cooking with a modern twist.

Their concept is really cool, for starters, you get a collection of French starters of different kinds, and you just basically eat as much as you like (which for me, is a great deal ;-) ). There's just main one main course, in our case it was a succulent ossobucco. Again, eat as much as you like. For the deserts, the deal was pretty much thr same as for the starters - there is a nice selection, and you just eat as much as you like. And as the cherry on the cake, the service was just perfect - friendly and efficient!

The next day, we decided to enjoy the continuing fabulous weather by doing a hike. After some deliberation, we decided upon a hike near Menton, the Circuit de Bausson. It's one I believe we've tried already, but we had to abandon our attempt due to bad weather. The walk starts in the beautiful village of Gorbio, from where the footpath heads into the mountains, passing by the Chapel of Saint-Lazare (not particularly interesting).

Passing by some rather weird houses (one which is guarded by a stuffed orang-outang!) the footpath climbed up, alongside a ravine, until it flattened out, taking us through a pleasant wooded section. We eventually arrived at an old shepherd hamlet called Bausson (after which the walk is named), nowadays abandoned.

The hike was supposed to take us to another village, called Saint-Agnes, from where we were then supposed to double back towards Gorbio, but we actually decided to cut the walk a bit short, as the return footpath from Saint-Agnes was supposedly closed, and we wanted to have a swim before heading back to Cagnes, so we were a bit tight on time. So, we doubled back a bit before reaching Saint-Agnes, but not before enjoying a rather stunning view across the coastline, and Saint-Agnes.

We had a nice swim not far from where we had hiked, at Cap d'Ail. And then, it was time to head back to Cagnes, and reward ourselves with a tasty Free Range chicken for dinner - we surely deserved it after all that hiking & sweating!

All in all, a very nice weekend indeed, and great to see Nick again!