Housewarming party

After a few aborted attempts (due to business trips, rugby world cup, a flue and other nuisances...) we finally managed to have our housewarming party! In spite of the not inconsiderable quantity of beer, wine and vodka consumed, it was all relatively civilised... Below some photos.



The Vuolle family, the first ones to arrive (Finnish punctuality!)


Disco-Dave, Virginie and Jean-Baptiste


"Les intellos du CIV", Mathilde and Myriam


Mikko and Marianne (she's probably telling him "no more vodka!")

Guestbook!

I often wonder if anybody actually reads this damn blog. So, I thought I'd add a guestbook so that people can make comments, complain, tell me how brilliant the blog is, or just muse about life in general.

So, please, just write something ;-) Just click here!

Exploring Haut-de-Cagnes

Since we've lived in Cagnes-sur-Mer for quite a few weeks now, we finally decided to explore the old town of Cagnes, called Haut-de-Cagnes. Founded in 1309 by Raynier Grimaldi (related to the Monaco Grimaldi's, in fact), it's actually a very nice little area, with its cobble-stone streets and pretty houses (classic Provence). Another interesting thing to mention about Cagnes (coming from a Finn), is that there is a very large Swedish-speaking minority there - even the lady at the tourist is Swedish (there is also a Swedish church).

A posh villa and France-England

After some debate about what to on this beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon, we decided to go to Cap Ferrat to visit one of the most famous villas on the Riviera, Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild.



The villa was built by the Baroness Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, born into the ridiculously rich Rothschild family, and married to a rich banker. It's located at one of the best spots imaginable on the Riviera, on the narrowest point of Cap Ferrat - which affords great views both to the west (towards Villefranche) and to the east (towards Beaulieu-sur-Mer).

We started by exploring the gardens, which were very impressive indeed. The variety of plants on display reflects the baroness' apetite for travel, I suppose, as there is flora from pretty much all over the world. The interior was actually a bit of a disappointment, impressive as it was. Just your average posh mansion, sort of. We both preferred Villa Kerylos, which we visited a couple of weeks ago. But still, well worth the visit!



After this, we headed down to Nice, where we met the Finnish posse for dinner and some rugby - the world cup semi-final between France and England being the occasion. To get a place to sit this time (unlike last weekend, when we ended up seeing the game back in Cagnes), we showed up well on time - 2 hours before the game.



The game nail-biting stuff, as the French kept ahead of the English right up until the end - when the boot of Johnny Wilkinson decided the game for the English. I think France would've deserved to win - but you've got to hand it to Wilkinson, the guy really has nerves of steel... After the game we had a couple of drinks in Ma Nolans amongst the partying brits.

Brunching and hiking in Antibes

Last night, we were invited for a brunch to my parents flat - to test out their new Espresso machine. So that was the first thing on the agenda - so after we finally got up (at about 11:30...) we headed down the A8 to Antibes. Traffic was a bit of a nightmare since the autumn fare was on in Cagnes-sur-Mer today.



The espresso was good (which is more than can be said for the machine, which was already malfunctioning on the 2nd day they had it - that's Italian quality for ya!), and so was the chocolate cake that went with it. So good in fact, that we decided we'd have to do for a bit of a walk to compensate.



Since we were in Antibes, we opted for a walk around Cap d'Antibes. Cap d'Antibes (like the other main caps on the Cote d'Azur, Cap Martin and Cap Ferrat) is a bit of an enclave for the rich. So during our pleasant walk in the blazing sunlight, with a bit of imagination, we could picture the grandiose villas on the other side of the stone wall which follows the cape. That's the Cote d'Azur for you... There is glamour, but always behind a big stone wall - to keep us plebs out ;-)



But the walk itself was very nice, although rather crowded. And unfortunately we couldn't walk all around the Cap, since part of the footpath was closed off. After the walk I had a nice cool swim on the beach - the water is still warmer here than it was in Finland in July, I reckon :-)



Back in Cagnes we had a walk around as well, to have a look at what the autumn fare had to offer. Not much really, unless you count all the cheap toys, fake jewellery, 2nd hand clothes and other junk. A bit disappointing really - or at least we had expected something a bit different (more along the lines of a farmer's market).

Books, cinema and rugby...

We thought we'd get seriously cultural today, so we drove down to Mouans-Sartoux near Mougins, where there was a book festival. It took as a good while to get there, as everybody else on the Riviera seemed to be going to the festival - which kind of surprised me.



Anyway, we eventually made it, and set about exploring the village for a bit. It was a very picturesque little village (as always), with possibly more flower arrangements in the streets than I've seen in any village here so far (which is saying a lot, this being Provence!). After the quick tour, we headed to the festival. The first stop was the BD (Bande Dessinee) tent. BD's - French Comics, have become a bit of a passion of mine (great way to learn French ;-). I ended up buying an album from a young debutant artist - he even drew a little dedication picture in it. I'm sure I can sell it for 1000's of euros a few years from now when he becomes famous ;-).



After a quick lunch with Myriam & Fabien and some of their friends, who had also shown up for the festival, we headed for the main venue to meet the "proper writers". Needless to say, I was a bit lost, as I'd never heard of any of the writers (except one bloke who is a teaching colleague of Mathilde's). But no matter - I spent all my time in the DVD section.


After this, we headed down to Nice, where the plan was to watch a film and then watch France play (and probably lose) against the All Blacks (New Zeeland, the kings of rugby). After walking around Nice for a bit - perfect day for it with a clear blue sky, we went to see A Very British Gangster. I can thoroughly recommend this film to y'all - very interesting. Kind of funny as well, watching these stinking rich Mancunian hardmen eat their fish and chips (as if though there was nothing better to eat in the world) in their lovely local neighbourhood (reminded me of Rita, Sue and Bob too) - as if they couldn't imagine a nicer place to live. Almost charming :-).

After a great meal in an Afghan restaurant (the owner of whom apparently used to live in Helsinki), we tried to find a pub to watch the rugby. It was of course Mission Impossible, so I ended up speeding down the A8 back to Cagnes so that we could watch the second half at least. We made it, and saw France sensationally beat New Zeeland by 20-18. Since England also amazingly beat Australia, next Saturday's semi-final (yes, between "les bleus" and the English) will be something not to be missed...

Free Burma!

For more information please check here: www.free-burma.org