Our week-end visitors

When I was studying French in Montpellier, I had the great fortune of meeting some amazing people from around the world. A couple of women in particular became very good friends and both happened to be Finnish. Marianne attended the same school and studied there for six months like me. Maija was living in Montpellier with her husband and joined us at school for a six week stint. Although both are younger than me and certainly more skilled in the French language, our sensibilities were similar and we got along well. That led to social outings, lunches after school and a few evenings out. I have written about them previously in my earlier blogs. Since March, we have kept in touch by email. Marianne is presently working in Finland and Maija has gone back to university to take her C1 diploma in French. When I was thinking about returning to France to study here in Nice, I wrote to them both to see if we might get together for a bit of a reunion. Much to my surprise and delight, they both said yes. 

On Friday afternoon, after school, Marianne was at our door. It was lovely to see her. She joined us for our traditional lunch of a charcuterie platter with cheese, cold cuts, sliced cucumber and tomatoes and a fresh baguette. Of course, we opened a bottle of wine. After lunch, she and I took a long walk along the sea, into the old city and back along the Rue de France. 

My friend Marianne.

We stopped in an authentic olive oil shop and bought some of the excellent olive oil sold here. We also took a break for a cup of coffee at one of the bistros.

Our coffee break on Rue de France

The sky was so blue and the crescent moon stood out, so I snapped this photo.

That evening, she returned for dinner (she is staying at a charming hotel just around the corner). Brian joined us as well. Keith had made a delicious pot of boeuf bourguignon, so with that, a salad, fresh baguette and good wine, we settled into a lovely evening of conversation and laughter. 

At noon on Saturday, Maija and her husband, Jean-Phillipe arrived from Montpellier, via Marseilles. JP's parents live in Marseilles, so they spent Friday night with them and then drove here this morning. Marianne had purchased a bottle of champagne as a welcome, so the six of us toasted our get together.  I had booked a reservation for 1 p.m. at a local restaurant called Chez Loulou. After the champagne, we headed there for a Niçoise lunch. 

Lunch at Chez Loulou. Guy, the proprietor, is standing behind the bar. (L to R  Jan, Keith, Marianne, Jean-Philippe, Maija and Brian)

I always have to include a couple of food pictures to satisfy my "foodie' friends. Here is one of Keith's apple tart. 

This is the bowl of strawberries with Chantilly that JP ordered.

Following our substantial meal, we walked for several hours. It was Maija's first visit to Nice so she was keen on seeing some of the local sights. The picture below is of our crew. I understand that it is -27 degrees in Edmonton today, but it was balmy enough here to walk in shirts and sweaters. 

Maija, Me and Marianne

Unfortunately, time passes quickly and Maija and JP had to leave for Marseilles. They are wonderful people - smart, witty, gentle and generous. I am very blessed to have such good people in my life. Marianne leaves tomorrow and it will be sad to once again say good-bye. However, they know our door is always open and hopefully we will see them in Canada one of these days.

Villa La Belle Époque

This is where we are living in the district of Carré d'Or three blocks north of the Mediterranean and down the street from the famous Hotel Negresco. Our apartment, called the Garden Terrace, is the one on the main floor to the left with the open shutters. Brian's is the one below ours, but you can't see it because of the fence. I wrote about the interesting history of this building in a previous blog, but neglected to include pictures.

Villa La Belle Époque (1906) 

Another view. I quite like the building to the right as well although it looks like it is closed for the winter.

The entrance to our building.

Our foyer - I love the original tile work on the floors.

There is a beautiful circular marble staircase with decorative iron railing leading to the second floor of apartments. There are also some beautiful stained glass windows as you can see.

Inside our apartment there is a salon with windows that open onto two small Juliet balconies.

This is the original marble fireplace with an antique mirror above.

Our small eating area off the kitchen. Double doors also open onto the garden terrace.

The well equipped kitchen includes a dishwasher and a washing machine which we have used frequently.

Our bedroom.

There is an ensuite with double sinks and a shower but no toilet. The other bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower is just to the left off the kitchen.

A Belle Époque building that we enjoy looking at from our kitchen window.

Yet another gorgeous building across from ours.

The famous Hotel Negresco. It is a landmark in Nice on the north side of the Promenade Anglais.

Not a bad place to "hang your hat" for seven weeks - n'est-ce pas?

Le weekend avec mon amie Patricia

I can't tell you how excited I was to see my dear friend and previous host, Patricia. She made the effort and took the time to come to Nice from Montpellier to see us. It was interesting to hear about her mode of transport. She used an Internet site called "Blablacar". This is a site which connects drivers who have empty seats with people looking for a ride - in French, it is known as covoiturage. Often, the times for travel are more convenient and the cost is less. In Patricia's case, she traveled with two interesting people on the way here and three different individuals on the way back. It seems to be very popular in Europe and a win-win for everyone involved.

Back to our visit with Patricia. Luckily, the weather was glorious. Once we dropped her bags off at the apartment, we took advantage of the beautiful day and enjoyed lunch at the Neptune restaurant on the beach.

Keith's Neptune salad.

Brian ordered the sardines - I tried one, but I can't say they are my favourite.

After lunch. we walked along the Promenade Anglais by the sea. Patricia loves the sea and was impressed by the beautiful coastline. We headed toward the old city so that she could wander through some of the streets and shops and pass by the Place Massena with its sculptures and fountains. After a coffee in a small café, we walked back along the Rue de France. It is a pedestrian street which is lined with bars, cafés, restaurants and shops. The street was filled with patrons. 

By the time we arrived home, it was "happy hour". Patricia had brought a couple of bottles of wine from the Languedoc-Rousillon region that were very good. For the entrée, we had salad with Roquefort cheese and for the plat, Keith made a delicious dinner of duck, roasted potatoes and green beans. Dessert was a small, but yummy raspberry tart that we shared.

Brian, Patricia and Keith around the dinner table in our apartment.

We spent the entire evening talking in French. Although exhausting, we had a most enjoyable time catching up, sharing stories and having several good chuckles. The next morning, après notre petit déjeuner, we took the bus and tram to the Libération market. After picking up a number of provisions, we decided to walk back to the Promenade Anglais, stopping long enough to take a few photos en route.

Our final stop was a late lunch at a Bistro along the Promenade. Once again, we profited from the sun, good food and wonderful company.

Mon chère amie Patricia!

A picture of us minutes before she left. 

Merci à toi pour un bon weekend. À bientôt mon amie!

Only three weeks left...

Where has the time gone? Of course we have been at school everyday and then spent time in the afternoons or evenings doing homework. But we have also managed to do a fair bit of traveling and exploring on foot or by train or bus. It would seem that we have settled very comfortably into the French way of life too - daily shopping, fresh baguettes, open markets, laundry drying on racks, wine with meals and sitting on benches watching the world go by. This afternoon, Keith and I walked down to the sea, plunked ourselves on a bench and spent the better part of an hour just enjoying the sun and blue water and anything else that came into our view. On the way home, we walked though some gardens that still had lush green grass and blooming flowers and it is Nov.20!

Our route took us past our neighbourhood boucherie which had a line-up and next door, was the fromagerie. We stopped to buy some Roquefort and the proprietors were so friendly. One gent had a very fetching hat and I told him so in French "J'aime bien ton chapeau Monsieur". He thanked me and agreed to have his picture taken. At this same fromagerie, they were having a wine tasting of the new 2014 Beaujolais. According to the owners, Beaujolais cannot be sold until the third Thursday of November. I tried the red and Keith had the rosé. Neither had a nose because the wine is so very young. Much to our surprise, Brian came to dinner with a bottle of the red Beaujolais in hand. He had gone out for the afternoon with his classmates and stopped at the same fromagerie for a tasting on his way home. He enjoyed it so much that he purchased a bottle which we enjoyed at dinner. 

Occasionally Keith will bring home some wonderful treat from a nearby pâtisserie for dessert. Here are the delicious tarts we shared this evening: une tarte à la framboise (raspberry) ...

.... and une tarte aux fraises (strawberry) 

Yesterday we spent part of the afternoon in Villefranche-sur-mer. This time we took the bus and the views of the coastline and the sea were spectacular. Our mission was to visit L'Institut Français, a prestigious language school in this beautiful village. It is housed in a luxurious villa set on the hillside overlooking the Mediterranean. The tour was impressive. We spoke to the director (in French of course) and he took us on a tour of the classrooms, the gardens (they grow produce that is used by the chef), the language lab and the dining room.  It is an immersion course for 81/2 hours a day integrating a variety of linguistic activities from audio-visual class work to meals with the profs. Only French can be spoken and fines are levied to students who break this rule. From what we have read, their teaching methods have been successful in assisting people to acquire fluency more quickly. Needless to say, the emphasis is on oral and aural language using "good" French as the director told us. Nearby housing is available and two meals a day are prepared by a French chef. Brian and I are considering spending a month at the Institute sometime next year, but we need some time to reflect. After our visit, we walked back to the centre-ville and enjoyed an afternoon beverage while soaking up some sun.

Life at school has had its ups and downs. My experience, for the most part, has been very positive this go round. I quite like my prof and fellow students who are are very dedicated. Although I am definitely one of the weakest students orally, I am able to keep up with the classes. I am still very motivated and know that I am making progress, albeit slow. I can't say the same for Keith and Brian. They have been very frustrated with their prof and don't feel their learning needs have been met. I have had their prof for many of our oral language classes and I too have found myself frustrated. Keith was so distraught yesterday that he has decided to quit. He really isn't enjoying himself and feels that the additional stress and frustration just aren't worth it. Brian, on the other hand, is going to continue. He is making progress despite the prof. Keith is going to spend the last couple of weeks enjoying the weather and getting out to see some of the sights. I guess there are good and bad teachers everywhere and not everyone is going to suit your style of learning. Such is the case here. 

On the bright side, some of their classmates have been most enjoyable. One of the fellows in their class, Gabriel, invited us to join him for lunch the other day. We met at a bistro on the Promenade des Anglais that he has frequented and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch and afternoon in the sun. The French have what I consider to be a lovely expression "nous profitons de... (in this case) du soleil" translated means "we are making the most of or taking advantage of the sun". Indeed we did.

Ma salade - superbe!

Gabriel's entrée.

Brian's main - millefeuille de saumon.

 Le Déjeuner au Bistro.

Patricia arrives this week-end. I can hardly wait to see her again!

Antibes

What a difference a day makes! Brian is back to the land of the living and the sun is once again shining. To take advantage of the beautiful weather, we decided to go to Antibes for lunch. Antibes is a resort town between Nice and Cannes and easy to get to by public transport. It is home to Port Vauban which is the largest harbour in Europe and serves both fishing boats and luxury yachts. Some of the world's largest and most lavish yachts have Port Vauban as their home port where typical rates for a berth in the port are between 1 and 1.4 m €.

Our first stop was a lovely restaurant called Le Jardin. Brian ordered a demi bottle of white wine, but the server landed up bringing us a full one - oh darn! The manager came to our table shortly thereafter and explained the error, but said he would not charge us for the difference. This is the second time we have had such an experience. People here, for the most part, are very kind and generous which is contrary to their reputation. After an enjoyable pasta lunch and a full bottle of white wine, we spent our afternoon exploring the old city and walking around the port just imagining what it would be like to own one of those incredible yachts. 

What an unusual door ornament - a horse's head.

This shop was pretty interesting. It felt like a cross between Dollarama and Target. We landed up buying some inexpensive wine glasses to replace a couple that broke in our dishwasher.

One view of the port with Fort Carré in the background. Fort Carré was built in the 16th century. Although the exterior is interesting, word has it that there isn't much worth seeing in the interior today. I did read that it was used as the villain's fortress in the James Bond film "Never Say Never Again" from 1983. 

The beach adjacent to the port. The walls of the old city on the right.

From this angle, you can see a large sculpture called the Nomad that faces the sea. It was created by the Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. It consists of a number of letters and numbers in the shape of a person overlooking the horizon. Behind it are the tops of some of the huge yachts you will see in a minute. In the background, you can see the snow covered Alps.

The promenade reminded me a bit of the promenade on the island of Hvar off the coast of Croatia. It too had enormous yachts.

Brian checking out which one he would buy.

This boat was called the Dilbar. If you look closely, there is a guard on the front deck keeping an eye on us as Brian took our picture.

A close-up of the Nomad complete with birds. You are able to see some of the numbers and letters that are welded together to create a human form.

A view of Fort Carré from the opposite side.

After the better part of a week of rain,overcast skies and illness, it was a real treat to spend a lovely afternoon in Antibes!

Au revoir Greg... à bientôt

Early Sunday morning Greg left for the airport accompanied by Brian. Keith and I had said our good-byes Saturday night. It was such a good week despite the weather. Greg is a wonderful friend and such a good travelling companion. My cousins who had met Greg and Brian for the first time, adored them both. Greg is one of the most positive persons I know and I am grateful for his friendship. Thank you for a wonderful visit. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Brian and Greg the night before he left.