Once again, I am in beautiful southern France. As before, I have decided to write a blog to record my journey. Unfortunately my dad Dusty Titheridge, who was one of my faithful readers, is no longer here to enjoy and comment on my experiences. He passed away February 12. He used to read every post and would get out his atlas to look up the different places I visited. He would also call or send me emails asking questions about some of the foods or customs I had written about. I will miss him very much, but I know that he was proud of my efforts to learn French.
Right now, I am in Nice. I flew from Edmonton to Calgary, Calgary to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Geneva and finally, Geneva to Nice. It was a long, but uneventful trip. Although it was dark when we flew into Nice, the coast line was beautiful and lit up as I remembered it. From the airport, it was an easy bus trip into the heart of the city.
For a couple of days, I am staying at the Hotel Villa Rivoli which is only a block away from La Belle Epoque where we lived last November and December. It is a charming, boutique hotel with very friendly and accommodating staff.
Hotel Villa Rivoli
The entryway
My traditional room is on le premier étage (first floor). Ci-dessous (below): L'escalier menant au premier étage (the staircase leading to the Ist floor).
Ma chambre (my room) is small, but immaculate and has everything I need.
Mon lit
Shortly after my arrival to the hotel, I wandered up to La Rue de France to grab a light bite for dinner. I found a small bistro to my liking and enjoyed a salad and a glass of wine.
After a much needed shower, I headed to bed and slept almost 12 hours! As a matter of fact, I missed le petit-déjeuner (breakfast) which is served from 7-10 a.m. Luckily, the staff was kind enough to give me a glass of juice, coffee and a croissant despite my tardiness. Once I got myself organized, I decided to take a walk around le quartier (the neighbourhood). It felt like an old blanket - warm, comforting and familiar. First, I walked by some of the gardens at the Musée Masséna. Here is what I saw on February 27! Wouldn't it be something to have flowers, bushes and trees like these in Edmonton at this time of year?
Then I crossed Promenade Des Anglais to sit and gaze at the Mediterranean Sea and do a little people watching. From there I meandered through some of the streets and shops and landed up at Les Jardins du Capitole for le déjeuner (lunch). We had eaten there a number of times before and the food had been consistently good. Today I chose le plat du jour which included:
La Salade de Coeurs à Artichaut à Italienne (artichoke hearts with sun dried tomatoes, parmesan etc.)
et Les Raviolis à la Truffe aux Champignons (ravioli with mushrooms topped with shaved parmesan). Of course that was accompanied by a lovely glass of red. For the rest of the afternoon, I just walked and shopped and enjoyed the lovely weather. On my travels, I even saw Charles, the gent who owns one of the stalls at La Marché de la Buffa where we used to shop for some of our produce. It feels good to be back!
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