It's Movie Night

The other night I met with several people outside the local Cinema in Vence.  These people had coordinated the night out through a website called OnVaSortir.  It's great.  I am meeting several people and learning of lots of events.  Several people are interested in meeting to improve their English and of course I am interested in improving my French.

The movie we saw was "The Master".  It was in English with French subtitles.  This movie was part of the film festival here so after it ended there was discussion and as you can imagine it was in French and I was lost!

Here in Vence they sell ice cream at the theater.  No popcorn or drinks.  You don't see anyone with a "Biggie size" popcorn and pop.  Perhaps that's why no one seems to be overweight here!

Great company though and when we emerged from the theater there was a full moon and clear skies.  Absolutely beautiful for the walk back to the villa.

Chef Barb

Today I decided to try out the recipe in the book I have been reading "Lunch in Paris".  This book was left in the apartment by Mary and I have really enjoyed it.  This recipe is for Mussels with white wine and fennel.  I have started experimenting with fennel and thought this would be a good place to start as I love mussels.

I went to the local supermarket called Le Clerc and spoke to the lady in the seafood department.  She is lovely.  Puts up with my halting French and usually deciphers what it is I need.  The quality of the seafood is fantastic.  Everything is so fresh.  I came away with this huge bag of fresh mussels which I was wondering what I was going to do with the left overs.  Well the dish turned out quite well and surprise, surprise.....no left overs!

Networking

My friend from the Carnival told me of an online site called OnVaSortir!  If you are interested in doing things you can join different events that are posted and post events of your own as well.  This has been really interesting.  It's all in French so it pushes me to use my French (also google translate is a must). 

I have joined a group going to the movies, another one going to the flea market in Tourrettes sur Loup as well as posted my own event.  I have advertised a group getting together to practice casual conversation in French and English.  We can help each other out.  I have had responses so we are meeting Sunday afternoon at one of the cafes in Vence.  Apparently these are common place in Nice but I've found out there is a need here as well as most people don't want to have to travel to Nice.  Great way of meeting people and also practicing our language skills.  We'll see how it goes.  Stay tuned!

Not Octoberfest!

This is not an optical illusion and no I am not in Germany at the Octoberfest!  After a thoroughly enjoyable day at the Carnival Parade in Nice we went for "a cold one".  Met a great lady (fellow Canadian) who happened to be by herself and sat next to me in the stands and we decided to treat ourselves to a cold beer.  Veronica is from Ottawa and a lot of fun.  She is a teacher who is travelling for a year.  She will be in Nice for 3 months and has just arrived from Africa.  She teaches French so is fluent in the language so when she ordered 'des grandes bieres' who was I to argue! 

I could barely pick it up! 

This is Veronica and the waiter after we managed to finish our beers.....wasn't that hard however making our way home after was!  Great time.

Carnaval de Nice

The Carnival in Nice is a very large event running from Feb. 15th to March 6th.  I decided to take in the Carnival Parade as I had heard the floats were amazing.  The Carnival's theme is King of the five continents...our planet...and the Carnival is a tribute to this.

The Carnival King

Street dancers not quite on the street!

Costumes for the kids were popular.

and here you have a little guy getting ready to fire his string in a can.....that stuff was everywhere!

Wasn't just the kids in costume....apparently this guy shows up every year!

Bird's eye view from where this guy is....it's actually a statue and there are several in the plaza.  At night they glow different colors.

One of the many floats...amazing how they created these.

This was supposed to be the Statue of Liberty spanking two figures that represented the north and south of the United States for misbehaving!

Fire breathing dragons

Tattoos galore - representing Easter Island

Represents the situation with gas/oil and the middle east

Even trapeze acts in motion

Great music too!  This guy is on stilts.

And as the sun sets, the end to another great day in Nice!

Furry little creature...

Went to a park in Nice today called The Phoenix.  Quite a nice park complete with an aquarium, small zoo and an exhibition hall.

This furry, little tarantula was just one of many....gave me the creepie, crawlies!

This guy was in full display.  Prancing around and posing for photos.  

A pelican hanging out.

Pink flamingo

This guy was pretty.

















While in Nice I decided to get a ticket to the Nice Carnival.  It starts on Feb. 16th and the parade is supposed to be amazing.  Stay tuned for pictures!

Cimiez

Well today I made a trip into Nice as I wanted to explore this area called Cimiez.  It is a hilltop neighborhood  in Nice which was the original Roman settlement called Cemenelum and has some quite incredible Roman ruins.  Today this is a very luxurious area with some pretty impressive villas.

This was an old Roman arena and is now used for the annual jazz festival..

This area flourished between the 1st and 5th centuries.

They also had huge Roman thermes or baths.

Musee Matisse - To tell you the truth I am more impressed with this building than I am with the artist.  The villa was built in the 17th century.  The city purchased it and turned it into the museum but can you imagine this as a home back in the day!!!

Monastere de Cimiez

The gardens of the monastery -  unfortunately it's a little early in the year for much to be in bloom but I'm sure later in the year this would be spectacular.  Even so it was beautiful to just sit in the sun, enjoy the view and listen to the birds.

This is the view from the gardens.  The Mediterranean is in the distance and you are looking down on Nice.











I walked back to the town instead of the bus to enjoy some of these beautiful villas.  I was more than ready to relax on the bus for the one hour trip back to Vence.

It's time for citrus

Now even though it's a little chilly now it's also the time for lemons and oranges to be harvested.  There is a Lemon Festival in the town of Menton which we plan on attending.  I just plucked a beautiful lemon off the tree out front.  It's amazing how good they taste when they're this fresh. 

Went well with my very fresh salmon.  Bon appetite!

What the heck?....

Well it was warmer in January than it is now and believe it or not it was snowing!!!!  Didn't think this happened on the Cote d'Azur!  It's not sticking but still it's cold!  Brrrrrr.....Should be warming soon so they say!

Refresh the look...

Today I did the scariest thing so far in my travels....I went to a hairdresser that I didn't know and had my hair cut and colored.  You don't know what a leap of faith this was....and it worked!

I had asked Ulrike (who is the woman who owns the villa I am staying in) who she would recommend and she mentioned this place.  The girls who run it are cousins and the nicest people.

They got the color bang on and the style is pretty well the same "la meme chose".  They use a plant based hair color which is much better for you than the chemicals.  Total cost only 54 euros!

And while I practiced my Francais with the hairdresser she practiced her English for an upcoming vacation in London.
Win, win.  I will definitely return!

Menton, Monaco, Mmmmmm.....

Decided to go east from Nice to the town of Menton which is very close to the Italian border.  Was a nice sunny day but quite cool and windy by the time I reached Menton.

The water consists of the most incredible shades of blue.  I walked the promenade and had coffee at one of the many restaurants with their patios overlooking the sea.

Palm trees line the promenade.  The area is known to have a balmy, year round climate.  There were orange trees covered in oranges everywhere I looked.

This is the Basilique St. Michel which is located on the top of the hill in the Old Town.  This area is also known for it's amazing gardens so I will be returning a little later in the year to appreciate those when more is in bloom.

I hopped on the bus and ten minutes later I was in Monaco.  Oh the money!  Felt a little (no, a lot!) out of my element in this place.  Definitely the playground of the rich and famous.  This is part of the harbour.

Here is the Opera House.  Could just imagine what it would be like to attend something there!

Hotel de Paris - couldn't imagine trying to enter this hotel.  There is a fellow in full uniform guarding the entrance and I'm sure you would have to be oozing wealth to get past him.

And the famous Casino of Monte Carlo!  I actually decided to brave it and go inside.  Had a plastic bag with a bottle of water and a sandwich with me that they asked me to check with the girl at the counter!  How embarrassing....not like I had bags of expensive shopping to check!








So that was the end of my day in Menton and Monaco.  Caught the bus back to Nice where I transferred and got on my bus to Vence.  Ahhhh....home sweet home.  Long day, weary feet!

Marseille....it was wonderful!

While the owner of the property was home for a few days I decided to travel to Marseille and stay for a few days.  Took the train from Nice which took approx. 2.5 hrs.  Lovely scenery as you are traveling along the coast.

This is the train station in Marseilles.  Pretty easy using the train and from here I walked to the apartment that I rented for 3 nights.  It took approx. 1 hour to walk there and it was well worth it as the city is bustling and the weather was great.

First thing I did after dropping my suitcase was head out to explore with the few hours of sunshine that was left.  Ending up climbing the hill to the famous site in Marseille which is the Notre-Dame de la Garde.  This sits on the top of the hill overlooking all of Marseilles.  Built in 1853 by Napoleon III.
Was well worth the climb!

What a view!  360 degree view of Marseille. 

This is the Cathedrale de la Major built by Napoleon III

Treated myself to a "real" meal...white local fish done in a great sauce complete with une verre de vin blanc!  Found the restaurant while wandering the seaside.

 A little seaside residence that Napoleon had built for his wife...and what a view they had!  It's now used as a conference center.

Don't suppose you recognize this but I was in this bar called the Bar de la Marine.  This is where the part in the movie 'Love Actually' was filmed where Colin Firth proposes to the waitress who is at the top of the stairs.  I had a long talk with the bartender as he spoke English! and this bar had such character!  Not to say that Colin Firth had actually stood there!!!!

Okay I'm in France but I found an Irish Pub and just had to stop for a cold Kilkenny!  It tasted sooooooo....good!

Took a little ferry ride out to two islands that are off the coast.  One of the islands has this castle on it called Chateau d'If.  It was used as a prison and was the place that the Count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned (fiction).

And last but not least, is the Marche aux Poissons or the fish market that takes place every morning down at the Vieux Port.  Amazing selection of the catch of the day....some fish I don't even recognize!