Today, we had lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant in Nice: Shalimar. The food is crazy-spicy and always delish.
The best part: We went with our dear friend Myriam. Have we introduced you yet? We met her soon after arriving in Nice. Myriam lives here at Le Metrople with her dog, Cipi. Honey and Cipi are engaged (we think). Here's a snapshot of Myriam and Honey when we went out for sushi a few weeks ago:
Honey is mad for Myriam, and so are we. Anyhow, lunch was fantastic -- and filling. So tonight, we nibbled on foie gras, salmon terrine, and marinated salmon and a little bread, a little wine, a little Sauterne. Just yummy. Good snacks, and a great way to greet 2011.
Just a little post to wish a very Merry Christmas to all of our friends, family and loved ones. Thinking of you all this Yuletide, and sending lots of love and our best wishes for a Happy New Year!
As we look around, we're finding Christmas is not just around the corner, it's...everywhere! Vince and Honey and I are getting into the spirit of the season (in spite of the cold, misty, rainy weather). Around the House Vince always sets a lovely table and fixes something yummy in our wee kitchen. We have been "test-driving" possible menus for Christmas Eve, with previews of various dishes. So far, it's looking like oysters followed by duck confit will be on our holiday plates. The table's small, but you're welcome to join us!
We didn't have room for a tree, so Vince staged a festive holiday mise-en-scene on the shelf behind the sofa.
Out and About The building manager put up a tree and decorations in the lobby; it's almost like having a tree of our own.
Around town, the Christmas Market continues, street performers are putting on impromptu shows (some with performing cats!) and a pair of very sweet-looking reindeer were hanging out on the main plaza this weekend.
No Need to Re-gift This Year! Mornings are much brighter since our new friend and neighbor, Myriam, gave us this lovely pair of massive mugs. The perfect gift for coffee-holics like us. Cheers, Myriam! And merci beaucoup, cherie.
Vince's cousin sent a copy of Armistead Maupin's latest novel as well as a Kindle, and now we are both reading voraciously, in both analog and digital formats. Vince is quite mad about the Kindle. Thanks, Patricia!
What could possibly be in the battered box the postman brought today?
Yummy homemade cookies (for both humans and canines) from our dear friend and neighbor in SF, Maureen.
What a treat! Now we know what we'll have for dessert on Christmas Eve. If we can wait that long. Thanks, Maureen!
I've had another long dry spell, as I have been busily working on a video chronicling the Yuletide season in Nice. The Christmas Market is set up every year on the Place Massena, just a few blocks from our apartment. Locals and tourists flock to the market to scoop up local crafts (Provencal pottery and santons), feast on holiday treats (spice bread and socca), take the kids to see Pere Noel (Santa Claus), ice-skate, and ride the ferris wheel.
You may know about Groupon, the deep-discount daily email coupon with the social networking twist. It's a pretty nifty way to try out businesses and services in your town. Anyhow, I've been getting San Francisco-specific offers for a year or so. Even though I've never signed up for any of the deals, some of the offers have been tempting.
So, I signed up to get Groupon offers while here in Nice. No tempting offers yet, but some fun ones I wanted to share:
How Sweet It Is! Get your body painted with chocolate? Maybe. But I'd be awfully tempted to lick it off as soon as it was painted on.
Go Fish I love a good pedicure, especially when all of that rough, crusty skin gets scrubbed off my feet. Apparently, there are fish that can exfoliate for you. I hear it's not for the ticklish.
Fat, Fat, Go Away! Give It All to Doris Day! It seems the French think that fat and cellulite can vibrated off with these crazy machines. There are lots of salons in our neighborhood that specialize in this quackery...er, revolutionary new weight-loss miracle. Why LiveStrong When You Can LiveDumb? These bracelets improve balance, energy, endurance and reduce stress. I'd be pretty stressed out if I bought one and found out it didn't work, though.
I'll keep checking out the Groupon offers that pop into my email box. But somehow, I'm suddenly feeling a little wistful for the days of the Sears Christmas Wish Book!
Corsica was amazing beyond our expectations. We were only there for a couple of days (one sunny, one rainy), but Vince and I fell in love with Bastia. We expected an old, dry, dusty, rustic village -- quaint, careworn and charming. And that's what we found. Plus it was modern, young, chic and prosperous without being silly or overly tarted-up. A delightful paradox.
The gloomy day in Bastia (our second) passed without much fanfare. Mary, Mitch, Vince, Honey and I traveled up into the hills to explore a bit. Mitch and Mary smiled sweetly:
Trying to maintain my usual (!) sunny disposition, I decided to do a little Singin' in the Rain.
But, oh that first day of sun and fun. It was simply exquisite. Little churches had unexpectedly lovely frescoes:
The port was postcard-perfect:
And the older parts of town were perfectly crusty:
We were so enraptured that no one complained about the forced march up the steep hill to the citadel:
We felt utterly victorious when we got there!
Atop the hill, just past the citadel, we discovered a plaza with a great view. So great, we had to document what we saw in this video (pardon the weird angles - I'm still working on my cinematography). Many thanks to the Mary, for the wonderful narration. She's a voice-over talent just waiting to be discovered:
There were two other highlights on our final rainy day: lunch with Mary at Grazie Mille, where Vince had the "third-best pasta" of his entire life:
...And, of course, the night ferry back to our home away from home, Nice:
The ferry was rather like a mini-cruise ship. Rooms, lounges, a restaurant and cafeteria, gift shop, game room, bar, pool and Jacuzzi. My favorite spot was the open-air deck at the back of the ferry. Au revoir, Nice!
Arrival in Basita (OK, that's the ferry that came in the next day -- Rick Steves would have had a camera crew in place to document everything, but I'm not that famous. Yet.).
We had such a good time when our dear pal Maureen came to visit, but we'd been missing friends and family in San Francisco since Maureen returned home. Luckily, our friends Mitch and Mary came to Nice for a few days on their way to Rome. As Mitch and Mary are Honey's godparents (and human companion's of Honey's sister, Dolce), they always come bearing gifts. This time, Honey got a very chic chapeau!
As luck would have it, Mitch and Mary arrived on the day the 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau was released, so of course we went to lunch and had a bottle. It's not serious wine, but it's festive and gives the French a reason to celebrate.
We were especially thankful that Mitch and Mary were here to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Whole turkeys don't show up in the supermarkets until December (along with goose!), so we opted for turkey tenderloins in creme sauce with mushrooms and shallots. It was scrummy-licious.
As he shopped for dinner fixins, Vince was pleasantly surprised to find that many shopkeepers had heard of Thanksgiving (even if they'd never celebrated the holiday). I imagine it's like Eskimos; you know what they look like, what they wear and how they live, but you've never actually met one.
We has a lovely day, and no I'm not three sheets to the wind in the following photo. That happened later in the evening...
Honey's favorite course was the cheese. Naturally!
