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Published: July 23rd 2012
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The morning was so beautiful in Cannes that we decided to start the day with time at the beach. Now beaches are not my favourite places in the world to be. Sand in generally is dirty, water is cold and dirty and I am a typical super pasty white Canadian dude. Standing next to buff, bronzed goliaths at the beach is not always my idea of a good time. However, we did have a great time at the beach today. I had to warn Sydney that beaches in France are a little different than beaches at home in that people do not always where their bathing suits, apparently she already knew that. The kid knows more than I think she does. We swam in the Mediterranean Sea and it was a lot of fun. There was a small outcropping of rocks a few hundred meters out that we swam to. We laid on the beach and worked on our tans (didn't help me one bit) and then we headed for our next destination.
It was a short drive to La Turbie, France which is just a 10 minute drive from Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo has been a much anticipated destination
for Sydney on this trip, but I have to say that La Turbie is the star of the day for me. Essentially Monte Carlo is on the beach and base of a mountain. At the very top of the mountain behind Monte Carlo is La Torbie. It is a high altitude mountain village with 2000 year old Roman ruins that are as impressive as some of the artefacts in Delphi, Greece. There is a massive stone columned structure on the top of a hill that is just 100 feet from our hotel. Oh, and the hotel.... OMG. This is the most beautiful room we have had on our trip and perhaps one of the most beautiful rooms I have stayed in period. It is in a small ancient building in the old town of La Torbie, as I mentioned just down from the ruins. It has fabulous views from the top of the mountain down onto Monte Carlo. It is so beautiful here.
After we checked into our hotel we took the 10 minute drive down the mountain into Monte Carlo. Sadly on Sundays there is not much open in town. There were a few shops, and of course
the casinos were open, but that is about all. We are going to head back into Monte Carlo tomorrow before we continue on to our next destination. Monte Carlo in a word is ridiculous. The amount of wealth being flaunted in the town in incredible. Monte Carlo makes Cannes look like a shanty town, which I would not have believed was possible. There are royal places, so many people driving Lamborghinis and Porches, and Bentleys, and I am driving the old Renault Twingo. lol. Either way the valet still takes my car just like he takes the nice ones, he he he.
We Made dinner reservations at our hotel for 730pm as we were told there is a very talented chef that works at the hotel. I though Sydney would like to experience an authentic gourmet 4 course meal at a high end French restaurant. The chef started us off with biscuits and 2 creams. The first cream was an eggplant cream and the second a parsley cream. Next was a cold tomato and wasabi soup, however, I think I heard that wrong. The color was right but the wasabi was sweet. It tasted more like a melon puree
than wasabi. In either case it was one of the best soups I have ever had. We then received a lobster and vinaigrette dish which was very good. Next the chef gave us these beautiful buns and a garlic cream butter which was to die for. All of the food we had be given so far were starters and not even one of the courses that were on the menu. Our first course was a blue lobster plate. Apparently blue lobster is special but I know nothing about that. It tasted great. They served us lobster in a varied of ways with a variety of tasty flavoured foams. Flavoured foams are like dipping sauce for rich people 😊 The second dish was a red mallet (special fish apparently) and calamari. The fish was super tasty and for someone who does not enjoy calamari unless it is breaded and deep fried I quite like this one. It was slimy and had a firm palatable texture, quite delicious actually. The next dish was the mystery one for us but one in which we had to try. It was roasted pigeon and foie gras. I know I had been saying I wanted to
try foie gras sometime on this trip and now I had a chance to at a quality restaurant. I now know I never need to try foie gras again. Essentially it is pure fat. If you took all of the grease and fat from cooking bacon and compressed it into a ball and fried it that would be foir gras, I don't like it. Sydney as well does not like it. The pigeon was okay, it sort of tasted like duck, which I don't really love but can stomach. Actually the pigeon is better than the duck Syd had the other night. The chef left the pigeons claw on the plate so that was a bit unusually. Sydney and I had to restrain ourselves from having claw fights in the restaurant, but we certainly thought about it. The last dish was wild strawberries and fresh ice cream, it was so good. I don't think I have ever had fresh strawberries before and the were so good. They are tiny little strawberries that are super sweet. So after that I assumed we were done our meal, but the had more for us still. After the strawberries they brought out hand made
chocolates, 3 different types of mini tarts, and various candied items. Finally after all that they ended it with the lemon sauce and cream palette cleanser, man did my palette feel clean after that. The meal was awesome, not the best meal I have ever had but certainly great and probably the most interesting. The tomato soup and the wild strawberries were the highlights for me. Yes, I know that seems like a shame when I am served calamari, lobster, foie gras, and pigeon that I would choose tomatos and strawberries as my favourite, but they were so good. Sydney loved the pigeon and the fish.
Our assessment of Monte Carlo
Kyle 10/10 if you include La Turbie. This is a paradise on Earth. There are mountains, tropical beaches, the sea, great, food, great shopping, what else do you need 😊
Sydney 9/10 - Very expensive but the ocean is very pretty.
This is our last day in France and I have to say I am amazed at how beautiful and diverse this country is. There is the Mediterranean, The French Riviera, The French Alps, Gorges, cosmopolitan cities, quiet ocean villages and so much more in
between. You could easily spend 3 or 4 weeks touring France and not get board at all. The food here is wonderful, although we are getting tired of so much bread. I highly recommend fellow travellers to consider France. You will not be disappointed.
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Evelyn
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I have to agree with you about France. Although I had been to France many times before it wasn't until the fall of 2010 that we were able to spend more time there. We travelled around for over 2 weeks and still I realize how much more there is to see, especially after reading your blog. Next year when we go again I want to try some of those hikes you went on. The pictures are great and I am anxious to see everything first hand. Would have loved to have seen a picture of Syd in corn braides. Special note to Syd - have a really happy birthday on Wednesday. We love you and are so happy that you are having such a fantastic holiday. What a way to spend your 13th birthday. I am sure you will remember it for the rest of your life, Love, Grandma and Grandpa - PS - I think your trip tops the gopher museum.