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Published: October 26th 2007
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We drove a huge amount of the French Riviera last night looking for a place to stay. We wanted to get partially towards Cannes, and discovered that most of the towns along that section of the Riviera are pretty much shut down this time of year. We stopped by a few places that were either closed or not very nice. We ended up about 3 KM from Cannes in a little town called Miramar. When J saw the Miramar Beach Hotel was lit up and had four little gold stars on the sign, he knew that this would be CM's choice before she even went in to check availability. Turns out they were having a "special, just for today" for 105 euros. That's a pretty good deal for this part of the world, so we were happy to live it up for the night. We set dinner reservations for 8PM, and showed up at the restaurant. Fancy place, waiters in pinstripe suits, older people in sport coats and too much makeup. The prix fixe menu was 60 Euros and really didn't have anything that looked good. Too many adjectives means just trying too hard - and they seated us in the
back, despite being mostly empty. CM and I looked at each other and decided to bail.
Now, we've had discussions of what type of travellers we are. We definitely aren't backpackers, or even budget travelers. But we're not super high end either. The places we go, stay and like to eat at all share a common trait of quality. If you've read
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance you might identify
quality as something that's inherently hard to define. In some ways for us it is closely tied to
authenticity, but our experience at the Miramar in Cannes defines quality in contrast to another term:
luxury. J has decided that it's quality he looks for, not luxury. Luxury is the Ritz Carlton - you're in Southeast Asia, but they've inexplicably got fresh salmon on the menu and an embossed leather holder for the remote on the TV. Quality is a small hotel where the owner has obsessed over getting the right local antiques, employees and menu. It's where someone brought to life their unique vision to the best of their ability, and was successful in conveying that to others.
So - we drive out into the darkness
again in search of quality. A daunting task, given that most places we had seen in the past two hours were closed. But we held out hope, for this wasn't Orlando. Not a kilometer up the road CM spotted a small place - we made a U-turn on a particularly narrow and dark section of the coastal road. CM jumped out to see if they were open, while J spied an old foosball table under the deck. This was a good sign.
We ended up eating a wonderful meal with wonderful company that night. We started with local scallops over a fresh tomato paste with oil and garlic. J got a whole fish, sliced open on the top (bones and internals removed) and stuffed with artichokes. CM chose a wood fired thin crust pizza and a salad. For dessert we split a warmed flourless chocolate torte and ice cream. The older French couple next to us were really fun, when we sat down they immediately helped translate the menu du jour and proclaimed this to be the best restaurant in Cannes. The owner of the restaurant was a woman who also owned a bar on the island of Phangan
in Thailand. She and her husband spend a month a year down there, while their friends who run it come back to visit family. I asked if it the bar made any money (not that that's the goal) and she beat me to the right answer. She said "well, it doesn't need to make money - I just have these places so I can live a nice life and enjoy the places I'm at." Wow - I think she understands quality too.
The next morning, we did the quick drive into Cannes and found a cafe for breakfast that actually had free Wi-Fi. Europe in general is covered in hotspots, but in general their either locked down with security or very expensive. For example, the Miramar charged 12 Euros and hour for Wi-Fi. Cannes is a large city and we basically just drove through on our way to more azure pastures along the coast.
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angela
non-member comment
authentic quality
i'm like you two! i like to go where there are lots of locals. i hate touristy places because it's crappy, i think. it was funny that on our honeymoon in kauai, i don't think we had breakfast in the hotel. we went out searching for restaurants where locals hang out. i likes those places much better! :)