Days Spent Day Tripping: Cannes, Antibes, San Remo, Menton

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Whew, well the last few days have been an absolute blast! Coming back early from vacation didn't turn out to be bad at all. Of course the train strike has complicated things a bit, and it will hopefully end sooner rather than later. After I got home I spent a day just doing laundry and resting after our worldwind travels.

Cannes

Shannon and I really wanted to go to Saint-Tropez, but the next day, when we had planned to go, I got to the train station to find that because of the strike we wouldn't be able to get a train until later in the afternoon. So instead I just hopped on the train to Cannes and spent the day with Shannon.

We grabbed lunch at a great Italian restaurant and I had some of the best ravioli and tiramisu ever. Afterwards we spent a little while walking around Cannes and looking at the stores, and then decided to lay on the beach. This is what a normal beach day in Cannes look like: There is Robert, a much older French gentleman who wears the exact same outfit everyday (old jeans with no tshirt and dark blue suspenders that hold his jeans up over his enormous pot belly and a red baseball cap) and has the darkest tan I have ever seen in my life, although I'd hate to see his legs. Then, there are all the older women who basically just come lay at the beach all day long. Topless. Seriously, it's very rare to see someone at this beach with a top on. These people sit on the beach all day long and just chit chat--mostly about the weather and the temperature of the water, but about any number of other things as well (wine, strikes, etc etc etc). Well I'm not going to lie, I had kept telling myself that I would embrace going to the beach à la française before I left, and if I was going to do it anywhere this was the place to do it. So, in a moment of sheer daring, and with the encouragement of Shannon who does it all the time, I decided when in Rome! I'm not going to lie, the first day I laid there in utter shock with myself and was too nervous to even open my eyes half the time. But it felt utterly liberating. Seriously, people should do this at home. I am a total convert.

Antibes by day and Cannes by night

The next day I hopped on another train to Antibes. Antibes is one of the towns between Nice and Cannes and besides other things it boasts a Picasso Museum and one of the nicest ports in Southern France as it's known as one of the yachting capitals of the world.

Once I got to Antibes I went to the Picasso Museum first. Sadly, I wasn't that into the museum. It's in a gorgeous palace by the ocean, so the building itself is gorgeous. The museum does boast a great collection of Picasso's ceramic pieces which was interesting, and there is a display of photographs of Picasso in his studio, and you can see him working on some of the paintings that are displayed. After the museum, I wandered through town, grabbed a panini and headed towards the port to meet Shannon. After eating one of the best paninis I have ever tasted in my life, Shannon and I met up and went back into town. We walked through an awesome antique market, wandered in and out of stores, stopped for French pastries because why not and had an amazing time. Antibes is one of the cutest towns I have visited in this area. It has a tiny bit of the glam of Cannes while still being casual and down to Earth. It's absolutely gorgeous.

Once Shannon and I had our fill of Antibes we grabbed some groceries for dinner and headed back to Cannes. That night we went to Morrison's--one of the Irish pubs frequented by most of the girls in Cannes. We had quite an interesting night--there was a band playing so of course I ended up on stage, and one of the guitar players, a pretty old guy, even let me hold the guitar (don't worry there are pictures). As per the usual with Shannon and I we had a very fun, very interesting night.

The next day and night was spent recovering from the night before. Shannon and I realized that we had clearly reached the age at which our bodies decided going out until all hours of the night and drinking any number of alcoholic drinks was not at all OK. So we spent part of the day laying on the beach tanning. Robert was there of course as well as the other usuals. And, mostly due to the fact that I was feeling a little too rough from the night before to think or even care, I had the courage to get up and walk to put my feet in the water... all the while à la française!

San Remo

Yesterday (Saturday), I woke up early and hopped on a train from Cannes to Nice. Mme Trucco's husband picked me up at the station and we went back to Mont Boron to pick up Mme Trucco and then headed into town to pick up their two friends Dominique and Pascale. Then we began the rather long, and quite winding drive to a small village near San Remo to eat lunch at one of their favorite restaurants.
Let me just tell you a little bit about this drive. It was absolutely breathtaking, as is to be expected, but seriously one of the more terrifying experiences of my life. It would have been far worse by bus I am sure--I would much rather put my life in the hands of Mme Trucco's husband than some crazed bus driver who enjoys taking turns on two wheels and challenging all laws of physics. However, Pascale put two plastic bags in her purse just in case. Seriously. These people anticipate and prepare for the very likely possiblity that someone will end up vomiting before we get there. Needless to say that revelation put me a little on edge. The roads are so small and narrow, and there are often no barriers to keep you and your car from just toppling right off a very steep cliff. Not to mention that these aren't exactly small mountains.

Despite the fact that I was constantly holding my breath in anticipation of my imminent death, I couldn't help but be blown away by what I was seeing. The mountains are just huge and rolling and then tucked into them at various intervals spring tiny little villages. These little villages seem to just appear out of nowhere, multi-colored buildings with red roofs and colored shutters that appear to be just piled on top of one another and built right out of and into the cliff side. There is always at least one church tower that peaks up over the rest of the buildings, and sometimes there are a few other bell towers. We drove through some of the small towns, and the only thing I've been able to think about since is how to get back to them. One of the villages that we drove through, Dolce Acqua is a very small medieval village. What appears to be the remains of an old castle is perched on top of a hill with one of the coolest bridges I've ever seen arching over a small stream to get to the building. Seriously, google image it--I didn't have a chance to take pictures. I also had the chance to see the village of Apricale from a distance. There were lots of other small villages as well--I think I could spend a week just exploring that small area of Liguria. Unfortunately, I am fairly certain there is no way to get to any of this villages without a car!

Finally, after more hairpin turns that I ever thought possible, we made it to the small village. The restaurant was unlike anything I have ever visited, and it was so completely authentic. We were greeted upon entering by a rather portly man, and I when I say rather portly I am being kind, who excuded Italian from every pore in his body. He had one of the largest noses I've ever seen, small eyes, and one of the bushiest mustaches in the world. He recognized Odile immediately and shook each of our hands, greeting us with a Buongiorno as well as a Bonjour. The restaurant was rather small, one room that connected to what I assume is something similar to a brasserie. In the center of the dining room was a wood burning stove, and in the corner was the area where some of the food was prepared. (I had the good chance to see them making pasta before I left, and I am completely convinced that this is the only way to eat pasta now.)

The meal was absolutely incredible. A true lesson in Italian cooking. And eating. We began the meal with a plate of antipasta. We were given a basket full of bread and each a plate of 4 small different things to try. There was a cheese spread with oignons, some proschitto or ham, a piece of cured sausage, and some artichokes with parsley and olive oil. After that came the farsi--or stuffed vegetables, and there were five or six different ones to try. (Mind you, all of this is made with produce from the village.) Then, comes the pasta. I don't just mean one plate of pasta either. There were 3 plates of pasta. Three. First came the raviolis with fresh spinach. Then there were was a fettucini. Then there was the gnocchi. At this point, the three of us girls were about to explode and we bowed out before the meat course. Yes, that's right. After an antipasta, a farci, and three plates of pasta comes a meat dish. The men went ahead and Dominique had wild hare while Alan, Mme Trucco's husband, had wild boar. After the meat dishes came dessert and the women were told that we had to eat dessert. So we were all given a chocolate cake and part of an apple tart. Then came the coffee which was absolutely necessary after all that food and the wine that came with it. No lie, eating Italian is a marathon, but what an incredible experience.

After lunch we hopped back into the car and drove back down to San Remo to wander through town before heading home.

How crazy to think about how easy it is to be laying on a beach in Cannes here one day and the next to be winding your way up to a tiny village tucked into the mountains of Italy just to grab lunch. This is absolutely what I love about living here.

Menton

Today, Shannon and I decided to spend the day in Menton since my friend Em is still stuck in London. The town is utterly gorgeous. Menton is the last French town you pass through before going over the border into Italy. It definitely has a strong Italian feel, but still manages to be very French. The beach was utterly gorgeous, the town was breathtaking and the Old City was so much fun. We wandered around looking at shops, going in and out of the ones that were open, wandered through the old town, wandered by the port and all of the boats, had lunch on the beach and had gelato before going home. Definitely a wonderful day 😊 Pics will be posted on Picasa.

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