Villefranche-sur-mer Winter 2026-2

 Dear Friends,

Yesterday when I started this blog it was rather cold (49 degrees ) for the Côte d'Azur, although not by Minnesota standards (-13 degrees ).  So since where I am is 62 degrees higher than where I live, I really can't complain.  Nevertheless I will, it has been cold and rainy for a long time.  I need to see the sun.  In Minnesota this time of year we get a lot of sun.  Of course that is when it is the coldest, but at least it is sunny.  The forecast shows a couple of sunny days in the next week but no temperature above 50 and still plenty of ran.  Happily as I finish this blog, the sun is shinning although it is just 46 degrees with a high forecasted of 48, but tomorrow looks nice.

Despite the weather, we have had a couple of adventures that made us smile and one that makes us sad.  First, there is a new creperie in Villefranche, Chez les Gourmands, and it is close to our apartment.  It is just one year old and run by a nice woman who greets you, answers your questions, takes your order, cooks the crepes, serves them, clears your place and wishes you well as you leave.  We have been there three times now.   Here is the review I wrote on Trip Advisor:

    My wife and I stopped here for lunch today. It had been recommended to us by friends so we were not         surprised to find  a wonderful spot for a casual lunch. It is very small and the owner/waitress/chef             made us feel very welcome. The menu consists mainly of galettes (buckwheat crepes) with various             cheese, ham, eggs, etc. as well as omelettes, plus sweet crepes with a variety of fun fillings like                 bananas, chocolate sauce and whipped cream or simple ones like salted butter and sugar. They have            wine, a wide variety of teas, coffee and soft drinks as well. I had a galette with emmenthal, ham and         mushrooms. My wife had a ham and cheese galette. Both were served with a small amount of lettuce         with a very nice vinaigrette. We each had a glass of wine. For dessert I had a crepe with bananas,                 chocolate sauce and whipped cream. My wife had just the basic salted butter and sugar. We finished         with a coffee. Everything was great!! The total bill  was 44 euros, and we left a 4 euro tip. We will             certainly return to this restaurant.

                                     A galette with ham and cheese and a small salad that is very healthy.   

                                              

                                                                                                                                                                       While the two above are not healthy.

The next adventure was sad.  One of our favorite reasons to go to Nice was to go to a very small casual restaurant called "Oliviera".  It was run by a Palestinian who has lived in France for a long time.  Here is a review I wrote on Trip Advisor several years ago:

    My wife and I had lunch here on a Wednesday in February. We were strolling around the old town of         Nice and happened upon this wonderful restaurant and olive oil store. The owner spoke perfect English     but as soon as we spoke in French, he asked which language we preferred. He was the chef as well as         chief olive oil salesman. He was happy to tell us as much as we wanted to know about the various             olive oils as well as the various dishes on the menu. He was a perfect host. The interior of the                     restaurant is casual but charming. The menu changes but has clearly labeled vegetarian and meat                 dishes. We split two dishes. We started with Aubergine Oliviera. It was chopped eggplant, cheese,             olive oil and other delights that was served with slightly roasted red peppers in olive oil and could             be put on some of the fabulous warm baguette that was on the table. Next we had the Lasagne                     Butternut. I have never had such perfect lasagne. The pasta was great. In addition to the small cubes of         butternut squash, there were cranberries, spinach, cheese. Notwithstanding the ingredients it was light         and you could taste and savor each flavor. We had a total of three glasses of wine and coffees at the             end. The total including tip was 70 euros. A great price for such a wonderful meal and experience.

Unfortunately, a combination of his age, health and Trump's tariffs forced him to retire.  Most of his olive oil sales were to the US.  He was anxious about his retirement because much of his life revolved around his restaurant and olive oil business.  We were able to secure a reservation the next to last day he was open.  We shared the restaurant with other regulars.  I wrote about the conversations we had with some of the other diners that day here.  It was a sad ending of an era.  Here we are saying goodbye to the owner and the chef.

The third adventure shows how some good things can endure.  You probably remember the 2017 Women's March that featured the Pussyhat.

We were in Villefranche at the time, and Jane wanted to knit Pussyhats.  We went online to find a knitting shop in Nice to buy the yarn and other supplies.  We found Aux Belles Laines (Beautiful Wool).  They had lots of beautiful yarns to choose from and were very helpful.

To make a long story short, we are expecting a new grandchild in a few days.  Despite the five-year gap between our soon to be second youngest grandchild and our soon to be new grandchild and increasingly arthritic hands, Jane is determined to knit a sweater for our new grandchild just as she has for all the others.  So off to our favorite knitting store in Nice, we went.  We found great yarn and some needles.  The sales clerk also helped us find a pattern in a catalogue, but rather than make us buy the pattern, she told us to take a picture.  We now have all we need to create a new sweater.  It is just the execution that we have yet to accomplish.  In this awful time when our hometown, country and world are falling apart, it made us feel good to see that there are still stores and people who are there when you need something.

Here are a couple examples of grandchild sweaters:

He will be 13 in a few years.

She is now 5.5 years old.

There are three other sweaters in existence, but they are so old I don't have access to the photos today.

Between the time, I started to write this blog and finished it, the Trump fascist goons have murdered a second innocent person in our city, they are lying about what happened, demanding that we believe their words rather than our own eyes and are defaming the victim, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, just as they did to Renee Nicole Good.  All the members of the Trump administration from Trump on down as well as all the Republican sycophants in Congress and all Americans who sit by and watch this fascist takeover or our country are complicit in all that Trump is doing including murdering innocent people.

Resist!

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal