Villefranche-sur-mer - Winter 2026-6

Dear Friends,

Our time in Villefranche is rapidly coming to an end.  We are always sad when we must leave our French teacher, our friends and our home away from home.  This year is no different.  We had our last french lesson of this trip this morning.  We thought back on our time here this year and in the past.  We could never live here full time, but we still love to come here and hate to leave.  We are lucky that we can spend 3 months a year here.

After our last French lesson of the trip, we couldn't face making our own lunch so we went out to Bakaro, a small Italian bakery/coffee shop/cafe/wine bar that is just a three minute walk from our apartment.  If we go out for breakfast, it is our favorite spot.  They also have wonderful treats, great coffee and good lunches.  Today, Jane had an omelette.  They are really good especially with ham and cheese.  They are served with a little green salad.  I had their lasagna bolognaise.  Since we were sad that we would be leaving soon, we each had a glass of wine.  Jane had a wonderful little cookie with apricot filling and a noisette (small espresso with foamed milk).  I had a chocolat chaud.  Here is a picture of our dessert from lunch today.

noisette, chocolat chaud and cookie

Chocolat chaud is hot cocoa, but the Italian version and some French versions bear little to no relation to what we think of as hot cocoa.  I have written about chocolat chaud many times before.  Here is one example.  Since writing that blog, I discovered the Italian version of chocolat chaud in Ventimiglia.  It is a town located just into Italy from France and easy to get to on the train from Villefranche.  

The Italian chocolat chaud is much thicker than the french style.  The chocolat chaud at the Gran Caffe in Beaulieu-sur-mer which I had thought was the best was the Italian style but not so thick.  The chocolat chaud in Ventimiglia was great and very thick, but today I tried the chocolat chaud at Bakaro.  It is a whole new level of melted chocolat just barely able to be drunk.  

You can see from the photo below how thick the chocolat chaud is.  It is barely able to slip off the spoon.

Bakaro is so passionate about their chocolat chaud, they have a special sign describing the different styles.

Here is a very loose translation.  

Three ways to savor your chocolat chaud.

• "The Lapping" (normal)
• light, fluid, comforting 
• "The Swell" (thick)  [as in a big wave]
• more body, a texture that envelops your patate
• "The Depths" dense, intensely rich,
• to savor with a spoon

I asked the server for the thickest kind.  She actually told me after that she made me one between the "Swell" and the "Depths'.  Anyway, it was fantastic.  If it had been any thicker, I would have needed a knife.  I won't be able to go again this trip to Bakaro, but I will stop by in October to try the full on "Depths".

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal