Villefranche-sur-mer v.12

Dear Friends,

Today we visited the Musée Matisse in Nice.  It is a wonderful museum devoted entirely to Matisse who spent much of his life here since he loved the incredible light and colors.  This museum is one of our favorite ones.  You walk through old Roman ruins to get from the bus stop to the museum which sits on the edge of a beautiful park.  In January, there is virtually nobody there so you can take you time, stand close to the works of art or stand back and gaze at them without interruption from other people.  It is a real thrill.  I spend most of my time just smiling both inwardly and outwardly as I enjoy the beauty of his simple lines and colors.  Some of our favorite works were not there this year as they are traveling.  We saw many in Minneapolis not too long ago.  But there are so many wonderful works to see we were not disappointed.  Today Jane and I each picked out our favorites.  Jane's favorites are:

                      

My favorites are:

           

Don't worry I did not violate the rules and take pictures of the actual paintings.  I bought postcards and took pictures of them.  I have to now keep them in my memory to bring me happiness for another year until I can return again.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

Villefranche-sur-mer v.11

Dear Friends,

This post is just about a couple of odds and ends.  The first is the weather.  It is January, and this year has been cooler than either of the last two years.  In fact I am not sure that it has been above 60 degrees more than a couple of times.  Nevertheless, the temperature has been great for walking and often eating outside.  I have always been amazed at the beautiful flowers which are not at their peak in January.  This one is just by the sea.

Not bad for January.

The cooler weather has brought our attention to "chocolat chaud".  While I might be inclined to translate this phrase as hot cocoa, I would be doing a great disservice to this wonderful drink.  It is not hot cocoa, it is truly warm/hot chocolat.  It is very rich and smooth and very chocolaty.  I think that you have to taste it to believe it.  We first had it at a small restaurant right in La Darse.  La Darse is what I might call the marina but it is the name given to this area of the bay that was where boat building and repair took place.  For many years now it has just been for repairs.  However, our landlady and her husband have commissioned the building of a beautiful motor boat.  We have seen the pictures in the design stage and next year we will see the boat in the water.

Our friend JP with whom we walk once or twice a week and speak french with introduced us to chocolat chaud.  Here we are the other day enjoying it.

We had it twice today in our visit to Nice.  Once was for dessert after our lunch which was a picnic near the Musée Matisse.  In this picture you can see a salade italienne and a panini mixte as well as a demi-caraffe of rosé.

In order for you to really appreciate the smooth, very chocolaty drink that chocolat chaud really is, here is a close up from a little place in Nice.

As long we are on the subject of food, I want to show you what real profiteroles look like.  

We have to walk up and down hills all day in a fruitless attempt to not gain weight.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

Villefranche-sur-mer v.10

Dear Friends,

Last night we attended a meeting of the Association Les Americains et La 6e Flotte à Villefranche-sur-mer of which we are now members.  As you may recall from earlier posts, the US 6th Fleet was home-ported in Villefranche from just after World War II until January 1967.  We had to leave when Charles de Gaulle took France out of NATO.  Given what I know about sailors on leave in foreign ports, I cannot imagine why Villefranche has warm feelings for the US Navy.  My experience was during the Vietnam war when the ammunition ship I was on would return to Subic Bay in the Philippines for a few days every six weeks or so to load up on ammunition before returning to Vietnam.  Olongapo City which was adjacent the base was nothing like Villefranche.  It was one bar after another with bouncers with automatic weapons.  So perhaps my idea of sailors on shore leave is different from the experience of the Villefranchois.

The meeting was very interesting and I am told quite like official French meetings, and I am afraid like many meetings I have been to at home.  The leader gave a very long official talk which outlined the purpose of the organization, all the people who had been helpful during the last year, all that had been accomplished and what would get done this year.  She spoke in very fast French and spoke quite softly so I missed everything except from time to time a translator would fill in with a very general summary.  Her report and thank yous was followed by the financial report.  The highlight of which was the fact that they had about 1,000 euros on hand and needed 43,000 euros for the event they are planning for next January.  While I thought that it would be a difficult task to raise all that money, the French seemed confident that it could be done.

The event that requires all the money is a big commemoration of the 6th Fleet's time in Villefranche which will be held next January, 50 years after the flag ship left Villefranche for the last time.  We will be here then and are looking forward to it.

After the financial report was done, the meeting got more interesting.  There was a speaker from the United States Navy League who spoke in English about how important the commemoration event is and how the Navy League will help both to raise awareness among sailors who were on the ships home-ported here but also to get the US Navy to participate.  The next speaker was an American who had actually served on one of the flag ships in Villefranche.  He spoke in very good french at a speed and with enunciation that I could understand.  You can learn more on their Facebook page (here).

The whole meeting took just under two hours and like many meetings I have been to could easily have been done in one hour.  Nevertheless it was a fun experience.  It is also a worthwhile project.  Amazingly enough we meet a man who grew up in Edina, but left after college and whose son lives  there now.  That makes three people with Minneapolis connections that we have met in Villefranche this month.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal