Villefranche-sur-mer 2017-3 (pétanque)

Dear Friends,

As today is Saturday, it is pétanque (aka boules) day.  A group of ex-pats meets for a friendly game each Saturday morning at 10:00.  It may be friendly but anyone who claims that he/she is not competitive is lying.  Today we had several new players who we were happy to have join us.

I was on the winning team the first weekend we were here.  Then I lost on the second weekend.  Then it was too cold and windy (the others are not from Minnesota), and then I lost again this weekend.  I am afraid that I do not have a very good record.  The first game today.  I was on a team of all people who were Americans.  Based on how we played we could not be called All-American.  The other team was also made up only of Americans, one of which was my wife.  Not only did she beat her wonderful husband, she intentionally and with great malice hit my winning ball both so that I lost and she won.  In the second game, I was on a team made up of Americans only and played a North American team (Canada and United States), once again my wife was one of them.  I lost again and once again my wife intentionally and with great malice hit my winning ball both so that I lost and she won.  She claims she is not competitive but look at her right after she won.

As if that celebration was not enough, when we retired to Chez Betty for a chocolat chaud, she was posing once again.

The other winning team today was a French/American team (you will note that the Aussies were shut out for the first time in a long time).  They too celebrated but without the obvious glee of destroying a spouse.

All in all it was a great morning that distracted us from the horror of President Trump.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

Donald Trump, Inauguration Day, United States Navy and Allies

Dear Friends,

I have been living in at least two different worlds the last few days.  We are in Villefranche-sur-mer, France, a beautiful little town on the Mediterranean Sea just east of Nice.  It has the only natural deep water harbor on the north coast of the Mediterranean.  It was the home port of the United States Sixth Fleet for 14 years ending on January 20, 1967 when the fleet needed to leave because President de Gaulle took France out of NATO.  During that time about 200 french women from Villefranche and the surrounding area married US sailors.  This weekend is a celebration of the close ties between Villefranche-sur-mer and the Sixth Fleet and marks the 50th anniversary of the departure of the USS Springfield, the then flagship of the Sixth Fleet from Villefranche.  Many US sailors who served in the Sixth Fleet while it was home-ported in Villefranche have returned along with others who are Navy veterans.  The current commander of the Sixth Fleet, the USS Carney (DDG-64) and a large contingency of other sailors are here.

There have been speeches, parades, exhibits, banquets, cocktail parties and many other events.  Last night many of us were able to attend a reception on the USS Carney.  It has been about 45 years since I last set foot on a United States Navy ship.  I was the navigator on the USS Mt. Katmai (AE-16) during the Vietnam war.  The Navy has a "funny" tradition of naming ammunition ships after volcanos. We traveled between Subic Bay in the Philippines and the coast of Vietnam to rearm destroyers, cruisers and aircraft carriers working off the coast of Vietnam.  My next job was the communications officer for the Commander of the Amphibious Forces in the Atlantic.  You can guess which was the easier job.

As Jane and I were getting ready to attend the reception on the USS Carney, we turned on the tv (actually our computer) to watch the lead up to the inauguration of President Trump.  I felt sick and completely disoriented.  Little did I imagine that I would feel even more so after the reception and listening to President Trump's inauguration address.

Over the last few days I have been really impressed with the sailors who we have met, officers and enlisted personnel alike.  They obviously take great pride in what they do.  They were excited to show us old veterans what today's Navy is like, and they were extremely welcoming.  They came here from Spain, where their home port is during what is part of their in port time.  They are four weeks out on patrol or assignment and four weeks in port.  They were young people (even the senior officers looked young to me, I guess that's my age) who made me proud to be an American and a former sailor.  This picture is from our balcony. The warship in the foreground is a French frigate.  The USS Carney is the one farther out in the harbor.

The young junior officer who was guiding the tour we were on was very impressive both in his knowledge of his ship and his ability to answer our questions with poise and clarity.  I was particularly excited about going on the bridge because as navigator that is where I spent most of my time.  I must say they use electronics to navigate today and do not even have a paper chart on the bridge.  They push buttons and use joy sticks, but they do it very well.  On the other hand, I used the sun and stars and paper charts to keep track of our position.  I think on every bridge on every ship in the Navy there is a nice chair reserved for the captain of the ship.  When I was in the Navy something very bad could have happened to me if sat in the captain's chair, but I figured now what could they do to me.  So I sat, and here I am.

The celebration going on in Villefranche right now is honoring the friendship between Villefranche and the Sixth Fleet, but it was also about the strong bonds between longtime friends and allies.  I almost never wear lapel pins, etc. but this weekend I am proud to be wearing a lapel pin with the French and US flags, symbolizing our wonderful relationship.  After the reception, we returned to our apartment and listened to President Trump's inaugural address.  How could that man be the President of the United States?  I was enjoying being proud of the Navy and all the sailors, and I was celebrating our friends and allies, and then I hear only about America first from our new President.  I was sick once again.

Today we went to the Saturday market.  Of course, the headlines in the newspapers were focused on America first.  While we were buying fruits and vegetables, we spoke to the couple selling them who were rightfully disgusted with President Trump but enthusiastically embraced our idea that we should just stay in France.  True friends are people who will help you when you need help even though they don't know you.  We need a lot more of that in the world today.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Villefranche-sur-mer 2017-2 (chocolat chaud)

Dear Friends,

It is important to always be striving for something.  This year in Villefranche-sur-mer, we are searching for the perfect chocolat chaud.  We are undertaking a very difficult task, but somebody must be willing to sacrifice to find this elusive drink.  The literal translation of chocolat chaud is simply hot chocolate or as we might say hot cocoa.  But in fairness to true chocolat chaud, it cannot be translated that way.  My wife came up with the best translation - liquid mousse.  All you need to do is think of chocolate mousse but in a liquid form.  It must not be too sweet nor too bitter, and it must have a consistency just to the liquid side of mousse.  It is sometimes served with frothed milk and sometimes not.

Until this year I was quite convinced that the best chocolat chaud was at small lunch place at la Darse in Villefranche.  A darse is a marina within a harbor especially one where work can be done on the boats.  The "restaurant" where we get chocolat chaud at la Darse is called La Baleine Joyeuse (the merry whale).  This picture is from the summer.  In the winter there are only a few people.

I apologize that I do not have a good photo of the chocolat chaud from La Baleine Joyeuse, but here is a photo of Jane, me and JP, a french friend enjoying our chocolat chaud there.

If you look closely, you can see that the chocolat chaud in this case is served with frothed milk.  The key is not whether it is served with frothed milk or not, the key is whether it is just the right amount bitter and the right consistency.  The picture below is a chocolat chaud that was good but failed to make it into contention for the best.  This one is from a snack bar in the park outside the Matisse Museum in Nice.  You will note this one does not have frothed milk.  While it failed the taste and consistency test, it does have the beautiful color and sheen necessary for a great chocolat chaud.

We have tried the chocolat chaud at Chez Betty on the main street in Villefranche, but while the wonderful character of the bar and its owner, Betty, is fantastic, the chocolat chaud is not in the top tier.  The photo below is at Chez Betty after a hard fought game of pétanque enjoying a chocolat chaud even if not the best.

We also tried the chocolat chaud at the end of a very decadent lunch at the Palm restaurant which is right on the water near the beach.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, and we spent about three hours having lunch and watching the world go.  What a decadent and wonderful way to waste time and enjoy life.  Anyway we ended the lunch with chocolat chaud.

It was very good, but it was too bitter (I even added some sugar), and it lacked the thick consistency of liquid mousse.  But on that day in that place life was so good I did not care that it wasn't the best.  However, Jane discovered a great use for this chocolat chaud.  She added a small amount to her noisette (a small espresso with a dab of warm frothed milk on top).  For those of you who like to combine tastes that are wonderful by themselves, you should try this blend.  To me it is simply a waste of good chocolat chaud but this chocolat chaud was not perfect so I went along with Jane's idea.  Jane named her invention "senior blend".  The same name used by some friends for a hot cocoa and coffee mixture they drink on their sailboat.

Jane and I have now confirmed with multiple visits that the best chocolat chaud in the Villefranche-sur-mer area is actually in Beaulieu-sur-mer at the Gran Caffè.  We walk to Beaulieu from time to time for shopping or eating.  The Gran Caffè is about 1.5 miles from our apartment, but I am afraid a 3 mile walk is not sufficient to walk off the calories from one of their chocolat chauds.  

As you can see it comes without frothed milk.  It has the perfect color and sheen, and the taste and texture are incomparable.  The level of bitterness is perfect, just a slight bitter aftertaste accompanying the wonderful dark chocolate flavor.  The texture is the perfect liquid mousse.  It falls off your spoon very slowly in a smooth ooze. 

Two people have told us that we need to go to Angelina in Paris (here) because it has the best chocolat chaud, but I must point out that neither of them has ever had the chocolat chaud at the Gran Caffè in Beaulieu.  The next time we go to Paris, we will certainly try the chocolat chaud at Angelina because we are on the never ending search for the perfect chocolat chaud.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal