The weather here has been colder and rainier than normal, and it has impacted our adventures. Nevertheless, we have enjoyed several adventures in the last week.
Before starting on the adventures, I want to provide you with a picture of the beautiful surroundings that we get to walk around in each day. This is a picture of Rue Volti, named after a wonderful Villefranchoise artist.
We have a wonderful tutor who teaches us French three days a week for three hours a day while we are in Villefranche and also Skypes with us one hour a week when we are at home. We decided to have her and her family for dinner. We were very proud of ourselves for pulling off this dinner. First of all, serving a dinner to a French family where the Dad is a really good cook is threatening in and of itself, but doing so in a strange kitchen makes it all the more stressful. At home, we have two full ovens, a microwave and a speed oven (combination microwave and regular oven). Here we have no microwave and a single oven. We made chicken marbella which I must say was great. It was accompanied by Jane's famous and delicious roasted tomatoes and rice with small vegetables. The rice was precooked and frozen by Picard Surgeles, a fantastic frozen food store that with any luck will find its way to the US.
The children, ages 3 and 5 ate like adults and were perfect guests. They especially liked the ice cream with homemade chocolate sauce. The homemade chocolate sauce was really just some of the wonderful chocolate they have here melted with a little milk and some butter. It was delicious. We had a fun night and spoke French the whole night.
A couple of days later, the day started off the way all Villefranche days should be with a slight breeze, a beautiful blue sky and the sun shining brightly. We decided we would walk to Saint Jean Cap Ferrat for lunch. It was a little cool, but the sun was still shining when we arrived at Le Sloop restaurant right on the water in the marina. The main course of the day was whole dorade which we both ordered.
Jane ordered her's well done, and I ordered mine as the chef prefers. We learned an important lesson. It is much easier to filet a fish that is cooked well done than one that is still a little gelatinous. Once I was able to remove the head and bones, it was fantastic. Unfortunately as the meal progressed, the temperature dropped and the skies began to cloud over. The restaurant was prepared with blankets and an awning.
After lunch we started our walk back (2.5 miles) but the sun was nowhere to be seen except a sliver shining on the ancient hilltop town of Eze. Jane captured the sight wonderfully with her cell phone.
We got back to our apartment and got our clothes off the line just as the rain started. In this picture you can see our clothes hanging on the balcony of our apartment which is the top floor of the yellowish building.
During one of our French classes last week, we looked out the window to see an unusual sight.
Unfortunately the picture does not do the reality justice. That is a small blimp with a person sitting in a chair below who is pedaling so that two propellers turn to move the blimp and keep it from landing in the water. Proving once again that the harbor of Villefranche-sur-mer is one amazing place even on a chilly and overcast day.
After the success of our first dinner party, tomorrow we are having our second one. This one includes two other couples whom we have meet in our stays here in Villefranche, In fact it is the same group who had dinner together on Valentines' Day at a local restaurant. Anyway, we are nervous about the meal. We have planned ahead. We went to our favorite patisserie to seek out the perfect dessert. We saw a large tarte but did not recognize the name. We asked Marie Claire what it was and when she described it we both made it clear that it was what we wanted. We asked if she always had one and she suggested that we reserve it which we did. When I asked if we needed to pay now, she said that she knew us as we had been coming to her shop for several years. We wondered if she had noticed any improvement in our French over the years.
Today, we had to do the serious shopping. It was cold and raining on and off so there was no Pétanque this morning. So after breakfast we were off to the Saturday market to buy all the fixings for our dinner including olives and tapenade for starters, chicken provencal with artichoke hearts and capers, salad with avocados and Jane's vinaigrette dressing as well as Jane's roasted tomatoes. The local market had everything we needed except for the chicken, artichoke hearts, capers and white balsamic vinegar. The local butcher was about to go on a two week break which means there is no butcher in the old town of Villefranche. As a result, his inventory was very low, and he had no chicken legs and second joints.
To get the chicken and other remaining items, we set off to Nice. We also needed some Nespresso coffee pods. Normally this trip is quite easy. We take the 100 or the 81 bus from the main drag in Villefranche to the port of Nice or the Place Garibaldi. Then we take the tram to Place Massena where the Nespresso store is located. Unbeknownst to us, today was Carneval, mardi gras a few days early. As a result the tram was not running because there was a big spectacle in Place Massena. The security was intense, a result of the terrorist attack in Nice on July 14, 2016. Anyway we had to walk which was fine because we not only got our coffee, we got a lot of steps.
Once we had our coffee, we headed to the old town of Nice to find the butcher shop that I had discovered online, Boucherie Saint-Françoise. It is well known, as it is quite large and quite a production line. You tell one of many butchers what you want. He cuts it and packages it. He gives you a number and puts the package on sort of zip line to the cashier. When the cashier calls your number, you pay and get your package. We got our chicken and then realized we also needed steak for tonight so we got to go through the process twice. It was quite an adventure. It is hard to capture the scene but Jane got me waiting in line.
We were a little worried about carrying the raw chicken back on the bus with us to Villefranche, but then this restaurant reminded us that a lack of refrigeration is not a problem in France.
Those fish were there in the middle of the afternoon and would undoubtedly be cooked and served for dinner tonight.
We got home form our adventure in Nice around 6:00 in time to rest a little before having steak, artichokes, potatoes, mushrooms, onions and leeks for dinner.
Now we must get ready for our next adventures.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
