Nice, part deux

Our Apartment, look for the two blue shutters

We are home, safe and sound and still enjoying the memories of our lovely time in France.  It took us a few days after we arrived in Nice, but we finally came to terms with the apartment and once that happened everything seemed to open up to us in terms of opportunities.  Our grand plans for revisiting Menton to the east and Antibes to the west disappeared as quickly as our croissants at breakfast. It just seemed like too much of a challenge for too little return, given the fact that there was still so much for us to do and see in Nice.

One night after a particularly lovely meal, we decided to take a little walk along the water before heading home.  There is a very large hill in Nice that overlooks the water and was the site of several forts and castles over the centuries.  They have installed lights that illuminate the entire hill including the huge waterfall.  I was stunned and just stood there looking, not because it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, but because I couldn’t believe how much bigger the waterfall had become since we had walked up the hill in February with the express desire to see this famous waterfall.  The next morning after our run and breakfast we decided to go and visit the waterfall again.  Well guess what, The Stupids - aka The Embees - had gone to the wrong waterfall on our first visit!  This explains why we couldn’t understand what the big fuss was all about  - we’d read about the waterfall in all of the publications about Nice and what we saw the first time was little more than a trickle.  It was really worth the trip up the hill to see the real deal, and the views from other parts of the castle grounds were spectacular.

The REAL Waterfall

The Trickle that fooled us in Feb.

For the rest of our time in Nice we got into a nice routine of exercise - not counting the four-times-daily climb up the stairs – espresso at a little café, a stop at the bakery for some treats for our breakfast in the apartment, then a bit of touring, followed by lunch in the apartment.  Most days this consisted of wonderful sandwiches that we would make with fresh bread, local cheeses and market vegetables, washed down with a little wine.  We managed a nap every day and then took a “forced march” to one part of town or the other before returning to the apartment to clean up for dinner at a restaurant.  We went to two restaurants twice and the rest of the time we experimented, mostly well, with new finds.  Cindy actually got me to three museums during the trip and I enjoyed them all since they were nearly empty and we could wander around at our convenience, another perk to traveling off-season.

Lapin Roti

On our final Sunday we decided to go out and have a Sunday lunch, always one of my favorite things to do when we travel. It was a lovely day and we wandered up and down the market reading menus at all of the cafes and bistros.  We finally settled on a large restaurant on the main square outside the Palace of Justice. Their menu at 16 Euros included Salad Nicoise, lapin roti (roasted rabbit) - one of my favorite meals -with lemon sorbet for dessert.  Since that is a lot of food, Cindy ordered just the wonderful frog legs and helped me with the salad.  We had a lovely glass of Champagne to begin and then a half bottle of an excellent local rosé with the meal.  We splurged and had a coffee and Cognac after the marvelous sorbet and then trundled on home for a long and languid nap.

Cindy with the Orchids in our Suite

On our last full day in Nice we tried to book a taxi to pick us up at the apartment to go to the airport. We had a native French speaker calling for us and not a single taxi company said they would pick us up; instead they wanted us to walk to the main street where they would wait for us.  As we were walking to dinner that night a taxi stopped near our apartment to drop someone off and Cindy made arrangements with him to pick us up the next morning.  At the appointed hour the next morning, in the rain, we waited for our taxi in vain; he was a no-show. We used our smiles as our umbrellas and set out for the bus stop, which was about six blocks from the apartment.  Luckily the rain was fairly light by then.  The bus eventually came and it cost us 4 Euros each to get to the airport, with plenty of time for the flight to Frankfurt (the taxi would have been around 50 Euros so being disgruntled about the no-show and getting wet was worth it).  If we had wanted to get home in the same day, it would have meant a 0630 departure from Nice to make the connections, which would have meant getting up at 0430, which of course wasn’t going to happen.  Instead we opted to spend the night at the Frankfurt Airport Sheraton, where they kindly upgraded us to a suite with Club access - which of course we graciously accepted - and we had a lovely evening.  The flight home was fine, but very long.  Strong headwinds turned the eight-hour flight into nine and then United had difficulty getting the luggage out in a timely fashion and we all just stood around for one hour waiting.  Not the best end to a lovely holiday, but it did teach us the value of carrying on our luggage from now on. 

We have had lovely weather; we are over jetlag and looking forward to introducing ourselves back into West Virginia Society!

Cindy and Wm

Nice, France

Offhand I can think of several things you should not do when arriving somewhere and suffering from jet lag.  I would never rent a car at Narita and try to drive into Tokyo at rush hour with a right-hand car following signs in Japanese.  I would not volunteer to use sharp knives to mince onions and garlic.  I would not take an intelligence test or fill out forms needed to get some special clearance.  So armed with that knowledge about jet lag and myself, why in the world did I decide that I was awake enough to inspect an apartment that we were going to be staying in for two weeks?

We had flown from Dulles to Geneva, had a two hour layover - most of which was spent trying to figure out where to connect - and then we flew to Nice arriving at about 10 am local time.  We arranged to meet the representative who was to show us the apartment and give us the keys.  We took a very expensive taxi to the apartment building and were admitted via the intercom.  We then had to take our two bags each and climb 64 irregular stairs to the fifth floor apartment.  We were exhausted when we got to the top of the stairs and all I could think about was sleep, but we had to be shown around the place first and told where things are.  Normally, I would have been alert and I would have known what to look for, but I was not and it was not until the agent left and we had started to unpack that I started to focus on things - and what I saw was not pretty.

By French standards this is a good-sized apartment but it is obvious that the owners have never lived here and use it only as a rental.  Normally when we rent an apartment there is a welcome pack that includes basics like milk, water, wine and sometimes cheese, and the cupboards have essentials like salt, pepper, spices, olive oil, mustard, etc.  This place had nothing, in fact it had worse than nothing, it had filthy cupboards that at one time had food but now just crumbs, dirt and spilled spices littering the cupboard.  The idea of having to first clean an apartment and then going shopping was not pleasant.

We descended the 64 steps and headed for the supermarket to get all the basics we needed in order to get settled.  Luckily we had brought a backpack with us to use for shopping and day trips so I was able to distribute the weight of the water, wine, (three colors), Cassis, Ricard, cheese, garlic sausage, milk, butter, cream, coffee, tea and bread.  Still, walking back up those 64 steps with an added ten-twelve pounds of weight dang near killed me.  We decided then that it would be best to do a little shopping at a time and to bring several bags so as to equalize the weight.  We cleaned up as much as we could and headed out to walk along the water and then have a light lunch and a heapin’ helpin’ of Rosé wine before taking a well-deserved nap.

After a few days we settled into a routine that allows a bit of cleaning each day, a bit of shopping each day, and a whole lot of exercise, most of it from three or four trips per day up and down the stairs.  I had to vacuum the entire apartment the other day because I found these strange dust bunnies in shades of blue all over the place. We have no idea where they came from since there isn’t a carpet in the apartment and we haven’t done any laundry.  We can only guess that someone’s vent for a dryer blows under one of our doors or windows?  

I have found two pans that are serviceable and a few utensils that I’m able to use so we have had many lunches and a few dinners in the apartment - since Nice, like a good French mistress - is beautiful but expensive. Nice has a fabulous market, which is why we wanted an apartment, so I can shop daily for the freshest fruits and vegetables and bring them back for a fresh meal.   From CC:  He made a delicious omelet one night, and another night a fabulous pasta dish with mushrooms, smoked salmon, and peas that had to be better than any pasta dish in the whole of Nice (and they have a strong Italian influence so it’s not like good pasta is hard to find).  I would be too frustrated in that kitchen to make anything at all, much less something worth writing home about!

Back to Wm:  Cindy has been faithful in her running; it helps that the weather is grand and the views of the sea and beach fantastic.  I have been walking and scouting for restaurants and bakeries.  We have found a few new places that have great food and service and don’t cost the gross national product of Peru for a meal.  Yesterday we went to Eze, a lovely hillside village and walked up to the gardens. On the way we passed a restaurant that had a menu in the window.  I was shocked at what I saw and called Cindy over to confirm. The first item on the menu was pan seared goose liver, a standard in good restaurants.  The price for this starter was 80Euros, or $104, or one dish.  The prices went up from there and we did the math and decided that if we each had what we would normally have for dinner it would have cost us $325 each without wine, compared to the lovely meal we had last night for $45 including wine. We came home and looked up the restaurant and sure enough it was a Michelin two star so I guess that anyone who can afford to spend $650 per night for a room at that hotel can afford the price of dinner.  Did I mention that this is an expensive area?

One thing that is a real bargain is the bus fares.  Our lovely bus ride up to Eze cost one euro each way per person. For that same price we can go all the way to Cannes down the coast or to Menton on the Italian border.  We plan on going to Menton and to Antibes during our stay, the ride along the coast being spectacular at any price.

A bientot,  Cindy  and Wm

Down Time

We are alive and well and have spent a quiet three weeks here in Charles Town since returning from the cruise.  Superstorm Sandy did no damage to Charles Town and we didn’t even lose our electricity.  We watch with sadness the continuing efforts at returning to something close to normal in New York and New Jersey after they were hit hard with the double whammy of Sandy and Athena. It is amazing how low coastal areas don’t have more protection from these storms and things are only going to get worse, until and unless decision makers get their collective heads out of the sand and realize that ‘we’ are responsible for global warming.  If they don’t, we are going to see more and more destruction and loss of human life.  I’ll bet the good folks in Venice Italy wish they had worked a little faster on their Mose Project.

On Halloween morning we drove to Dulles and picked up my sister Cathy who came for a four-day visit.  It was wonderful to sit around and just catch and talk about all the crazy things our family did as we were growing up.  Lots of laughs and lots of fun and I did a lot of cooking, which is always relaxing.   My sister had never seen me teach so it was a revelation for her when she came to my wine presentation at the Casino.  Once again I had a group of about a dozen people who work at the high-end restaurant called Final Cut.  My topic for that day was Champagne and Sparkling Wine and we had six bottles to taste while I gave them some facts, history and amusing details regarding Champagne.

One of the highlights of my sister’s visit was going to the 92^nd birthday party for our dear Aunt Dot , who continues to be a gorgeous, intelligent and kind woman. She was always my mother’s favorite sister and our favorite aunt.  We had a lot of fun visiting with our cousins and other assorted relatives. I’ve never been very good about understanding how folks are related so unless someone tells me otherwise, I just assume I’m related to everyone in the room.

We spent a few days in the yard getting everything ready for the winter.  Just before we were expecting Hurricane Sandy my grandson Patrick and I tied off everything on the deck and in the yard that could have possibly become airborne, so that task was accomplished already. What was left was for me to rototill the garden, which took a few hours and a few Aleves but I got the job done and we are ready for next year. Cindy had gone though the garden removing anything that might have fouled the rototiller while at the same time harvesting the last of the sweet potatoes that had invaded the garden.  This photo below shows about a third of the crop, so needless to say I’ve been reading a lot of recipes for sweet potatoes!  I’ve also been busy with ‘The Door,” which is looking better and better by the day.  I hope to give it a final coat before we leave on Thursday which will give it a few weeks to completely dry. Then we have to figure out what we are going to do with it.

We are now in the process of organizing our thoughts and clothes for our next adventure.  We’ll be flying to Nice on Thursday for a few weeks of exploration and some periodic episodes of work, Cindy for her new gig with a new online university and me for the good folks at the National Board for Certified Counselors.  We plan on using a lot of public transportation since they have great bus service up and down the Riviera and for one Euro each we can travel for hours in any direction from Nice which will allow us to have lovely day trips without a car.

Adieu, Cindy and Wm

Aunt Dot's 92nd Birthday Bash

Cindy's Marvelous Sweet Potatoes

Special Edition for Francophiles

Many years ago while we were living in Germany, some friends told us of a place in the Southwest of France where they had gone for a “Foie Gras weekend.”  It was a B&B and you learned all about how the geese were raised; how their livers were harvested, cooked and preserved; and you got to do a lot of eating and drinking as well as cooking and helping with the process of making foie gras.  They also went on a truffle hunt.  Years after the recommendation from the friends, Cindy found the card with the contact information and started dialing (email and Websites were very rare in those days).  After several tries, the phone was answered by a French woman who was happy to switch to English after some pleasantries and questions in French. 

It turned out that she had stopped doing the “Foie Gras weekends” some years ago – this was 1991 and Cindy had had the card since about 1984, so no wonder -  but she had just recently returned to her home and had opened again as a B&B.  She was amazed at how long Cindy had hung onto her card and simply said, “We must meet.”  So meet we did, about 3 weeks later – our friends Brent and Kari joined us in Bordeaux and we drove 2+ hours and found “La Borderie” in the tiny village of Chavagnac.

We were greeted by the loveliest woman, Daniéle Delpeuch, who welcomed us to her home.  We had a wonderful weekend with her -  she cooked, Brent and I cleaned, we all shopped, and the food was grand. Over the many years we have known her we have helped her start a movement in France called Cuisinières du Monde (women cooks of the world), and we have met her all over the place in the intervening twenty-five years.

It was rather mindboggling this morning when Cindy jumped up from the table with her New York Times saying Daniéle, Daniéle - and showed me this article.  We are so excited for her and hope that the movie will have lots of play in the USA.  It might even give us a chance to see her once again.  Thought you might enjoy this.  Cindy and William

Cruisin'

On all of our previous cruises we have made sure that we are at the port of departure several days before the sailing.  It helps with jetlag and with my desire not to worry about getting to the ship on time.  You can appreciate that I was a bit concerned when we decided to visit our friends in Milan and then fly from Milan to Athens the same day as the ship was scheduled to depart.  We spent the night at the Malpensa Sheraton so as to eliminate the variable of Italian traffic, and I must say that it was a lovely stay since we were upgraded to a large suite and had access to their Club Lounge.

The next morning our Aegean Airline flight – no, I had never heard of it either - was scheduled to depart at 11 am so we were near the gate by ten and sure enough, there was a plane waiting.  The flight was just lovely and they actually provided a real lunch with wine in economy class.  The plane was spotless, the crew delightful, and we landed a bit early.  We grabbed our luggage - which much to our surprise came out first - hopped in a taxi and we were at the ship at 3:30.  Piece of cake!

We have cruised with Silversea before so we knew that it would be enjoyable but we were not prepared for being upgraded to a very large suite, 760 square feet of luxury.  We had a living room and a dining room, a huge terrace, a walk-in closet, a marble toilet and bath with Jacuzzi, and a big bed with grand linens.  We were happy campers.  Since we were a bit hungry we called for some snacks and Champagne and within minutes our cabin attendant was at the door with a bottle of Champagne and plates of beautifully presented little appetizers that included crab claws, caviar and lamb meatballs.  Wow!  This is an all-inclusive ship so there is no tipping, all the booze is included in the price of the ticket, and they do not skimp on the quality of anything.  Most enjoyable.  Our imbibing was interrupted by the security drill, and we certainly noticed that they take this very seriously these days (as compared to previous cruises where they went through the motions but not with such thoroughness).  I suppose that’s the only good result from the Costa Concordia disaster last winter – if something had gone wrong on this trip, it appeared that everyone would have known exactly what to do. 

Our first port of call was Monemvasia, Greece, an eighth-century walled city that was a stronghold of the Byzantine Empire.  The city has been preserved well and is a delight to see from a distance.  Up close, not so much. It is a city that mostly goes up and the walkways are very narrow, and with three ships in the little port getting around was impossible.   (PS from Cindy:  The real problem was the crowds – had there been some breathing room we would have found the town to be delightful, very old and very quaint.)

AND THAT IS AS FAR AS I GOT FOR SEVEN DAYS!!!

I swear I don’t know where the time went, but all of a sudden we were being told that we had to vacate our suite at 8 am the next day, and for me the cruise was just starting to get really cool.  It was a blur of activities and excitement that has convinced me to only cruise again with all-inclusive ships.  I really loved the idea of ordering things and never having to show your card or sign a chit.   I mean, really, when you watched old movies with Cary Grant on ocean liners did you ever see anyone having to sign for anything?  Besides, I avoided writer’s cramp.

We did get into a routine which involved sleeping late, exercising for forty minutes, espresso on the pool deck, cleaning up and heading to shore for more walking wherever we were, back to the ship for a late lunch, a nap, another 40 minutes of exercise, cleaning up again, then cocktails, dinner, dancing, drinks, bed.  What a joy.  We got up early only once, to make sure we were on deck for our entry into the harbor of Valetta, Malta. Wow, what a sight.  Our friend Kari had lived there for a while as a kid and told us it would be well worth the effort and it was.  There were forts, churches, castles, towers, cliff top gardens, sheer walls of rock, all of it spectacular and almost too much to take in at once.  Therefore we went back to bed for another hour or so.

We also stopped in Catania, Palermo, and Sorrento but they are blurs and only served to take us away from our relaxing ship. All in all it was just marvelous with the possible exception of the fact that we both lost weight on the cruise, which isn’t supposed to happen so perhaps I didn’t have as much fun as I thought!!  (PS from Cindy:  We’re not sick; it’s just that we got so much exercise, particularly by dancing every night.)

Perhaps we’ll get our act together and do more on the cruise with our photos, but not for a few days.  Much to do here to batten down the hatches before the impending storms.  Ciao for now,  Cindy and Wm.