Sunday on the Promenade with Cindy
Today is the last Sunday of the holiday season, which ends
in France on Three Kings Day, January 6th. The weather here has decided to bless those
that have lingered and it is expected that the high will be 65 with bright sun
and the bluest of skies. The big hotels
that sit across from the Promenade all have high end restaurants on the beach
where teams of waiters and busboys were assembling all of the chairs and tables
which were set with crisp white linens and crystal glasses, certainly a
throwback to the good old days. The
highest of the high restaurants is Chantecler,
a Michelin two-star which is a part of the grand dame hotel, The Negresco. Looking down at the
set tables from the Promenade is like looking at a set from Downton Abbey. As
you might guess from looking at this
menu, Cindy and I have decided to dine elsewhere!
Speaking of dining, we have been doing quite well and far
more reasonably than the above example.
Nice is an expensive place - there is no question about that - but with
lots of walking and open minds, we have found little places that offer
wonderful food, wine, and service at prices that are affordable. Lunch remains the great bargain with almost
every restaurant offering a plat du jour at about 11 or 12 euros on the
weekdays. The problem is, we don’t like
to eat big lunches so we usually eat something at home and save ourselves for
dinner. Gone are the days, a mere six
years ago in the case of Dijon, when for 10 euros you could get an aperitif, a
three course meal and a quarter liter of wine with espresso to boot. The best we have found is a little bistro
near the apartment where we can get an omelet with a small salad and frites
plus a glass of wine for 10 euros.
We thought we had found the perfect local bistro for our
needs, very close to the apartment, excellent prices, great oysters that were
affordable, good house wines and lovely staff. Our first meal there was a true
delight, with lovely service and freshly prepared food. While the decor was
tacky, with peeling paint and odd furniture, we dismissed it since we loved the
young couple who ran the place and enjoyed talking with them, in French bien sûr (they humored us; she spoke
quite a bit of English). Our second
visit was filled with eager anticipation but almost from the very start we knew
something was amiss. We ordered Kirs, which is normally an aperitif made with a
bit of crème de Cassis (a blackcurrant liqueur), and dry white wine. She came back to tell us they only had peach
liqueur, which is really quite sweet so we declined and ordered a carafe of
wine. She came back with one glass of wine, which is when we noticed that she
seemed a bit tipsy. We then ordered a
glass of wine from Alsace which was on the menu and she came back to tell us it
was only available in full bottles, despite the fact that Cindy had a glass of
it the last time. Cindy showed her the menu and she acted like it was the first
time she had seen it. Back to the bar
where we heard a muted discussion and eventually a cork being pulled, and
finally Cindy had her wine.
Thinking things had settled down, we began to read the menu in
earnest when strange things began to happen.
First it was the drunk guy who staggered to the toilet and upon leaving
stopped at our table, took out a filthy handkerchief and proceeded to blow his
nose quite loudly (don’t normal people do that in the bathroom when possible?).
After a pause he replaced the
handkerchief and staggered back to his table to continue his drinking. Then came an attractive black woman, well
dressed and nicely made up, who proceeded to engage us in conversation before
she when to the toilet. Upon her exit she again started talking with us, very
unsteady on her feet, until she finally returned to the bar. Luckily her slurred slowed speech made it
easier to understand her French, but still. Variations on this theme went on for
the entire meal - which was actually quite good - but ruined by all the nut
jobs that seemed to be the only other customers. Needless to say, we shall not return.
My walk this morning confirmed that fully half of the
Italians who have been here for the holidays have returned to Italy, and I
assume the other half will return tonight. This will make for a much quieter
walk tomorrow since Italians tend to always use LOUD as their baseline for
conversation, which includes cellphone conversations. They usually travel in
gaggles and since they are all talking at once, I can only assume that they
have iPhone implants. They are truly fun to watch, especially at a distance
when you can spot them just by watching their hands. If their hands are at their sides, they are
French, but if they are beating the wind as though fighting flies, they are
Italian. Once the Italians leave the
only other large contingent of outsiders will be the Russians who celebrate
until the 12th of January, which marks the Orthodox Christmas. I’ll
have more to say about the Russians in another entry.
Tomorrow we go to Cannes, just to see the place and compare
it to Nice. We’ll stay overnight at the Carlton
Hotel, which is where all the stars stay during the film festival. Should
be a hoot made possible by loyalty to Interconti Hotels (those points come in
handy sometimes). We have been told that
Cannes is really very boring and in fact they don’t even have a museum, so I’m
looking forward to the visit!
Off to look for a lovely Sunday lunch, our only exception to
the no lunch rule. Cindy and Wm
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