Following Bonnard's footsteps in Le Cannet

We have previously blogged about the Bonnard Museum in Le Cannet. This time we followed the marked Bonnard trail which starts in the historic part of Le Cannet, above the museum.
In 1926, Bonnard had purchased a house named Villa Du Bosquet on Avenue Victoria. He was inspired by the nature and the scenery down to Cannes and beyond on his walks in the hills above his residence.






We located signpost #601 (Les Collines; Ancien Canal de la Siagne) by Rue St-Antoine, next to the entrance of a parking house and ascended along Traverse Saint-Antoine (stairs). We crossed Route de Serra Capecu/Avenue Victoria (Signpost #602), and continued a bit along Chemin Romain, then forked right along a path that ran in park surrounded by several upscale residences to signpost #603 where we again forked right. In places, we had good views of Le Cannet, the bay of Cannes and the Esterel Mountains. There were yellow markings all along the itinerary.

We descended back along Chemin des Gypiere to Av. Victoria, forked left where one of Bonnard’s paintings was displayed at a nice viewing point. After 40 m or so we forked right, descending to Rue du Canal, then to Avenue Jean Mermoz which we followed as far as to Boulevard Gambetta/Sadi Carnot. From here, we walked back to the starting point nearby.

As before, we had lunch at the terrace by Rue Saint-Sauveur enjoying the warm October sunshine.

Distance: 3 km

Duration: about 1 h

Climb: 80 m

Winter bowl with barley bulgur and scallops

For some time, we have bought almost all our vegetables and fruit from a local organic shop. The fresh produce is from France, Italy, and Spain and you can choose exactly the amount you need and place it in brown paper bags. This method effectively reduces waste and plastic packages.

Recently, I have discovered some delightful grain products in the shop, such as pre-cooked barley bulgur. This grain makes a nice change from quinoa in various vegetable bowls and salads.

2 servings

120 ml pre-cooked barley bulgur
2 carrots
1 parsnip
2 spring onions
3 tsp. capers
Freshly ground black pepper
8 large scallops
Hazelnut or almond powder
Olive oil
Dressing:
Juice of ½ lemon
4 tbsp. olive oil

Cook the barley bulgur covered in double amount of water over low heat for 15 minutes. Let stand covered for 10 minutes, then transfer into a salad bowl and fluff with a fork.

Finely chop the carrots and parsnip and microwave in a small amount of water until soft. Add to the salad bowl.

Wash and finely slice the spring onions. Add to the bowl. Add the capers and black pepper and mix.

Make the dressing by whisking together the lemon juice and olive oil. Add to the salad mixture.

Preheat the oven to 200°C roast. Place the scallops on an oiled oven-proof dish. Place 1 tsp. hazelnut powder and some olive oil over each scallop. Roast for 4- 5 minutes depending on the size of the scallops.

Divide the bulgur- vegetable mixture into two bowls and place the scallops on top. Decorate with some fresh herb.

Courmes to Pic de Courmettes

We have previously made a hike from Courmes (630 m) to Pic de Courmettes (1248 m) where we then climbed via the summit of Puy de Tourrettes (1268 m) back to Courmes.

This time we explored an interesting new trail back from Pic de Courmettes which circled clockwise around the mountain’s southern flank.







We started along the GR51 trail, heading south. Just before a water reservoir, we left the GR51 which turned sharply left.  We continued along a wide track to a clearing at 940 m elev. where we forked left at signpost #189 to the summit. We ascended along the western flank of Pic de Courmettes. The trail became steep in places, requiring some easy scrambling. The trail was now easier to see than on our previous ascent. There were yellow markings but apparently more cairns, too. The first part ran in the woods, then above the tree line. The northern face of the mountain not far from the trail is very steep, to be avoided.

The summit is quite near the coastline as the crow flies, and even on a partly cloudy day the scenery towards Antibes, Cannes etc is remarkable.

We continued along a good trail (still yellow markings) descending south east, then straight south. We passed an oak forest and came to a clearing and ruins (named le Jas de l’Eouvière in some maps) at about 900 m elev. with a livestock fence and gate. A good trail continued behind the gate. It was marked with a small red arrow and a fox. In fact, this was one of the hiking itineraries starting from Domaine des Courmettes, owned by a Christian nature conservation association.

We took this trail which crossed the southern flank of the mountain, between the summit and the Domaine. We ascended a bit (80 m or so), and passed an area of centuries-old oak trees. We then descended to a crossroads (dirt track), forked right to the nearby signpost #189 again, completing the nice loop.

From #189, we used the same trail back to our starting point.

The image below shows our track.

Distance: 11 km

Climb: 700 m

Duration: 4 h active

Map: IGN Cannes Grasse Côte d’Azur 3643 ET

Sardine fillets with tomato pasta

This dish makes a nice lunch when fresh sardine fillets are available. Spaghetti is the pasta type which works best with tomato sauce.

2 servings

8- 10 cleaned sardine fillets
Spaghetti for two servings
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
100 ml good tomato sauce
2 tsp. raisins
A handful of chopped parsley
2 cherry tomatoes, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200° C, roast.

Place the sardine fillets in an oven- proof dish and roast for 10 minutes.

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the shallot, garlic, and raisins for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and simmer about 5- 10 minutes while roasting the sardine fillets.

At the same time cook the spaghetti according to the advice on the package, usually for 8- 10 minutes.

Drain the pasta and place it back to the casserole. Add the tomato sauce and parsley to the pasta and mix.

Divide the tomato pasta in the centre of two bowls and place the sardine fillets around the pasta. Decorate with chopped cherry tomatoes and grind over some black pepper.