The village of Moulinet (800 m) is situated between Col de Turini and Sospel by the Bévéra River. In the 1880s, the affluent new Côte d’Azur residents didn’t tolerate well the hot summers and searched for cooler places not far from the coast. After the road between Sospel and Moulinet was built in 1883, Moulinet became a fashionable...
The tiny village of Sigale (630 m) is situated in the heart of the Estéron Valley about 1h 15 min drive from Nice. Sigale has its special charms, notably the clock tower which proudly dominates the valley. From the clock tower you have a nice view towards Cime de la Cacia (1105 m), and the Rivers Estéron and...
Near the end of April, cherry trees in Provence explode with white blossoms. In May and June dark cherries, cerises noires, are in season. A single cherry tree may produce about 50 kg fruit. Maybe this is the reason why cake recipes in the South of France contain much more fruit and much less flour than Northern European...
In Colman Andrews’ book Flavours of the Riviera, the author describes a casual after-dinner conversation with the owner of Da Puny Restaurant in Portofino. The restaurant was, and still is, catering for well-to-do international guests to Portofino. The author got the busy restaurant owner talking about the real Ligurian cuisine. During the conversation the restaurant owner revealed his...
The 6085 road north from Grasse is called the Route Napoléon. It was built in the 1930s to commemorate the Emperor’s journey in March 1815 after his escape from Elba. St-Vallier-de-Thiey (720 m) is the first small town after Grasse. It makes a nice stop before driving further. The RD 6085 road continues to the rather touristic Castellane...
The individual small vegetable ramekins served with your main course are classic Riviera style. The following green asparagus ramekins are great to serve with steaks, chicken or fish and some new potatoes. You can of course choose some other vegetables and herbs for your ramekins. 2 servings 8-10 thin green asparagus spears A small handful of minced parsley...
The Riviera back country, Moyen Pays, is magnificent hiking terrain in spring. The days are longer, the trail normally dry, the Mercantour high mountain summits still snow-capped, and the nature is awakening with flowers blossoming and birds singing. Today’s hike started from the tiny and quiet village of Toudon (970 m) overlooking the Estéron River Valley. The mountains...
The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild was built in 1912 for Baroness Ephrussi-Rothschild who had unlimited wealth and refined tastes. To make the gardens in front of the villa the baroness had a small hill removed and then had tons of earth brought back for the gardens. We visited the gardens on a quiet Tuesday in early May after...
Côte de veau, veal chop with polenta Preparation time:10 min Cooking time:30 min Total time:40 min It is here in France that I have discovered côtes de veau, veal chops. In our supermarket in Nice they are approximately the same size as pork chops, weighing about 150- 180 g each. Veal chops have consistently been tasty and tender. In the following recipe, which...
We have previously made several good hikes from Tourrettes-sur-Loup such as Circuit de Pié Martin, the ascent to Col de Vence, and to Puy de Naouri. This time we ascended from the village in search of an airplane wreck. In July 1980, a Danish registered single-engine plane OY-CAY crashed below the summit of Puy de Tourrettes (1268 m)....
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