The medieval village of Saorge (510 m, 443 inhabitants in 2013) can be reached from Fontan in the Roya Valley. In ancient times, the salt route passed through Saorge. It is said that some 10000 mules travelled each year along this route towards Tende. In 1860, Saorge became French after a referendum, then occupied by Italy during WWII,...
Tête de Chien (550 m) is a well visible landmark above Cap d’Ail and Monaco. From some angles the mountain resembles dog’s head, hence the name. A fortress was built on the summit in the 19th century, today there’s a telecom research centre (CNET). The previous day’s weather front with rain, wind and low clouds was replaced by...
Bar-sur-Loup (310 m), our starting point today is a rather small village on the RD2210 road above Cannes. But Bar-sur-Loup has its festivities; right now they were preparing for the Orange Festival. Our goal, the hilltop village of Gourdon (760 m) is totally different. We think it is a bit touristic, but it is nevertheless a nice spot...
Lately fast food has become very popular in Paris. When yet another hamburger restaurant was opened in Champs Elysees, there was a line! And a restaurateur from Barcelona has recently opened his fast food restaurant in France- with food made in Barcelona. It seems to us that the French are forgetting their culinary classics. Steak marchand de vin...
The little fishing port of Cassis about 17 km from Marseille has long lured painters. Dufy and other Fauvist artists painted here, and later Winston Churchill used to come here to paint. Quoting a recent Elle magazine, these days Cassis is said to be popular among chic Parisian media people. FranceTV2 Telematin showed a report of the local...
La Couronne de Charlemagne, the crown of Charles the Great, is a distinctive hilltop (329 m according to the IGN map, although our GPS recorded max 312 m) above Cassis. It reminded us of the Baous above Nice because of its form. We called it the baby Baou because of its smaller size. With some imagination, the hill may...
In Nice, Italian minestrone is a popular winter soup. Our supermarket in Nice sells Italian vegetable mixtures for minestrone soup. In spring new baby vegetables arrive in shops, and the ingredients change. I have made the traditional delicious La Soupa de’Prima from local spring vegetables which may be difficult to find elsewhere, such as small violet artichokes, local...
The medieval village of Gorbio (360 m) is only about 3 km from the coast at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. The road to the village is narrow and winding, and makes the distance seem much longer. Gorbio is well visible from the nearby A8 La Provencale motorway, but the atmosphere is tranquil and secluded. The surrounding mountains are well over 1000 m, notably Cime de...
The three islands of Les Embiez are situated west of the Cap Sicié peninsula, just off the coast of Six-Fours-les-Plages. Salt was produced here until 1958 when the islands were bought by Paul Ricard. He is best known as a pastis magnate as he introduced the most famous pastis of France carrying his name. He constructed a large...
The classic South of France cassoulet combines white beans, both fresh and preserved pork, sausages, and duck preserved in its own fat. We once had cassoulet at a food festival in Cagnes-sur-Mer. Although it was tasty and succulent, all that pork fat was more than us modern people would want more often than once in a lifetime. The...
Posts
All Comments
