December 26, 2010

Well another Christmas has come and gone, sort of.  The actual day has passed, but our children and grandchildren won't arrive for a few more days.  We will leave the tree and decorations up until after the New Year when they leave.  After the New Year Skip and I will be preparing for our upcoming trip to Africa.  I'll take my iPhone and maybe my iPad (thanks Taylor for the very nice Christmas gift), but I don't know if I will be able to use either of them.  Nonetheless, we will take lots of pictures and attempt to update the blog when we return.  Also, Skip and I have booked our fall trip to France.  This year we are going to stay in Bormes-les-Mimosas for the entire two weeks.  We have our fingers crossed that my brother, Ron, and his wife, Judy, will be joining us.

Off to Nice

On Friday, September 24th, we left our beautiful house in Bormes and journeyed to the big city of Nice, the capital of the Cote d'Azur and the Queen of the Riveria. The drive took us a little longer than we expected because of heavy traffic along the N98.  We made pretty good time after we got on the A8, which is the equivalent to our interstate roads.  Exit 50 took us right by the airport into the town center where our hotel, the Albert 1st Hotel, was located.  Parking the car was a tad of a challenge, but once again Lowell and Skip managed wonderfully with only a few minor mishaps, none of which would likely cost us money on the car rental.

Originally we had planned to stay at the Auberge de la Madone, in Peillon (a perched village above Nice http://www.beyond.fr/villages/peillon.html).  It's a very special place with gorgeous views and a restaurant that is just the best.  (Mr. Gabriel Mariani, a prominent sculptor whose work I love, lived there for many years.)  When we were unable to secure reservations at the Auberge, we decided to stay in Nice along the seafront on the Promenade des Anglais.

The Albert 1st Hotel was strategically located between  the flower market (cours Saleya) and the Hotel Negresco, where Le Chantecler is located.  As an added bonus there were several casinos nearby where we could attempt to recoup some of the euros that were flying out of our wallets.

After settling into our hotel, we were off to the market to browse and grab a bite to eat (not much mind you since we would be having our finest dinner of the entire trip that evening!)  Then a disaster of sorts struck.  Shortly after arriving at the market, Skip realized that he had left his rings in a drawer in our bedroom in Bormes.  Panic ensued, and at least for me, the meal at the market was just a blur and I had to practically choke the food down.

We finally were able to talk with Jock, the caretaker of the property in Bormes, and he was able to secure the rings.  Then began the saga of how to get them back to us.  It's too much to go into right now, but suffice it to say that now, one week later, we still don't have the rings.  They are on their way to the US via French courier, by a method that allows them to be insured and supposedly tracked.  For the rest of the trip and even until today, the ring saga seemed unending and every time that we thought things were sorted out, there would be a setback.   We hope that they arrive as scheduled some time during the first week of October.  I'll be sure to post that bit of good news.

Our dinner at Le Chantecler did not disappoint us.  It was stellar in every respect!! We opted for the chef's tasting menu and asked the sommelier to select the wines for each course.  The pictures that I took with my iPhone do not do the meal justice.  Each dish was a work of art and an absolute delight to the palate!!!  And the wines were superb and perfectly paired!

Oh, remember that I mentioned Mr. Gabriel Mariani, the sculptor from Peillon.  Well, on each table at Le Chantecler there was a piece of sculpture that I recognized.  I remembered that in 2000 when Skip and I were in Peillon, Mr. Mariani had an apprentice working with him.  We liked the apprentice's work and bought one of his pieces.  The pieces on the tables looked very much like a piece that I bought over a decade ago.  I asked the waiter about the sculpture and he showed me a portfolio of the sculptor, a man named Mr. Jean-Louis LAUDRAUD.  After returning home I checked my piece and lo and behold IT IS BY THE SAME SCULPTOR, Jean-Louis LAUDRAUD!!  The name of my piece is "Reves" and it was cast on June 27, 2000.  Here's a link to his current works:  http://www.jean-louislandraud.com/?glang=en.

Here's are pictures of my "Reves".  Now it seems readily apparent the pieces are by the same artist.  My piece is actually the same dark brown as the one at Le Chantecler, but the flash on my camera lightened the image up.

Except for the ring thing, our short stay in Nice was really nice!  Skip won about 100 euros in the casino, but sadly it did little to dent my casino losses or our overall expenses.  We left Nice with a few more pounds than when we arrived, but hey, why come to France if you are not going to delight in all that it has to offer?

OK folks, we haven't blogged much since the day before yesterday. (We will fill in the details later). PLEASEEEE don't think we have been idle.

We began the day at the market in Bormes-les-Mimosas.  It was MUCH larger that than when we first came here.  We tried to buy everything we saw, but ended up with ONLY jewelry, sausages, capri pants for Skip (which we may explain later), olives, tapenade, scarves, and who knows what else.  It was great fun, especially for Capri Boy, ie., Skip.  Be sure to ask him what it is like to try on capris at a market!!  We did our best to stimulate the economy in Bormes!

After that, we had a day trip to Saint Tropez that was wonderful.  After a huge lunch there and much wandering around the town, we returned to our "home" in Bormes.  Lowell may have found his boat/ship in St. Tropez.  Afterwards, we had dinner at the bastide, our home.  Jock, the caretaker, joined us in a delightful dinner, but the wine was the hit... about 5 or 6 bottles, all of which were superb.

Today, we revisited Bormes seriously, finding tiny areas that we had not previously discovered.  (It's a town like that!)  Later, we went back to the vineyards to replenish our inventory (god forbid that we should run low!).  After that we traveled to Le Lavandou and saw all the sights (the petanque courts were in full force).  Les Boules is a game we all should learn to appreciate, as it is played by young and old alike!!!!  We also found where a very special friend lived whom we met many years ago.

We departed Le  Lavandou rather abruptly when Mary Alice thought that someone had stolen "baby".  We will share with our closest friends later about who "baby" is.  Again, it's true that "all is well that ends well".

Dinner was at our favorite restaurant in Bormes.  A wonderful ending to our time here.  We first met the owners in the 1990s and their youngest son is now all grown up.  They honestly seemed to remember us and offered us a bottle of wine for the occasion.  It brought us nearly to tears.  This is such an incredible place and it should be on everyone's "must see" places.

Tomorrow we are off to Nice for one day, dining at our most favorite restaurant, Le Chantecler.  It will be a very special evening, and then we will be off to Paris for three days.  Oh my, the time is passing too quickly.  We love and miss our friends, but WE SURE LOVE IT HERE!

Lest we forget, PLEASE someone ask about washing clothes AND passports and washing machines!!!! You will not be disappointed with the stories, I promise!

Day trip to Pierrefeu-du-Var

Today was the first morning since we arrived in France that we arose early. But we had good reason to do so since we were invited to lunch with our good friends, Rene and Vivette Terras. We met Rene and Vivette way back in the late 1990s and try to visit with them each time we are here. Rene is a potter of considerable talent. He creates both functional pieces and pieces that are cherished for their beauty.  Last year he was awarded a very high honor by Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France. Vivette was a teacher, but retired several years ago.  I've collected Rene's pottery for many years and it is always very exciting to see his current pieces.  (For those of you who have seen my collection, his work makes up the bulk of my pieces.)

Dining with good friends is always a wonderful thing to do, but we all agreed that doing so in the South of France, and with those who reside here, is unbelievable!!  Almost everything that we ate came from the garden that Rene tends. Vivette prefers to work with the flowers and interestingly, mow the grass. During the day's outing we visited in Rene's studio, viewed his new pieces, caught up with Vivette about their children, and had an extraordinary meal in their garden that began with champagne and ended with cheeses, fresh strawberries with creme frais and an infusion (tea) from herbs in their garden.

Of course, we could not leave without a few purchases.  I bought a clock that has very special meaning for me and Della purchased a beautiful bowl (that I covet!) and a few other special pieces.

It ended up being a perfect day, which was especially pleasing given the start of the day. I won't describe it now, but just let you know that there appeared to be a strong possibility that Lowell might not be returning home with the rest of us. As the saying goes, all is well that ends well, and that has certainly been true for this day.

We are off to dinner tonight at La Tonnelle.  The food here is so spectacular that it is indeed hard to believe that it contains NO calories!

Au revoir!

PS - Erin, your mom and dad wanted me to tell you that you are back in the will!  :)

Wine tasting in Bormes-Les-Mimosas

September 20, 2010

Oh brother, what another wonderful day in and around Bormes-les-Mimosas!