I come to this
easy conclusion after yesterday's trip to Menton (in a bus crowded to the gills
due to holiday in France and transportation strike just across in Italy), and
today's hike up to the panoramic lookout between Villefranche and Nice. Breathtakingly beautiful!
After traveling down the coast through Cap Ferrat,
Beaulieu, Eze, Cap d'Ail, Monaco, past bays and beaches, old villages, cafés,
towns with clear Italian influences - a symphony of colors, people enjoying
themselves - I arrive in Menton, a smaller version of Nice, with a long
beachfront promenade, unfiltered and ever-present sunshine. In the Jean Cocteau
Museum and sister chapel, I discover I can get in free with my press pass! And
take photos (forbidden others)...so ENJOY!
The light and lifestyle of this coast lured friends Picasso, Matisse, Cocteau, and others, who often collaborated to celebrate the human spirit.
I land for lunch in a charming square, complete with
classical guitar player who brings tears with his rendition of Malegueña. The
Flamenco dancer passes the hat. I enjoy mussels and frites, un petit café.
I shoot a few photos, hiking up the old town to the
churches (all closed for holiday) then back along the seaside. I find a water
fountain just when I need it. How can the French make delicious tap water
(without a hint of chlorine) when we can't? hmmmm...
The train takes me home. It's starts from Menton with
three people, and by the time I get off in Villefranche, it's 7 pm and standing
room only!
Yesterday I meet a Scandinavian girl with her mother, waiting for the bus, who
tells me about Mt. Boron, so I decide to go this morning and take a bus to the
top corniche. "Just turn left after two stop signs; it's only dix minutes,"
he tells me. Everyone here uses the term "dix minutes" (ten minutes) to
suggest it's a quick walk. Usually it's twenty; this time it's an hour. Uphill.
But eucalyptus and jasmine walk with me, and it is enough to breathe the air. Did
I mention the killer views of Nice? The fort was built on this hill to proffer
strategic views of both Nice and Villefranche, so the French could be on the
lookout for Italian armies. Near the parking lot (yes, most arrive by car), I
watch a handful of old men playing boules. They tell me, when I ask directions
to the fort, "pas loin, madame, dix minutes."
At last, the fort. And now the panoramic views of
Villefranche and the coast to the East.
I finally make my way down towards town - two hours, a few dead-end
roads, some helpful workers, a welcome water fountain. Tired and hungry, I stop
for salmon grilléé et panna cotta at Les Garçons, on rue Poilu. The salmon
melts in my mouth. The rice is jasmine. The olives are the best ever! I realize
the food is better because they use less sugar and salt. Lemon gelatos taste
like lemon. Berries on the panna cotta, like berries, not sugar. Everything
creates taste explosions in the mouth. The food also grows here, in this sunny paradise. How could it not be delicious?
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