Cindy was up and out to the conference pretty early today so I was up and out right behind her, but heading in the opposite direction. It was going to rain today, so I wanted to get in some walking before it started. I headed for the Quai des Etats-Unis, which wraps around the Mediterranean. It was an overcast day but the clouds were still high and the visibility was pretty good and I could see all the way to Cannes. There is a monument to the French who died in the wars carved into the side of a mountain, all in white marble and very heroic and symbolic. There were still lots of flower displays from the Armistice Day celebrations, which added a touch of color to an otherwise white on white monument.
It began to rain rather hard just as I was approaching the Marche des Fleurs (Flower Market), which is more veggies, olive oil, olives and herbs than it is flowers, but nonetheless a marvelous market. I could smell what was coming up before I got there, especially the mushrooms, which were fresh and dried and smelling like a fungi risotto. Since there were lots of umbrellas to protect the stalls, I was able to stay rather dry, but the rain was heavy for about fifteen minutes and it was impossible not to get wet. I started to head into the old town through all the winding narrow streets and was looking for a place to have a coffee before heading back to the hotel for breakfast. The streets were rather empty at that hour, especially with the rain, so it wasn’t hard to make good time though the alleys and passages. I stopped to get Cindy the IHT at a little store we had found the day before, which is right across the alley from a huge butcher shop that was filled with people lined up to get their meat for the day. Just beyond that was a little square surrounding a lovely fish fountain, which appropriately held the fish market with the fishmongers calling out their fresh catch. It was a lovely place and it was worth getting a bit wetter just to linger over the various fish displayed on ice - some cut, some whole, some still moving.
I came to a narrowing of the street and noticed five butchers sitting at two small tables under an awning, all smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee. Their white aprons were streaked with blood, but their white jackets and white hats were impeccably clean. I decided that I’d pop in there for a coffee since I always like the atmosphere of a working man’s bar. Inside this small four-table bar were two baker’s assistants, their hair and aprons dusted with flour, huddled over small glasses of red wine. At the bar with me were three delivery guys who were done for the day and were drinking coffee in big mugs before heading back to their trucks. As I ordered my coffee, the door opened and in walked an older man, dressed to perfection, hugging three-liter bottles of red wine, no corks or other stoppers, just three bottles of open wine. He announced to the assembled clients, but mostly to the owner, a big burly man, le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivée, as he placed the bottles on the bar, leaned over to kiss the owner and scurried out with greetings and goodbyes to all
The owner yelled something to his wife in the little kitchen and proceeded to produce small wine glasses, filling them with the new Beaujolais and then starting to distribute them, first to the butchers sitting outside and then to all of us in the bar. By now his wife had come out with a big platter of still warm olive bread spread with some type of soft paté that she began to pass around. The bar was suddenly a very different place, solitary conversations gave way to group celebrations as we all toasted the new wine and ate our little canapés. Now that is the way to start your day! . http://www.beaujolais.com/beaujolais-nouveau/
I returned to the hotel and read the paper while I had a little breakfast and then came up to the room to shave and shower and get ready for my long walking day. By now the rains had come and gone and for the next three hours I just walked and walked and walked. One of the folks who is here from Cindy’s school had asked me to try and find a restaurant called Villa d’Este, which she wanted to go to this evening. I marched up and down the old town looking in every alley, passage, nook and cranny but came up blank. I went into a café and had a coffee and asked the owner if he knew the restaurant. He didn’t but he asked the other three men standing at the bar if they knew it. One pulled out his iPhone and in seconds had the information as to where it was. I was given the directions, but alas, I couldn’t find it so I must have heard incorrectly, but I was so pleased that they all cared enough to try to help me out.
This is a lovely city and there is so much to see; there are great architecturally interesting museums, monuments, grand old buildings like the Opera and Theater and modern buildings like the library. It was very easy to lose track of time but I was able to sneak peeks at clocks on some of the hundred or so churches that seem to be on every corner, so when I discovered it was 1:15 I started to head to a restaurant I had noticed earlier on the walk.
Today’s special was oven-roasted rabbit, Lapin au Four. I was shown to a small table on the covered patio and I ordered a pastis, the rabbit and a glass of red wine. This is not only a restaurant, but also a bakery and patisserie and the little basket of bread rolls that they brought me were some of the best I’ve ever had. Crispy crust, moist middle and the smell was divine. Soon came the rabbit, piping hot and covered with fresh sprigs of rosemary and parsley. There were three pieces covered with a light mustard and cream sauce that was heavenly. The meat was moist and delicate and the sauce as light as a feather. There was also a large mushroom cap filled with a type of rabbit sausage – delicious - and also a mound of veg-all but that didn’t do anything to enhance the meal. It was just a great lunch and gave me the energy to get up and start walking again for the next hour or so.
Yesterday we had a rather long and confused wait at the place we chose for lunch and we talked about how if this had been someone’s first experience in France, they would be justifiably upset and most likely not keen on the French. Today, however, was a quintessentially positive French day.
A bientôt, Cindy and Wm
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