Nice Nights

It appears that my experience with the new Beaujolais yesterday morning was only the beginning. As we walked around the old part of the city last night, there were four or five locations that were set up to give everyone a taste of the wine along with some canapés.  One wine merchant had hired a small trio that played music like “Roll out the Barrel” while giving away glasses of wine. I went past this shop this morning and there were twenty-five empty cases of the new Beaujolais, so I guess their free wine was a good marketing technique.  We were also plied with glasses of wine near the Flower Market where one restaurant had a kiosk giving away wine, salamis, patés and breads.  They were very cute with special straw hats, straw on the sidewalk and lots and lots of friendly banter.  Nice way to walk around the city.

One of Cindy’s colleagues, Patricia, joined us for dinner last night. She is a French Canadian and therefore speaks fluent French, which is a plus here in Nice.  We started at one of our favorite bars that serves a very cold and very good cheap Champagne.  Cindy and I ordered our two coupes and she ordered a red wine.  The name of the bar is Crazy Bar Socca, Socca being a local favorite snack food in Nice.  Since we were back for a second night, the bartender presented us with a plate of snacks: paté en croûte, salami en crouton, cheese and bread and a little anchovy.  We asked what Socca was made from and Patricia asked the bartender if we could sample some.  He left the bar and walked across the alleyway to the Socca stand and came back with a big plate of hot Socca. (These French are so nasty!!) It is made with chickpea flour, water, and olive oil, and then baked in a big pizza pan until bubbly and crusty.  It is a finger food that is without doubt one of the best things I’ve ever had, especially with Champagne. http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/06/the-best-socca/

Socca from the wood oven

We ended up eating at a restaurant that specialized in BBQ, which is very different from what we call BBQ.  Cindy had duck breast, I had lamb chops and Patricia had a huge four-cheese pizza.  Everything was really well prepared and the wine was very cheap and well chilled.

Cindy left early again for her conference and I started a three-hour walk that took me all the way around the coast of Nice and then into the old city for a coffee before heading back to walk along the water.  Today is a magnificent day and I tried to take complete advantage.  I walked to the top of the mountain park and took in the spectacular 360 views of the Cote d’Azur. This is a very livable place but I would not want to be here in the summer when I’m sure it is a complete zoo.

Cindy was able to get away for almost an hour at 13:30 so we made arrangements to meet for lunch at an outdoor café. It was a very French and a very romantic lunch, two people sneaking away for a quick tryst.

Our dear friends Bob and Mary will be arriving tonight, having driven from Milan, and we’ll meet them for a very late dinner and pack as much fun into 40 hours as possible.   Ciao for now, Cindy and Wm.