Travels in and around Nice

Whenever we travel, we always like to find out what foods are typical of the region. Of course, moules and frites are served everywhere along the coast, but a couple of very different recipes especially from the Nice region follow:
1) Socca - a chickpea crepe , a specialty of the region and you’re not likely to find them being made anywhere else. And it’s not something one makes at home: to be authentic, socca should be baked over a fire. Once served, it should be eaten while hot and one usually drinks it with a glass of rosé. Something you eat as a snack. Had some yesterday and we enjoyed it as a mid day snack, with the wine .....of course! It is said that this dish was born of sheer poverty at a time when wheat flour was scarce. Picture below.

2) Pissaladiere - A very thin pizza made with onions, olives, garlic and anchovies. No cheese. We ordered Pissaladiere for lunch and really enjoyed it, the onions are carmelized and the crust is very thin. Will definitely order again.

3) Panisse - also made with chick pea flour, but is a smaller round of dough and thicker than socca. Also different as it is cooked in oil. We bought some freshly made from a pasta store and will fry it up, will let you know the outcome. Gluten free Nicole !

4) Les Petits Farcis - also served as an appetizer, Farsi are minis vegetables stuffed with minced veal, pork, egg, bread crumbs. The vegetables are normally mini courgettes (zucchini), aubergines (eggplant), cherry tomatoes and poivrons (sweet peppers). Then topped with olive oil, cheese and baked. Will try these as well.

We have a very small bar type fridge in our apartment, which is the norm for Europe. Part of the charm and daily activity is to go to the fresh food market, boucherie, poissonerie, etc. to buy your provisions for only a few days at a time.

On Sunday the 5th, Ken ( the handyman in our building) invited us to "his pub", to watch a football (soccer) match. We spent an hour or so there and met a few of fhis friends. Nice to meet locals and Robin was very happy to watch a football match.

As part of this day out, we visited the Musee D'Art Moderne et D'Art Contemporain. Very interesting modern art and the building has a roof top garden with more art incorporated throughout this outdoor area. Even the windows of the building are art pieces.

Seems that the city of Nice is undergoing a major restoration of their green spaces. Great to see a city spending money to enhance their surroundings.

We have bought tickets for the Nice Tennis Open at the end of the month, which is a warm up for the French Open in Paris. Looking forward to that as we really enjoyed seeing the tennis in Indian Wells, California this past March. We are looking into tickets for the last Nice football (soccer) match, but we are told they might be sold out. Ken the handyman warned us not to go as too many Arabs there! A young French woman we met at the pub sai that Ken didn't know what he was talking about as she is an avid fan and goes to all the matches...so we will try.

On Monday, the 6th, we took the local bus down to the train station and decided to go to Monaco for the day. Only had to wait about 20 minutes, then the train,which was very clean and comfortable only took 17 minutes to get to Monaco...yes, I did time it. While visiting Monaco, we walked about 10 kms. - so not too concerned that we haven't joined the gym. We went to visit "Les Jardins Exotiques" which is built on a cliffside above the city with great views of Monaco. The garden is mainly cacti and succulents native to North and South America and parts of Africa. It has been in existence since 1933. We then walked back into town, stopped for lunch, then onto the Palais Princier, where we were able to visit 17 apartments of the castle. Prince Albert says "Hi ! ". Monaco has an area of 2.2 square kms. and is a principality, bordered by France on three sides,the sea on the other and a population of 36,000. Monte Carlo is one of the quarters of Monaco, however we didn't have time to walk there, maybe on another day. It is the world's second smallest City, after the Vatican. Monaco has the world's highest life expectancy at 90 years of age and the world's most expensive real estate at $58,300 U.S. per square meter...yikes...who can afford to live here up to 90 years of age? Robin says, crooks, ex-dictators, Wall Street hedge fund vultures and Russian Oligarch's ! Although a lot of the town is built up on the hillside, they have a great system of stairs and elevators to get you up to where you want to go.

Monaco is extremely clean, no litter or graffiti in sight. Their main source of income is from tourism. It also has a bike system, but unlike other cities with these systems, their bikes are all electric. Makes sense when the City rises on the hills above the various marinas. Another thing we have noticed is that outside of every drug store there is a coin operated condom dispensing machine. Frenchmen make love every day....we don't really see the women smiling though....maybe doesn't happen at home, therefore the machines.

On Wednesday, the 8th we decided to rent bikes from a local bike shop, to ride to Antibes. We did want better quality bikes than the Velo Bleu, which are really only good for shorts jaunts around town. We biked a total of 40 kms. to and from Antibes. Explored the old town, bought a few things at the market, which was already closing down, and had lunch before heading back home. Most markets start very early and close around 1 p.m. We missed buying fish the other day at the Nice market, as the fresh fish sells out very early. After returning the bikes, we were so thirsty, had to stop at one of the bars along the beach and have a cold one! Nicoise - When in the old town the other day, I noticed that the street sign was in two languages. When I asked the owner of the restaurant why the signs where also in Italian, I was soon corrected and told they were in French and Nicard ( the ancient dialect of Nice), although very few speak it. The word nicoise, relates to anything from Nice.
French products - one thing we have certainly noticed, is that French shops definitely highlight products that are made in France. What a great way of promoting yourself and helping your own economy...we must really learn from this in Canada, notwithstanding the possible higher cost...buy local.
Although a lot of the towns in the Côte d'Azur are similar (especially when you see the old street and marina pictures), they all have their own character and ambience and each town is a little different in it's own right. We are enjoying our travels to these small towns by bike, bus and train.