Archive for the ‘Nice’ Category
April 20th, 2010 | 
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Nice Airport is far away from the volcanic ash from Iceland–at least for now. I visited a few hours ago and found it crowded, of course, with travellers waiting for news of their flights. Flights to the south–Madrid, Dubai etc.–were taking off but the many flights a day between Nice and northern airports like London, Dublin, Brussels were all cancelled. The regular roar of planes taking off became no more than occasional background noise to the sound of anxious travellers milling around. Let’s face it: there are far worse places to be stranded than on the Cote d’Azur on a beautiful spring day!
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Connoisseurs of Nice’s wines are a determined lot. The output from Nice’s vineyards is discouragingly small and a small drought can wreck the harvest. It happened last year and the vintners lost 30% of their production. Which explains why the wine is so expensive. Count on spending from €15 to €50 a bottle. Ouch. But there is a sneaky way to sample Nice’s wines. Twice a year the local vineyards have an Open House where you can wander from chateau to chateau, sampling the goodies. The next one will be held on May 8 and 9 and I strongly recommend you head to the hills-of Bellet and Cremat where the vineyards are. The verdict is not yet in on the 2009 harvest but the quality usually ranges from good to excellent.
Find out more about Nice’s Vineyards.
The schedule for the year’s Nice Jazz Festival has been announced and it’s the best I can remember, at least for true lovers of jazz. Check this out:
Saturday 17 July :
DIEGO EL CIGALA, ORNETTE COLEMAN, SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS, EARTH, WIND & FIRE, TINEKE POSTMA QUARTET
Sunday 18 July :
NIKKI YANOFSKY, RICHARD BONA BAND, DAVE HOLLAND & PEPE HABICHUELA FLAMENCO PROJECT, DR JOHN, GORAN BREGOVIC ET L’ORCHESTRE DES MARIAGES ET DES ENTERREMENTS, FLY “MARK TURNER / JEFF BALLARD / LARRY GRENADIER”
Monday 19 July :
GURRUMUL, ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE JAZZ “AROUND ROBERT WYATT” avec ERIK TRUFFAZ, DWEEZIL ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA, AL JARREAU, JULIAN LAGE
Tuesday 20 July :
IMELDA MAY, JIMMIE VAUGHAN, ROBERT CRAY, BUDDY GUY, JAMES HUNTER
Wednesday 21 July :
BELA FLECK AND EDGAR MEYER WITH ZAKIR HUSSAIN, BOJAN Z TETRABAND, THE STANLEY CLARKE BAND WITH HIROMI, HERBIE HANCOCK, ERIC LEGNINI TRIO
Thursday 22 July :
TIGRAN HAMASYAN – ARATTA REBIRTH QUINTET “RED HAIL”, CHICK COREA, KENNY GARRETT, CHRISTIAN McBRIDE & ROY HAYNES : THE FREEDOM BAND, FICTION PLANE, LAURENT GARNIER + GUESTS, FACING EAST : THE MUSIC OF JOHN COLTRANE BY JOSE JAMES
Friday 23 July :
ASAF AVIDAN & THE MOJOS, DJANGO 100, HINDI ZAHRA, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, RODRIGO Y GABRIELA, CHRIS POTTER UNDERGROUND
Saturday 24 July:
CLIFTON ANDERSON, ANDRE CECCARELLI – LE COQ ET LA PENDULE – HOMMAGE A CLAUDE NOUGARO, MAURANNE CHANTE NOUGARO, PATH METHENY GROUP – THE SONGBOOK TOUR AVEC LYLE MAYS, STEVE ROBDY & ANTONIO SANCHEZ- , PINK MARTINI, JEAN MARC JAFET QUINTET
When the weather is as splendid as it has been Nice this Indian Summer, one is tempted to head to an outdoor restaurant to enjoy the burning blue sky. By opting for Don Camillo Creations we clearly prioritized the palate and we weren’t sorry. The €24 lunch menu offered excellent value as it included three courses.
Regular readers of this blog know that one of my pet peeves is snobby chefs that refuse to provide a filling meal. Oh, everything is artfully arranged, but where’s the food?
There was no problem with that at Don Camillo. The entreé was foie gras de canard, a real luxury item. OK, I don’t eat foie gras but the side salad of teeny veggies and small greens was delicious and the waiter was nice enough to give me extra as I sent the foie gras over to John. He did an excellent job of masking his dismay at my rejection and I was careful to extravagantly praise the salad dressing which hinted at sesame and citrus. The main course was chunks of St Pierre fish, another luxury item, served over humble but elegant fresh coco beans. The fish had a thin glaze on one side and was meltingly tender underneath. The light sauce was buttery and herb-scented. Dessert was a poached pear over an ice cream of very intense chocolate and something the waiter said was “macchia”. What is it? Help me out!
Washed down with a glass of excellent white wine and accompanied by amazing little rosemary rolls, the lunch was light but intensely satisfying. I liked that chef Marc Laville decided to offer three courses on his lunch menu rather than following the usual tendancy of offering two courses and an amuse-bouche.
Now, if only he would put a few tables on the beach.
See more on Nice restaurants.
One of the most popular trains on the French Riviera is the Train des Pignes that takes passengers through the hills and mountains from Nice to Digne-les-Bains. It’s a gorgeous trip but it looks as though the train has become a victim of its own popularity.
From June until mid-August the train carried over 130,000 passengers, far more than desirable for a vacation experience. There are only 96 seats which means that many summer trains carry plenty of standees. Last week the overload was so great that some passengers had to be brought back to Nice in a bus.
The good news is that another train car is on order and should be delivered at the end of the summer with four more ready to roll next summer. Meanwhile, here’s a tip: avoid the early 8.50am departure which tends to be the most crowded.