Île Saint-Honorat

On Sunday the three of us took a boat to the Île Saint-Honorat, a small island about a mile off shore from Cannes. The island has been home to a community of monks since the 5th century. The island is imbued with a very peaceful spirit and our visit to the church coincided with one of the six daily prayer sessions. It was very soothing - even for a non-churchgoer.


There is a XVth century fortified monastery that overlooks the Mediterranean:


And here is the Abbey as seen from the fortified monastery:


The monks spend a lot of time in silence and contemplation, but they also work on the land. The island is planted with two different types of grapes and they produce both a white wine and a red wine that are absolutely delicious.

We brought back a bottle of each and enjoyed it for dinner in the villa. That's Walter and Joan on the right and Emma, who is currently working at the Chateau, on the left.

Volcano

I'm stuck in La Napoule for a little longer than planned! Of course, it's not such a bad place to be stuck in :-) I was supposed to fly from Nice to Bristol on Tuesday the 20th, but according to EasyJet, the earliest I can get out is Saturday the 24th. Oh well, I guess I'll go to the beach . . .

La Colombe d'Or

There are only three of us staying in the villa: myself and a couple from Portsmouth, NH by the names of Joan and Walter. We arrived here on the same day and immediately became great friends. Joan and Walter have a rental car and have invited me to join them on some excursions to the surrounding towns. On Saturday we went to St. Paul de Vence, a lovely hillside town made famous by artists such Matisse, Modigliani, Chagall, etc. There is a very well known hotel/restaurant there called "La Colombe d'Or". You usually have to book months in advance to get into the place, so we were astonished when we arrived at lunchtime and were immediately shown to a table on the terrasse with a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside.

La Colombe d'Or has been open since the 1920s and is frequented by French movie stars, millionaires, and honeymooning tourists. The food is excellent, even though the menu has stayed virtually the same for decades. Even more famous than the food is the incredible art collection in the restaurant. In every room there are paintings, sculptures, drawings and notes from Picasso, Matisse, Miro, Modigliani, Braque, Fernand Léger, Chagall etc. This is just one corner of the inside of the restaurant:


There is a Calder sculpture by the pool:


I had the turbot with a creamy, delicate, delicious sauce:


With fresh wild strawberries (fraises des bois) and Chantilly (whipped cream) for dessert:


But the thing we'll remember most from lunch at La Colombe d'Or was the basket of crudités (fresh vegetables). Normally, when you order crudités in France, you expect them to be ready to eat; sliced, with dressings, etc. So you can imagine our surprise when the basket arrived with a whole UNCOOKED artichoke, a whole fennel bulb, a whole green pepper, a whole red onion, endive, a bunch of celery, half a cucumber, a couple of unpeeled hard boiled eggs, lots of radishes, a whole tomato and more. How are you supposed to eat this? I asked, pointing to the artichoke. The server just shrugged his shoulders and said that was the tradition of the restaurant - it's been served that way since the 1920s and they aren't going to change it now! The three of us had a good laugh, and enjoyed our lunch anyway - at least the tomato was delicious!

La Napoule (cont)

What a lovely place to wake up to! Here is the sun coming up over the chateau as seen from my bedroom window.


Here is is a view of the Chateau de La Napoule as seen from the beach. The villa and the chateau are part of the La Napoule Art Foundation. http://www.chateau-lanapoule.com/


There is a small beach nearby. It is April, and a little cool, but that doesn't keep the kids from playing on the beach and in the water.


You and your dogs can also play volleyball on a nearby beach.


But I'm afraid pitbulls and rottweilers are not allowed:


There is plenty of room to park your yacht if you decide to arrive by boat.

La Napoule

After 5 years of gestation, my dream of hosting a writers workshop for women will come true next week. We will be staying in the Villa Marguerite (below) which occupies the grounds of the Chateau de la Napoule.

Villa Marguerite

The Chateau was acquired in 1918 by a couple of expat Americans, Henry and Marie Clews. The couple spent the next 20 years restoring the chateau which includes elaborate gardens and living spaces as well as studio space for Henry's sculptures. In 1951 Marie Clews created the La Napoule Art Foundation which seeks to nurture and inspire artistic talent. I learned of the Foundation through my daughter in law, Rachel Brand, who is a member of the foundation's Board of Trustees.

Eight of us will meet here April 11-18, 2015 for a week of writing alternating with excursions into the surrounding countryside. Look for more stories here in the coming weeks.

Cagnes sur mer

From snow covered mountains yesterday to palm trees today. What a change! I am now in Cagnes sur mer on the Cote d'Azur (French Riviera). Travel has been a little difficult in the last few days. There is a train strike going on and the south east of France has been hit particularly hard. A trip to a nearby town down the coast that would normally be very easy has become difficult to plan.

I am currently staying in an unremarkable hotel with a poor internet connection on a busy street in an unremarkable town. However, it was warm and sunny today and I didn't need a coat for a change. I am a couple of blocks from the Mediterranean and enjoyed a walk along the water. The local schools are on spring break here, and the government sponsored sailing school offered low cost sailing classes for the local students this week. Here are the beginners (in the tiny blue and white sunfish) and the intermediate sailors on the larger catamarans:


(Sorry about the quality of the photo - my small camera takes great low light photos but I don't have a great telephoto lens. . . )

Sisteron by day

I lucked out. It rained and snowed all night but finally this morning the sun came out and I visited the town of Sisteron. Its main attraction is a Citadelle which is a fortress that has served as lookout and protection for the town for several hundred years. The chapel on top was heavily damaged by bombings during WWII and has been restored over the last few decades which is why it looks fairly new. Here are a couple of photos:


This is one of the lookouts:


This lookout oversees the river below and an interesting mountain on the other side:


In addition to visiting the local attractions, I've decided I should sample the local culinary specialties. This is the "pieds et paquets" which is the pride of Sisteron. I don't think I'll tell you what it is - some of you might be grossed out - but it was delicious! (I am in training to accompany my son Eric in his travels to China ;-)


I'll be leaving Sisteron soon and taking the bus to Cagnes. I'll check in from there.