Looking up at the Eiffel Tower

Paris was fabulous… It truly is the city of my heart – and we had an absolutely fabulous time!  Of course the first place we went was to see the Eiffel tower.  Friday night we drove through Paris – we went to the Musee d’Homme – which is closed for rennovation right now – so we could get a fabulous shot of the Eiffel tower by night.

By the way, did you know that the Eiffel Tower at night is considered a copyright image – and it’s owned by the state.  To use it, you have to get permission from the government – unless it’s part of a landscape shot where it’s just part of the scene.  Fascinating, don’t ya think?

So this photo was taken on our first full day of playing tourist. We were staying in the 14th arrondissement, and so we took the subway bright and early from there – there’s a stop very close to the Eiffel Tower, and the walk is pleasant (if crowded.)  We were told several times as several different places – the Eiffel tower, Versailles, Notre Dame – that Paris was “practically deserted” and there were hardly any tourists at all – compared to “normal” days… but it still seemed pretty crowded to me! (Especially when we arrived at the Eiffel Tower and saw the crowd of people standing in line – first to buy tickets, then to take the elevators to the second level of the tower… It was a

People in Line to Buy Tickets to Go Up in the Eiffel Tower

good two and a half hour wait for most people!

Luckily, we were whisked right to the front of the line, almost as soon as we got there, although there was probably a twenty minute wait for the elevator, and things got a little crowded there too. Still, it was such fun listening to all the different accents… Italian, American, Japanese, Russian…even French. And something that I noticed on this trip was that the restaurants, sidewalk cafes and tourist attractions were always full, with lots of people.  So if there’s a recession going on, someone forgot to tell Paris about it!

We took lots of photos of Paris from the Eiffel Tower – on the second level, and then from the third level – where you have to buy separate tickets again in order to go up to the third level!  Still… Eiffel tower… So worth it! Anyway, you can see what I mean about the lines from this photo… Alain snapped it from where we were at the ticket booth… And you can’t even see the end of the line or where the people stop… It was actually pretty impressive for a “slow, end of tourist season” day… And I don’t think I ever want to try to go to the tower in high tourist season!

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The Chateau de Vougeot in Burgundy, France

We spent five wonderful days in Dijon, and took our time driving around to some of the vineyards and wineries of the burgundy area.  There were so many places to visit, and so many things to do that of course five days wasn’t enough, and we’re going to “have” to go back.  This is an incredibly beautiful area (although there was a bit of culture shock in some places… For example, there was an area where we went to see an old medieval castle – and the vineyard – and it’s located right in the center of a modern part of the city – urban blight – full of car lots, and grafitti and factories – and tenement buildings… so you’ve got the grace, beauty and heritage of something very old and lovely, right next to cement and asphalt and… well, ugliness.

I couldn’t help wondering what archeologists are going to think in a couple of hundred years from now of the things we’re leaving behind us.  What will they make of our squat cement buildings, the trash left on the side of the roads, the grafiti that seems to be everywhere these days?  Will they find any of it charming, or think it’s beautiful?  Or will they be appalled?

One of my favorite things about this trip, besides getting to see some fabulous castles, “discover” some new

Guilhen, Nadie and Alain at Le Savauge in Dijon

wines and get to review some new restaurants, was also getting to spend some time with Guilhen, Alain’s oldest son.  He’s got a wicked sense of humor, and he’s funny and really a nice guy.  Sadly we didn’t get to spend as much time with Nadie, as she’s incredibly busy at the hospital, and was working on a paper as well.  But I enjoyed the time we did get to spend with her. She’s working very hard, and is under a lot of stress.  I think she’s really amazing.  This restaurant, by the way, is one I highly recommend if you’re in Dijon.  It’s reasonably priced – they have great lunch and dinner specials during the week – things are a little more expensive on the weekends or holidays, of course, like most restaurants in France – and the food is fabulous!  I had the best steak I’ve eaten since leaving the states!  It’s called Le Sauvage, and it’s one of those secret places that you wouldn’t expect to see from the outside. To get to it, you have to walk through a big door, down an archway, and out into a hidden courtyard.  We ate on the terrace, under the shade of plane trees, and there was a lovely stone well in the center of the courtyard, with stone buildings all around – as you can see in the photo. It’s also a hotel, and some of the rooms are reached by climbing steps made of the same stones, and going into private entrances.  It’s one of those places that instantly charms and relaxes.

Oldest working wine press from Chenove, Burgundy area

Now here’s an interesting photo.  This is from one of those places that is surrounded by all things modern, and yet it’s history is absolutely fascinating. (In fact, look for an article soon about this one, because it’s a story worth telling.)

What you’re looking at is one of the oldest working wine presses in France.  And as I said, it has a fascinating history – there are two of them (the other one doesn’t work any longer), but they were both stolen by the French government in the 1700s!  Just look at how huge this thing is.

And every year after harvest (le vendage), the entire village gets involved in a wine making and tasting festival.  They make the wine the old fashioned way (including using bare feet to mash the grapes…) and then they are put into this huge press… There is a circular cavern underneath the main part of the press, and the grape juice goes down there.  Although they don’t make a huge number of bottles, we bought a couple, because it will make such an interesting story when we open them and share it with friends and family in a few years from now, don’t you think?

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An endless sea of vines near Bandol on the French Riviera.

get it all posted), we took a drive to see if we could see la vendage – the harvest season for all the vineyards.

We have a friend who used to own a really fabulous restaurant here, and so he contacted one of his friends who owns a lovely vineyard up by the Paul Ricard Formula 21 racing track, and left them a message that we’d be calling.  We did, and got their answering machine too, so we left a message that we’d be in their area on Saturday morning, and would stop in to see about doing an interview and takig some photos then.  So bright and early Saturday morning, I grabbed my “reporter gear” – and off we went.

On the way, we say some grape pickers in a small field near Bandol, and we decided to stop there. (I’m so glad we did, because when we got to the big vineyard, they were closed.) But the woman who owned this smaller vineyard was very sweet, and she answered lots of my questions and the workers did their best to ignore us while I snapped their photos.

The grapes will be used for three different types of wine.  The first two are for the AOC Bandol wines.  The third is a table wine. (People here use their own wine jugs – which can be either plastic or wooden – they look like small kegs – and go directly to their favorite wineries and have their jugs filled.  Then we put them into a bottle or carafe and drink them for everyday occasions.  If you don’t have a jug, you can buy table wine boxed – in either 5 or 10 liters.)  There are several really good Bandol rose wines that I enjoy, and of course, we have several bottles down in the wine cellar.

Oaken Wine Cask on wheels

This particular vineyard is only 14 hectares (34.59 acres), of Mourvedre grapes, and they own several others.  They are part of the local cooperative, so many of the smaller wine growers all take their grapes to the same place, where a special process must be followed as far as pressing, storing and fermenting the grapes.

The photo you see to the left is an old oaken barrel, but it’s relatively small – the ones used to store wine are much, much taller.  This one might have been used in a bar, or for storing table wines to be sold to the public. But I do love the look of it, don’t you?

If you’d like to read more, check out my article in the examiner about le vendage and let me know what you think of the other photos we took?  (By the way, we were really lucky to get these – because not only was le vendage nearly over with, but a few days later our rainy season started.  And while I love the rain, it’s not a good thing for the grapes!

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Instead we took a trip to Sanary-sur-Mer, a lovely little seaside village about 8 km from Toulon.

And by the way, Sanary is next on my list to create a city page for, so I’ll let you know when I get it finished.

The Port of Sanary

Here’s a photo Alain took from on top of a 13th century Romanesque tower, giving you a glimpse of the harbor and village.

We went to see the Frédéric Dumas International Diving Museum – http://www.scuba-museum.com/ – which used to be inside the tower, but the collection got so big that they had to open a new building. (The collection hasn’t quite grown into its new location yet), but you’ll find some of the first underwater cameras, as well as an old scuba diving suit made completely of leather, as well as some great photos of Frédéric Dumas, Phillipe Thailliez and Jacques Cousteau, who were really the pioneers of scuba diving.

During WWII, sanary became a place of sanctuary for intellectuals, artists and writers who fled here from

Alain on a narrow street in Sanary

Germany to escape Nazism.  Some of the houses are still standing – you can take a walking tour and find the plaques that show their homes or favorite places to gather, debate and drink at a group of little cafes on the harbor.  The exiles included Aldous Huxley, Thomas Mann, Sybille Bedford, Wilhelm Herzog and others.

While we wandered around we sipped on the French version of a slurpee called ‘Granitas” (pronounced granitay), which helps to take away the slap of the sun.  All in all, it was a very lovely way to while away a few hours in the afternoon!

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President and Madame Sarkozy

We were a little worried on Sunday when we heard that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had collapsed after fainting while jogging near the palace of Versailles. (Of course being the age we are – and him being the age he is – and with our views on jogging – [hate it] – we worried he’d had a stroke.)

So we were delighted and relieved when his doctors said it was a non-serious nerve condition called a “minor lipotropic episiode” (although really what does that MEAN?  It’s Doctor-speak and I hate that too, don’t you?) We were also happy to hear his doctors say that he’d be out of the Val-de-Grace military hospital on Monday.

And yep, sure enough, he left the hospital on his own two feet on Monday morning.

According to the news reports, Sarkozy cancelled his Monday and Tuesday appointments to rest at his

Carla Bruni's family's French Riviera Villa

retreat house in La Lanterne.

He’s apparently scheduled to attend a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, before heading down here, where he’ll recuperate on the French Riviera in his wife’s family’s second home located in Le Lavandou.

And honestly, he couldn’t have a better place to recuperate than down here where he’s got access to the sea, the sun and the air that’s known for being therapeutic!

Best wishes and have a nice vacation, Mr. President…

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Fresh fruits and vegetables in Toulon

As you know, one of my favorite things about living here is the lifestyle… And more than the almost obligatory nap in the afternoon, mornings spent at one of the gorgeous French Riviera beaches (the ones frequented by locals, not tourists), the fabulous parties, the fascinating people and conversations or the 309 days of sunshine a year…

I also love the food, and getting to go shopping for fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and fish in the open air market!  Toulon’s market is one of the best-kept secrets on the French Riviera – again, it’s something known by the locals – not necessarily by the tourist and people come from miles away to shop here because it’s almost 2 miles of vendors, so even without tourists it’s almost always crowded – which just adds to the fun and excitement of shopping here… and there’s a little something for everyone!  Our fruits have been particularly spectacular this year – the weather this spring was perfect, so, for example, we started being able to enjoy cherries in May, and the season is just finishing now! (Cherries are one of my favorite fruits and I’m always a little sad when the season ends.  This year I didn’t every get enough extra to freeze – we just kept eating them before I could!  And the melons, nectarines, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, mures (blueberries) and mangos are plump, sweet and

Cherries and Melons in Toulon

absolutely delicious!

You can also find green and black olives, tapinade (olive paste) fresh olive oil – which are Provencal speacialties. And if you like seafood, you can get fish, mussels, oysters and octopus that’s been freshly caught – and buy them from the fishermen themselves, or one of the local fishmongers.

And of course we get our beef from the butcher.  I’m sure everyone along the French Riviera has their favorite butcher, or at least a local butcher shop – I know we do.  We rarely buy meat from the supermarket, because our butcher is fabulous and we always get the “back room” special meat, which is the same as he takes home to his family!

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The motto of the French Navy is Honneur, Patrie, Valeur, Discipline (”Honour, Fatherland, Valour, Discipline”). These words are found on the deck of every ship of the Navy – which I think is very cool.

The Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier

So, here’s a little more about the Charles de Gaulle first – from the wikipedia… (Don’t you just LOVE wikipedia?)

The Charles de Gaulle is France’s only serving French aircraft carrier and is the flagship of theFrench Navy (Marine Nationale). She is the tenth French aircraft carrier, the first Frenchnuclear-powered surface vessel, and the first and only nuclear-powered carrier built outside of the United States Navy. She is named after French statesman and general Charles de Gaulle.

The ship carries a complement of Dassault Rafale M and E-2C Hawkeye aircraft, as well as modern electronics and Aster missiles. She is the second largest European carrier, after theAdmiral Kuznetsov. It is a CATOBAR-type carrier that uses a shorter version of the catapult system as that installed on the US Nimitz class carriers, the 75 m C13-3 steam catapult.

The party was elegant, the drinks were plentiful and the food was gorgeous and delicious!  I love French cocktail parties with the variety of appetizers that are always so beautifully presented and taste so good. Two of my favorites this time was the crawfish in the guacamole and the foie gras on toast.

And I admit it – I used to think foie gras (which means “fat liver” – and is specially prepared goose liver pate) was completely gross.  However, now it’s one of my favorite things to eat on special occasions!  I’m sorry I didn’t get any photos of the food itself – I promise to take some the next time we go to such a party!

However, I did talk to a lot of people.  That’s one of the best things about being a writer – you get to talk to

The head chef on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier

people you normally might not, and ask questions that you normally wouldn’t ask!  (And what’s even more fun is that people talk back!)

For example, I got to talk to the head chef of the Charles de Gaulle, because I was absolutely amazed that the food was prepared onboard the ship – and not catered.  (These guys can cater for me ANY DAY because it was absolutely as delicious as any I’ve had before!)  Here’s what I found fascinating:

They go through about 700 pounds of flour every single day.  The 30 cooks, 25 wait staff and 25 stock people serve between 1600 and 2000 people three meals onboard the Charles de Gaulle every single day!

They buy from local markets and use fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and fish whenever possible rather than canned. The menus are planned months in advance, but once a month there is a meeting and the service men and women get a chance to say what they like, what they didn’t – and to make suggestions for upcoming menus.

Appetizers onboard the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier

During the cocktail party, part of the navy band was playing for us.  I love these guys – they practice sometimes five and six hours a day, and the French navy symphony can be broken up into the jazz band, the orchestra, and other smaller bands as needed. (I’m still looking for info on this, but Alain is reading to me about Tarzan and Cheeta right now, so I guess that’s going to be another post!)

We started with drinks and the cold appetizers – which were set on trays – some in their own little glasses, on little plates or spoons and served by very happy, friendly service men and women.  The same with the drinks – there was a delicious punch, as well as a variety of other drinks, which were served often enough that you never needed to be without food or drinks! It was very well organized.

After the cold appetizers, several stations opened up which served a variety of hot dishes – a little bit of everything – from Turkish gyros to curry chicken to Asian potstickers.  Absolutely to die for! (Did I mention that these guys can come and live with us and cook for me anytime they want to???)

In any case, it was a fantastic party and I enjoyed it very much!  I can’t wait for the next one!

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And we did some shopping in Toulon’s open-air market – and bought way TOO many fresh fruits and vegetables last weekend, so I’ve got photos of that to share with you too…

And let’s see… what else?  My radio show is going well.  I talked to my sister Cathy last night and she and her husband and my niece have been listening to my program and laughing their butts off – not, she said “at me”, but rather because it’s weird to have someone in your family on the radio! (And I almost wish she hadn’t told me, cause it’s weird right back knowing your family is listening!)

So, stay tuned for the next couple of posts while I add some photos and get you caught up on life on the French Riviera!

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Happy 86th Birthday Beau-Dad!

Beau-Dad has his 86th birthday recently and we all went to Annie and Bruno’s for the party… (Their dog is getting older and it’s too hard for them to leave him alone for any length of time, so we’re doing most of the family parties at their place these days.)

Anyway, for someone who’s 86, I think he’s pretty fantastic!  He’s got a wicked sense of humor and he’s as smart as a whip, and he’s just a big ole sweetie!

Here he is all decked-out in his tie and vest with a pile of prezzies to open!

Alexander came and so did Jon. (Tony wasn’t feeling well and Josette was in Corsica taking care of her mom.)

I think he’s pretty handsome, don’t you?

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