A walk from Nice to Villefranche-sur-mer



A Port du Nice building facade.



I had planned that my next posting would be a further exploration of Lago di Como. However, today I want to make a detour back to Nice, France. This week I was inspired by a posting on the Riviera Experience Blog entitled A Winter's Walk on St. Jean Cap Ferrat. Shelley Dobyns created this blog to promote both the town of Villefranche-sur-mer and the wonderful nearby sights and attractions and her rental business Riviera Experience. I had the pleasure of meeting Shelley last April when Peter and I rented one of her beautiful properties, but I'll share more about our stay in Villefranche at a later date. Shelley's walk around Cap Ferrat reminded me of a walk I made from the Port of Nice to Villefranche last November.



l'eglise Notre Dame du port



During my stay in Nice, I made daily trips to the port to enjoy Evelyne Nabet's singing and hospitality at Le New Eve Cafe located at 7 rue fodéré, derrière l'église Notre Dame du port (behind the port church).

Peter and I had the pleasure of hearing Evelyne la Divine, as she is affectionately referred to by her many admirers in Nice, in October 2006 when she was performing at the open-air Fête patronale de la Ville de Nice Sainte Réparate. (Festival of the patron saint of Nice).

We loved her voice. So we introduced ourselves and we were able to get a copy of Evelyne's CD Et Maintenant. When she began singing again, she dedicated the song New York, New York to us. Later, reading the CD's liner notes we discovered that Evelyne had sung for many years (15 years to be exact) in the lounge of the Hotel Meridien in Nice. 

I knew nothing more of Evelyne until I started planning for my trip to Nice this past October. I found Evelyne on Facebook and from there learned that she and her husband Max had opened Le New Eve Cafe, where she entertains nightly. I am pleased to say that I have gotten to know Evelyne well enough that I could finally tell her that I was not overly fond of New York, New York. When I am in the cafe she performs New York State of Mind to my great pleasure.

Anyway, on November 29 instead of going to the cafe, I decided to further investigate the port. What was meant to be a tour of this area ended up be a meandering 3 mile walk from Nice to Villefranche. Fortunately, the walk was mostly over a flat route but with spectacular views and ended at a bus stop in Villefranche where I quickly caught a bus back to Nice. I don't recall, but I probably ended up at Le New Eve Cafe.

I've illustrated my walk below and have marked areas that correspond to the photos taken.

My tour starts at the port. The first photo shows the west or Nice side of Basin Lympia, as the port is known. The next photo shows the east side of the port which is beneath Mont Boron and the direction of Villefranche. 

The following five photos represent the cluster of five points on the map.

After leaving the town portion of the port, I came to the Boulevard Franck Pilatte. I found a concession stand selling Pan Bagnat (a crusty pressed roll, stuffed with tuna, olives, peppers, onions, salad and olive oil). I ate my sandwich on a sun-drenched bench facing the Mediterranean Sea. After my lunch I continued my walk and came upon the legendary La Réserve an 1876 belle époque building which now houses one of Nice's finest restaurants. I have to take the reviews at face value, as I have never eaten there. Too trendy and tres cher for me. I can't find much history on the strange structures to the right of the building, but this image of an old poster shows that these may have been a gazebo and ship follie.

On the other side of La Reserve, there were fantastic rock formations. At first I didn't see how this young man had managed to find such a great vantage point. I soon found his entry and an interesting photo composition as well.

 

From this spot there was an extraordinary view of Vieux Nice, the hills above, the mountains above them and the snow-covered pre-Alps in the far distance.  

I headed up Avenue Jean Lorraine towards the Boulevard Carnot also known as the Base Corniche. This area was full of beautiful houses, like this one, that even in November were covered in blooming flowers. Don't ask...I don't know what kind; maybe bougainvilea?

At the top of the Avenue at the intersection of Boulevard Carot, this sprawling house that I believe is the Chateau de l'Anglais had the most interesting minarets. Unfortunately, the tall stone fench surrounding the property kept me from getting any better shots.

Turning right onto the Boulevard Carnot, I continued walking with the intention of stopping at the Carrefour market to find that night's dinner, but the road at this point becomes Boulevard Princess Grace de Monaco. Who could resist walking along this stretch which has wonderful sea views. As I rounded the base of Mont Boron, I began to see these views of  St.-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

Usually when taking multiple photographs during the course of a day, I instinctively know my favorite.

This was today's.

By this point I was too far from Nice to turn back and to close to Villefranche not to continue. Making the turn towards the town, I passed this interesting gate high above the harbor. I love the graphic on the stone post. On the other side of the gate there was no where to go, but down!

Coming into the final stretch, the Christmas decorations indicated the edge of the town proper and this great advertisement with cockroach parked below (I mean motor scooter of course). I would have gladly taken the scooter to get back, but just down the street was the bus stop for the return trip to Nice.

The bus ride back cost one Euro.

The walk from Nice to Villefranche was priceless!

Villefranche is beautiful and extremely photogenic. I hope you enjoy Shelley's blog and her pictures of the town and area. After we return to Lago di Como, I'll come back again to France and share my photos of Villefranche too.

Risotto con Salsiccia . . . Remembering Cernobbio, Italy

My first attempt at blogging was "Life's Illusions", an online photo diary of my 2-month stay last year in Nice, France. I retired in October 2010 and used that blog as my vehicle to stay in touch and share my photos with my friends. Now that I'm back in New York and reality, it's time to retire that earlier blog in order to focus (get it?) on my new and past photographic experiences. So welcome to "FOCUSED". You can still access "Life's Illusions" by clicking on the link on My Blog List.

I want to continue showing you more about Nice and the south of France, but first I'm taking you on a little excursion to Cernobbio, Italy. Why this detour? Because I got hungry the other day for Risotto con Salsiccia. 

Lake Como Map Showing Cities to Visit in the Lake Como Area

James Martin, Europe for Visitors

Peter and I went to this small town in October 2008. Cernobbio is located on the shores of Lake Como, approximately 1 hour outside of Milan. Many of you may only have heard of Lake Como because George Clooney has a lakeside villa in the town of Laglio. I'm sure that there are many celebrities in the area, but Lake Como (Lago di Como) is the real star. 

 

Back to the risotto. Due to this year's winter weather and all the snow we have had, while shopping for food the other day, I had a craving for something warm and filling. I remembered a fantastic risotto that Peter and I had in the restaurant of our hotel Albergo Miralago. How can you go wrong with rice, sausage, and red wine all in one dish?  I've included the recipe that I used below, but it's a pale comparrison to what we had in Italy.

You can get to Cernobbiio from Milan by car, which I don't recommend, or take a train to Como and then take a boat the two stops to the Cernobbio dock. We did both. We flew to Milan and had the hotel pick us up (what luxury being met at the airport). But we also took the boat daily during our one week stay.

When you arrive by boat, this is the view of the hotel with the mountains behind. Our corner room was on the right top level of the hotel. Here are just a few views from that vantage point. The town looks empty, but that was because our visit, the last week in October, was at the end of the season.

The dock is at the end of this park area.

Once you get onto the street, Cernobbio is very picturesque. There is a mixture of residences, restaurants, small shops and of course churches.

Another view of Albergo Miralago

Cernobbio is famous for a 16th-century waterfront villa which was turned into the 5***** star Villa d'Este Hotel. Although the hotel's gardens are off limits to the public, Peter and I managed to gain access on a misty afternoon while pretending to be hotel guests. I was abel to get some pictures with my camera phone, but these were lost when I did my last cell-phone upgrade. Let that be a warning to you all...back up your phones!

You can JUST see Villa d'Este under the tree bough.

Of course you don't go to Lago di Como to stay in a hotel. You go to be on the water and to visit the many towns dotted along it's coastline. Now if you had a car you could drive to each town, find parking etc. or skip all of that a simply board the frequent ferrys for local visits or when time is not an issue, or take a hydrofoil for longer distances in less time.

For this visit to Cernobbio, let me introduce you to the two closest towns to Cernobbio; Belvio and Moltrasio.

Approaching Belvio

Moltrasio



This is a monument to Bellini who lived and composed in the town Moltrasio


For the next blog, I'll take you further along the coast of Lago di Como to Bellagio and Varenna.

As promised, here is the recipe for the risotto. Today I discovered that I have 50 cookbooks, of which 40 have to be for French and Italian cooking. My favorite Italian cookbook author is Marcella Hazan. Her multiple books are so instructive about Italian cooking techniques. I learned the basics of risotto from her. (I saw her once in a restaurant where I was eating and nearly choked on my food due to the surprise.)

A few years ago I purchased The Silver Spoon, the English translation of Il cucchiaio d'argento. The recipes are very simple and, I believe, allows the cook to be more creative when the instructions are less specific.
 Of course if anyone has another recipe for this dish, I would be very happy to try it.

Risotto con Salsiccia (Sausages)*

Serves 4

about 61/4 cups Meat Stock

3 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

9 ounces Italian sausages, skinned and crumbled

2 cups risotto rice

3/4 cup red wine

4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Bring the stock to a boil. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in another pan, add the onion and crumbled sausages and cook over low heat, stirring occassionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook, stirring, until the grains are coated in butter. Pour in the wine and cook until it has evaporated. Add a ladelful of the hot stock andcook, stirring, until it has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock, a ladelful at a time, and stirring until each addition has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 minutes. When the rice is tender, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the Parmesan and remaining butter, transfer to a warm serving dish and serve.



*Recipe from The Silver Spoon, Phaidon Press; first published in Italian by Editoriale Domus as Il cucchiaio d'argento in 1950.