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Friday 27 January 2012

A Note to all my Readers:

Hello there!

I just added this little widget thingamibob on the right there...See it? "Follow by Email"
It will enable all those of you who aren't on Facebook... or who don't know how or would rather not connect with Google friend to become a"Follower".
No more excuses and I could name and shame a few....!!

So don't dilly dally, add your email and "Submit".


                Thanks ! :)

                 The management.

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Flea Market, Pizza and Spot of Shopping...

Every 3rd Saturday of the month in the Place Garibaldi in Nice, you can find a delightful outdoor flea/antique market. We have been 3 times,including the time we first stumbled upon it much to our pleasure at the tail end of summer...and as luck would have it,each time since,the weather has been glorious and the folk aplenty.


There is something for everyone and if, like me you love to find a bargain, to root around in treasures of old and find a little gem you'll enjoy this little forage. I collect glass as in vases or ashtrays...anything that has a tactile shape and mostly small enough to hold in one hand but there is always an exception to that rule.
The mood is one of cheer in this doom and gloom atmosphere we find ourselves unceremoniously flung in and whether you find your pleasure in some little knickknack or not, it makes for a fun day out.



You are not far from the "Quartier D'Antiquaires" of Nice  and some seriously dog shit infested streets...a real shame. I let down my guard for one second and ....splodge.
S##T! 
There wasn't enough surface in the whole of Nice to scrap that crap off my shoes...had they not been my special order Frockanrolla Nikes..I would have tossed them.

Back to antiques or rather lack of...for there were more closed doors than there were opportunities to walk in and potter.Were some of them manning their stalls at the market? Maybe...But most,as we were told, don't even bother coming into their shops anymore,preferring to post their phone numbers on their locked doors for you to call if the urge arose...how lucrative!

So we doubled back round to the Place Garibaldi and came across an unexpected sight: a 21st century Dickensian curiosity shop "Chambre Cinquante Sept".It is an absolute treasure trove of industrial style furniture, tribal art and wonderful curios that skim the edge of weird and wonderful by still remaining chic and stylish. 
An absolute delight and ideal for gifts especially for those who have everything...except maybe an eerily translucent baby jellyfish suspended in a resin dome...



Eating : If you LOVE all things seafood as in "Plateau de Fruits de Mer" then the "Cafe de Turin" is the place for you and it also happens to be on the Place Garibaldi. I went many,many years ago and the place is always heaving with people...you can't reserve but the establishment has been around for years and the seafood is fresh and the white wine chilled to perfection. My BF is not an aficionado ....his preference, at least on that day was....PIZZA!

...And the "Villa D'Este"in the heart of Nice's shopping area on rue Massena is the place to go for good solid Italian food . It is always packed so I recommend you get there early to be seated as soon as you walk in, anytime after 12.30pm on a Saturday otherwise you will have to join the queue and salivate while you wait. The pizzas are really good, doughy and pack a punch,the portions on the whole are generous just as in their sister restaurant "La Voglia" in the Old Nice. Now there you get portions that are not only generous but gargantuan! Just ask for the chocolate mousse for desert...it will come in a salad bowl.... I kid you not.
Come with an appetite...and leave with your trousers around your ankles...'cos buttons will be a-poppin'.

Shopping:I headed to "American Vintage"on the rue Massena ...it is a French Label that has nothing American nor thrift shop about it... (the French love all things americana)It is a French-ly chic and stylish "American Apparel"....but all style and far better substance. A great place for sports wear namely cotton tops and knits....Very trendy, mid market and popular. 
Word to the wise : stay away from some of the knitwear...choose diligently and ask whether it will bobble . Keep the receipt handy and wear it twice,this is all it took to render my gorgeous caramel coloured cardigan (in a wool mix as soft as a peach) into a rag....the likes of which could be found on a char lady back in late 1800's.
This was the 2nd cardigan that broke out with a bad case of the piling I have bought from "American Vintage"...are they trying to be literal with their use of the word vintage? So I stick to buying their tops, tunics, cotton dresses(great for pool and beach wear) as well as jackets and lounge wear...shame about the sweaters though...
Twice bitten, definitely shy away.


Chambre Cinquante Sept :16, Rue Emmanuel Philibert,06300 NICE 

Cafe Turin : 5, Place Garibaldi, 06300 NICE (NO RESERVATIONS)
Villa D'Este : 6, Rue Massena, 06000 NICE

La Voglia : 2, Rue Saint Francoise de Paule, 06300 NICE
American Vintage : rue Massena, 06000 NICE and rue d'Antibes, 06400 CANNES

http://am-vintage.com/

Wednesday 18 January 2012

A Sunday Morning Walk: Cap D'Antibes Jan.2012

Join me on my walk....

It's oh so quiet...shhh,shhh....

 Just me and the waves ....


The screen saver?

The campfire from the night before...
The Cat's Miaow....

The Gated villa...


The iconic ruin...and the Esterel

The Show offs....
The End of the Road.

Sunday 8 January 2012

BEST BOOKS OF 2011



These four extremely talented, exceptional writers and their respective novels needed more than just a brief mention in my book list...these SCREAM out to be read. If you haven't already...Do so Now! You won't be disappointed.... unless of course you hate: magic,love and lovers,New York or Amsterdam and the simple pleasures of escaping into the imaginings of writers who have the magic in their words to do so.

Thank you Amor Towles for responding to my email...you are the first famous person to do so and what an honour.
Thank you Richard Mason, for being the second.
I wriggle in anticipation for your next novels.

Thursday 5 January 2012

What the Hayek is Going On ?

Picture this: France 1802 and the former lil’Big man Emperor Napoleon creates the Legion d’Honneur; France’s highest merit to be awarded to “the men and women who have devoted themselves, sometimes even their lives” to their nation and country.
Now back to the here and now and our latter lil Big Man Nicolas Sarkozy who has chosen to award the illustrious Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur to: (drum roll.....) Salma Hayek. Napoleon  bolts upright in his grave. And for what pray tell? Well by jingo for “her services to the French Republic !” You ignorant fools! Erm...forgive said ignorance my liege but: What Bloody services???

And therein lies the rub...who the hell knows, other than maybe Sarkozy himself who happens to be buddies with Salma’s billionaire husband: Francois-Henri Pinault (chief executive officer of PPR, which owns luxury brands such as Gucci, YSL and Balenciaga amongst others... and who also happens to be Linda Evangelista’s baby daddy) 'Tis an election year my friends...time to play silly buggers.


This nomination for the French knighthood has provoked outrage and sent shock waves across France.The French are up in arms, baguettes and anything else they can wave a stick at...even berets have been thrown to the floor like gauntlets challenging the government. This incident has even led one former minister to refusing the same award.

Salma Hayek ,whose latest claim to fame is the voice of Kitty Softpaws in Shrek’s spin off film “Puss in Boots”, doesn’t deserve the derision... she didn’t ask to be nominated after all. Well, no... obviously not. But should she accept it? Well No! Obviously not. She would gain far more respect from her husband’s peeps by refusing this great honour and giving it to someone who is better deserving of it.


So Katy Perry and Russell Brand huh? Who would have guessed it?...Duh! Just about everyone! I bet she’ll be singing “The One That Got Away....” with half of her fortune for a long time to come. No setup of the prenup... Don’t ya just love these whirlwind marriages and their staying power? There are going to be some new songs coming out of this , I can tell you . And it won’t be all popsicles and candy floss either...

Ashton Kutcher has been spotted canoodling with a Demi Moore lookalike over the holidays...Excuse me has the press had a good look at the gorgeous Demi Moore recently? Cos despite the extreme weight loss due to her ex’s prior canoodling, she is still a stunner and whomever he was with doesn’t hold a candle to her. So let us leave him to his new role in Two and a Half Men.. ...he by the way, counts as the half.


To round things up nicely, how about that JLO and her boy toy? I would be so bold as to say that it is a match made in playpen heaven... He throws a rattle in her direction and she picks it up and sings into it. He puts gum in her hair and she’ll twiddle it around her finger....Come on! Is there any wonder that Marc Anthony is seen desperately clutching a tumbler of something alcoholic in almost every scene in his duet with Pit Bull? Can you blame him? How icky does that make you feel? Very, in fact almost as icky as Madonna and her little bit of exotic fluff.