NICE: Antibes and the Musee de l'Art Culinaire in Villeneuve-Loubet

Bonjour! Once again, outside our front door was the vegetable market...this morning I took pictures of what most of us enjoy - garlic, and the cool vegetable known as the artichoke:

We continued down the street for our morning coffee. We decided to start ordering coffee as 'café au lait', otherwise if we order coffee black, there's additional charge for hot milk on the side. If you order milk in the coffee, "Voila!" - you pay less!

From where we were sitting we could see the famous 'Patisserie Auer's' grand old storefront at 7 Rue St. Francois de Paule, and I had to stop in. They didn't mind me taking pictures inside, so I snapped away. Talk about the sweet life in France! This store really was a feast for the eyes. There is a royal shield on the wall at the back to remind everyone that Queen Victoria liked to indulge her sweet tooth here. The store was loaded with fancy chocolate.

Nearby, on the same street is the famous olive oil store called 'Maison Alziari'. They have been making olive oil in this store since 1868. Of course the cans are really attractive - the Provencal blues and yellows. As soon as you see the decorative can, of course you'd like to buy a few - until you remember your suitcase. This was such a beautiful store - again a feast for the eyes..

Then, we went to the train station, Gare de Nice-Ville, to catch our train to Antibes. We have been in many train stations and some are spectacular and very busy and interesting but most are quite ordinary and no one wants to be there any longer than necessary!

There are no words to describe Antibes. It's a town situated between Cannes and Nice on the French Riviera, Cote d'Azur. Ron and I have stayed in Antibes twice before and loved our time there. It is a quaint and interesting town to walk around in. There's an excellent vegetable/fruit market every morning in the centre of the old town. There is an excellent Picasso museum near the market. It's easy to spend many hours walking around and enjoying yourself down some of the little side streets as the sun filters down! You can't help wondering, what would it be like to live here?

The beauty of the water and the French Alps in the background is quite spectacular. A few years ago, while walking and looking at the water, I passed by a picture on the promenade commemorating a painting by the great Impressionist painter, Claude Monet. I nearly fainted! He had painted it while standing on the very spot where I now stood. The painting was called "Antibes, Afternoon Effect". You have to zoom in to appreciate it. Make sure to look off into the distance to see what he was capturing!

After walking around for awhile, reminiscing about areas where we had been, we decided to have lunch. I tried the 'Croque Madame' today. This is a fabulous sandwich with Gruyere cheese, bechamel sauce, toast, ham, and egg. I don't want to think about the calories. Delicious. Ron tried a sad 'club sandwich'. Yes - a club sandwich. It was served in a baguette. He said he couldn't eat the bread because it was just too tough. But here's a picture of my Croque Madame. Zoom in on the sandwich. I know the fries and ice berg lettuce are a bit cheesy, but concentrate on the sandwich:

Soon afterwards we needed to get on the train back toward Nice to the town of Villeneuve-Loubet. We were going to visit a historic culinary museum and it took a little effort to get there. We had to take a cab, after getting off the train. The cab driver drove up the windy hillside into the small town and tried his best to get us to the Museum. The streets were so narrow, he couldn't continue driving without bashing his car up. The explanation was all in French, of course. We got out of the cab, and then found our way, along a narrow street and just around the corner to the famous, yellow house. On our way I took pictures of the little streets and gardens. This is what we saw:

This museum was especially meaningful to me. We were going to the Musee de l'Art Culinaire - a historic site, where one of the greatest chefs of all time was born and whose childhood home is now a museum. His name was Auguste Escoffier, and he has a fascinating life story. He is the founder of "haute cousine".As a child, he wanted to be an artist, but at the age of 13, his father sent him to apprentice as a cook, in a restaurant in Nice. The rest is history. He became known as "The King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings" and blazed a culinary trail through The Savoy and Ritz in London and the Grand Hotel in Monaco. The museum is full of his life story - the stoves common in the 1800's, the kitchen tools, the famous menus he developed in many hotels of the world. It was fascinating wandering through the rooms of this very old home!

This was just a lovely experience to have been able to visit this museum, and this most beautiful town. After returning to Nice we went out to the Promenade des Anglais for an evening stroll.

Bonsoir! Karen