A nice night in Nice

May 21, 2010

tags: Chevre d'or, Currencies Direct, Eze Village, Food & wine, Living In France, Marche des fleurs, Moving To France, Radish Events, Valbonne

Apologies to my avid reader for the late posting today but am fresh back from Nice last night for the reception for Friends In France, where the lovely Janey and Mira have attracted a huge crowd which threatens to block the road outside Waynes Bar. The evening nearly begins in comic fashion when I forget to raise the electric hood on the Merc before entering a very low underground car park, bets are taken as to whether it will snag on the car park roof, but all is well with a comfortable margin of over 1cm!
I meet a fascinating Indian chap Mohinder Manek who has a skin complaint that makes him look white. He regales us with any number of funny stories about when mixing with his fellow Indians, who he says are often racist, and don’t realise he is Indian, where he has fun allowing them to insult him in Punjabi before able to respond in their own language and dialect. He also plays golf so a round is in prospect next week.
Continuing the Indian theme we adjourn to the Delhi Belhi for a reasonable curry although Lisa Thorton Allan complains her 4 chilli marked dish is not hot enough, but perhaps her husband Paul has inadvertently swapped dishes as he looks like he has taken a shower and forgotten to dry himself! Afterwards to the buzzing Cause Soleya in the old town, where the outside bars and restaurants are packed and the market is still in full swing despite the proximity to midnight. A cigar and an Irish coffee to finish which is not, on this occasion, regurgitated into an ornamental flower bed (unlike a few weeks ago in Valbonne!), and then to bed to at the Beau Rivage Hotel to administer the usual Birthday present to the patio builder. The hotel is organised by the lovely blooming Marianne Kolstco, who as sales manager of the hotel chain has wisely recommended the services of Currencies Direct to her superiors, let’s hope they have the same vision as her! I arrive at the hotel and see on the table a beautiful box of what looks like exquisitely wrapped chocolates, which I am determined to try, only to discover after biting into said chocolate that it is in fact soap! The current Mrs France is highly amused, in fact in hysterics and suggests that I should have my mouth washed out with soap more often.

We take a stroll around the marche de fleurs, and then set off to explore the very beautiful Eze village, where U2 have their homes, and no wonder! After an exhausting climb to the top of the village we stop for a glass of beer and a coupe de champagne at Le Chevre D’Or which has the most fantastic views down to Cap Ferrat, Nice and beyond as my picture today shows and am