The French Riviera Blog
by Kevin Hin

The 2007 Monaco Yacht Show

Casual visitors on a day trip to Monaco this weekend won’t be able to help noticing the white Bedouin style tents that look like a Saudi football stadium, the security fences cordoning off the main harbour, the various businessmen in navy blazers, most clutching their mobile phones whilst pouting like José Mourinho - and of course the rather snazzy yachts that pebble dash the harbour, inside and out. Simply because it’s that time of the year again, the time for the Monaco Yacht Show.

But what’s the whole deal with this and is there actually any point for the regular unsuspecting tourist to go and see what’s going on inside? Well, for the casual visitor, unless you’re a sea buff, not much to be honest. Once you've paid the rather steep entrance fee (50 euros/day this year, though half of this does go to charity), you find yourselves under a network of interconnected marquees with stands selling anything vaguely related to yachting in particular and luxury in general.

The entrance fee also gives you access to the harbour front, which you can normally walk around anyway but is now cordoned off by the above-mentioned fences. There, if you are able to brave the crowds, you can see the super yachts close-up; the sort of things where even the tenders actually look rather nifty for the mere mortals among us, like this rather nice little Monaco-based specimen by Wally. But obviously don't even think of getting on one of them to visit the hallowed halls inside: the "by invitation only" signs on the gangplanks are a subtle hint and if you actually have the gall to ask for an invitation, the hostess will politely but firmly say no. Insist more and you might be made to walk the plank instead by one of the numerous FBI-style security guards…

Still, a visit to the Yacht Show, given the opportunity, can have its advantages: you get a feel of the business side of the yacht industry and there is a certain buzz to the event, a bit like the Monaco Grand Prix in May – this buzz really IS Monaco from my humble point of view. Especially if you hang around in the evening and experience some of the local nightlife in the usual suspects: la Rascasse and the Stars & Bars by the waterfront on Quai Antoine 1er are likely to be the liveliest if not the loveliest during the evenings and early mornings. After all, with all that wheeling and dealing, the yachting suits are entitled to let their hair (and their navy blazers) down a bit too, aren't they?

Monaco Yacht Show, Port Hercule Monaco, 19 – 22 September 2007

An updated welcome note

First of all, my apologies for not having updated for some time. The main reason being that I am no longer in charge of Hotel Notre Dame and have returned to Monaco for a quiet life of no longer doing 17-hour days. Don't get me wrong though, my time spent running the hotel was a fantastic experience and a wonderful opportunity to share with guests from all over the world my love and enthusiasm for this beautiful region. Thanks to all of you for making it so enjoyable!

That's why I decided to keep my blog at a new address as a totally subjective mouthpiece about things that visitors can see and do on the Riviera. If you have any comments, advice or just want some more information, please feel free to contact me at kevin@french-riviera-blog.com.

PS. If you need to make a booking at Hotel Notre Dame, please contact the new owners at +33 4 93 88 70 44.

Roquebrune Village and Les Deux Frères

Roquebrune Village (briefly mentioned in the article on Cap Martin) is one of the numerous perched villages overlooking the coast: others include Eze, Sainte Agnes, Biot, Gorbio and La Turbie. Naturally, the first impression of these perched villages is “once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all‿ and it’s true that if you’re only spending two or three days on the Riviera, it’s not really worth going to see all of them – they all have the compulsory church (more often than not baroque), medieval aspect, small alleyways, more or less touristy restaurants depending on the village, old picturesque looking characters wearing sunglasses and berets (this is not a French national stereotype, each village does have at least one of these guys), cats, dogs and the associated droppings… However, for Riviera-lovers on repeat visits, look closer and each village does have its own particular charm.

Roquebrune Village is a case in point: a place I see every day perched on the cliff in the distance from Monaco but which I had never really been to in recent years (ie. not including a trek on a very sweaty summer’s day ten years ago). So I seized the opportunity while my brother was visiting (with a car) to head up there and take a closer look. The village is at about 200m above sea level, so not that high, but is dominated by its castle, whose medieval turret isn’t actually that medieval after all. Granted, the main part of the castle is pretty ancient (about 700 years old if I get my facts right, you can find the exact date in the Lonely Planet) but was bought by a British nobleman in the late 1800s, who wanted to make the place look even more medieval, so decided to stick the crenulated turrets on top (a bit like the clock tower on the Prince’s Palace in Monaco).



Anyway, the main draw of the castle is the awe-inspiring view from the top over the whole of Monaco (the skyscrapers contrasting with the old town and Oceanographic Museum virtually planted into the cliff side) and the Tête de Chien mountain, with Cap Ferrat peninsula looming in the distance, probably one of the main picture postcard shots of the Riviera. If you can’t be bothered paying, check out the view from the Place des Deux Frères instead, which is also nice.

This brings us to eating… There are quite a few decent places up in the village: I noticed La Roquebrunoise on the way up, near the car park, which seemed pretty decent. But I had a fabulous meal at Les Deux Frères: this place used to be the village school and has now been reconverted into a hotel/restaurant. Naturally, I assume you will all be staying in Nice at Hotel Notre Dame (gratuitous advertising is a necessary evil!) but just in case you fancy a room with a nice sea view, this is a place to try out.



The classrooms are now used as bedrooms (each with a different and original theme) and the canteen used as the restaurant. There is however nothing canteen-like either about the setting or the food: we were welcomed by the friendly Dutch owner and had an home-made aperitif involving orange peel and champagne among other things around an overly aggressive wood fire, which was nevertheless welcome given the surprisingly chilly March weather. The table we were at had a fabulous view over the coastline (probably the main draw) and the food was good: EUR 49 menu in the evening first involving foie gras with gingerbread (interesting mix), then a rather interesting piece of lamb marinated in lavender honey over Austrian spätzle pasta, followed by a blood orange and meringue tart. The Chateaubriand for 2 is also an option in the menu. So overall pretty decent value for money considering the view and the setting: also, they have a EUR27 lunchtime menu involving 3 courses and wine, so not bad if you happen to be passing through on a day trip.

Getting to Roquebrune Village
- By car: definitely the easiest option if you happen to have one handy. Take the scenic coastal road from Nice or Monaco towards Menton then head left and uphill, the road is well-signposted.
- By train: get off at Roquebrune-Cap Martin train station then head directly uphill to the main coastal road. Then you’ll have to walk up a rather evil staircase (about 500 steps) to get to the village. But it’s worth it if you’ve already got that far.
- By bus: Rapides Côte d’Azur line 100 from Nice, Monaco or Menton, just get off at Roquebrune (ask the driver for the exact station) then follow the aforementioned evil staircase.

For the energetic, this can be combined with a walk from Menton to Monaco around the Cap Martin (cf. the previous article). A pretty interesting itinerary is on the regional government website, which has several interesting coastal hikes.

Cap Martin and the Sentier des Douaniers

This coastal footpath is part of a longer walk between Monaco and Menton, alongside the picturesque Cap Martin, a rather wild peninsula with very secluded villas separating the two towns. It affords fantastic views of Monaco, the perched village of medieval Roquebrune, Menton and the Italian coastline so is well worth a few hours on a beautiful afternoon. The most scenic part however is located between the railway stations of Carnolès and Roquebrune-Cap Martin so I will be covering this in that direction, as the views are slightly nicer. Walking at a leisurely pace, this section be covered in about 2 hours and combined with a visit to Menton or Monaco to make a pretty complete day trip.

Starting from Carnolès train station, walk down to the coastline and follow the way round the peninsula to the tip in about 15 minutes: this part is actually rather urbanised but still affords good views of the old town of Menton as well as of the Italian coast, up to Bordighera and San Remo.



The tip is really the start of the “Sentier des Douaniers‿ (sounds nice in French but which actually translates less romantically as the “Footpath of the Customs Officers‿) – fortunately this is also known as the Sentier Le Corbusier, named after the legendary Swiss-born architect, famed for his minimalist modern styles, who lived here until his death in 1965 and is buried in the village of Cap Martin. The path winds its way along the coast, offering fine views of the skyscrapers of Monte Carlo, the older buildings of Monaco Ville as well as hang-gliders diving from the mountains and landing on the beaches if they are lucky or the sea otherwise… If you’re interested in the amazing views offered by this, see the site of the local hang-gliding club. Various very secluded luxury villas with amazing views can be spotted if you are able to take your eyes off the water views and look upwards: the building pictured here is just the “seaside lodge‿ of the huge residence located on top of the hill and hidden away by rather impressive gardens!



At the end of the footpath, you can get a decent view of the medieval village of Roquebrune, which is a stiff walk uphill but worth it as the ancient castle has amazing bird’s eye views over Monaco and the surrounding mountains.



After this, you can either head back to Nice or wherever from Roquebrune-Cap Martin train station or sample the delights of the long and sandy Golfe Bleue beach: Le Corbusier also built a beach house on the Plage de la Buse, just before that. It is also possible to walk back to Monaco, also following the coastline: allow about 45 minutes for this. As with the Cap d’Ail itinerary, French speakers can find some excellent and detailed background information on the regional government website

Cap d'Ail, the Coastal Path and the Mala Beach

Another splendid and mild Sunday a few days ago so, despite a nasty cold, I couldn’t resist taking one of my favourite walks down the coast from Monaco into the town of Cap d’Ail just to west (in the direction of Nice). This small and pleasant residential town, built in several layers between sea level and the mountainside of the Tête de Chien, is not just a dormitory town for people working in Monaco, even though it is only one station away by train: there are several noteworthy attractions, notably the nice beaches, Belle Epoque architecture and various rather luxurious villas with numerous famous residents over the years - lets face it, a rather long time ago – such as Greta Garbo, Winston Churchill, Lord Beaverbrook, Sacha Guitry and the Lumière Brothers. If you’re interested in this, I’d advise to check out the Cap d’Ail Tourist Office website, which has quite a lot of decent information.

The Mala footpath

For me though, the main reason to head to Cap d’Ail is the wonderful 3,6 km long coastal path which can comfortably be covered in an hour and stretches from the Plage Marquet (500m west of the border with Monaco at Fontvieille) to the splendid Plage de la Mala. This footpath, not to be used during days with rough seas, can easily be accessed by car or on foot from Monaco train station: most of it is pretty easy even if you’re not great hikers, apart from the last approach to the Mala beach which is slightly more strenuous. In the summer, there isn’t much shade and things can get rather warm, especially around midday, so, as with any walks you do on the Riviera, bring plenty of suncream and more water than you think you need. I would advise you to cover it starting from Monaco and ending at the Mala (leaving the best till last), although it can also be done in the opposite direction.



Leaving behind the Monaco wall of concrete and the port of Cap d’Ail, the vegetation suddenly turns wild and one follows a succession or rocky coves and bays, whilst passing underneath sumptuous Belle Epoque villas, where one can only imagine the sumptuous views enjoyed by the inhabitants. There are also plenty of little detours and easily accessible coves with secluded areas to swim in. Finally, the last bend round the cape and a beautiful but strenuous staircase bring you to what, in my humble opinion, is probably the most secluded, magical and gorgeous beach on the whole Côte d’Azur (and that's saying a lot), la Mala.



The turquoise deep water bay is surrounded by limestone cliffs with a view of the eastern coast of the Cap Ferrat peninsula in the distance and I describe it to my guests as looking like Thailand. In summer, the water is dotted with yachts and the rather exclusive beach bar is packed by some of the rich and famous (have bumped into one of the former James Bonds several times there, relaxing and having a beer, which is why one of my British friends visiting knows la Mala as “Roger Moore Beach‿). But on a sunny and mild winter’s day like last Sunday, the beach isn’t too crowded, the footpath is full of local families and the beauty of the area is just surreal. Note that even from the train, you can get a great view from above of la Mala, just before arriving in Cap d’Ail station (in the direction of Monaco and Ventimiglia/Italy).

Do note that you can also get to la Mala from Cap d’Ail railway station: just head towards the sea, you’ll get to the footpath and turn right: the beach is about 10 minutes away. But if you have the time it would be a shame not to follow the footpath which will be a really memorable highlight of your stay on the Riviera and something not always mentioned in the guidebook. For more details for French speakers on this itinerary, there is some excellent and detailed background information on the regional government website

Getting to Cap d’Ail

Cap d’Ail is rather sprawled out along the coast from east to west along 5 kms.
- By train: Cap d’Ail train station is located in the town centre, about 3 kms west of Monaco and 10 kms east of Nice. There are regular coastal trains from either point, but make not all trains stop there, so check the timetables beforehand.
- By bus: Rapides Côte d’Azur line 100 provides services from Nice and Monaco approximately every 15 minutes. Allow during off peak hours about 15 minutes from Monaco and 35 from Nice, cost is €1,30 for a single journey regardless of the distance (the same applies for any bus trip within the Alpes Maritimes region, since January 2006)

A welcome note

Just a quick word of welcome and introduction to this blog...

My name is Kevin, I am originally from the sunny city of London, England but have lived in and around the French Riviera (in Monaco, actually) since 1989, when I started experiencing the delights of the local schooling system in the language of Molière.



In September 2004, I figured it would be fun to run my own business and, despite never having worked in the tourist industry, therefore decided to purchase a small hotel in the centre of Nice, the Hotel Notre Dame: life was a rollercoaster ride ever since, with enough interesting adventures within the day to day management of the hotel to write a very thick novel.

I ended up selling the hotel in March 2007 and am now back in Monaco doing something completely different but still enjoying life here.

One of the advantages of the hotel however was that, given the hugely cosmopolitan nature of the client base - this may seem like a cliché but in my case, the clients really did come from all over the world - it was a real pleasure to chat with clients, exchange information about the Riviera and to learn more about their own cultures.

I have tried since I moved here in 1989 to glean as much practical information as possible about what to see, do and where to eat in the area, and figured that a blog would be an ideal platform for potential visitors to learn more about the Riviera, beyond the stereotypes of glitz, glamour and Z-list celebrities that may be spread around by the press (with the notable exception of St Tropez in the summer!).

I just want to underline that all the restaurants I recommend are listed here purely on merit, simply because I tried them personally and enjoyed my meal there (and I do enjoy eating out and sampling lots of places). There is therefore never any form of bribery involved for a good review!

So, I hope that you enjoy the tips and please do not hesitate to send me any feedback, positive or negative, that you may have, I won't bite...

Many thanks to Angélique Moreau, for having suggested the idea of a blog, and to Alexandre Tomasini, the founder of web and graphic design company MMS in Monaco and the technical brains behind the blog itself.

A Patagonian Panorama

Basically, this is what I was up to when I closed the hotel down in January. Right, you may think that this is nothing to do with the French Riviera and you will be absolutely correct, but the southern tip of South America is a really phenomenal part of the world - the end of the world - so I figured that it would only be right to mention it briefly in this blog and put up some photos for anyone curious. This part of South America is not the place to go for a great culture shock: for that, go to Egypt (to see fabulous historical monuments), to Vietnam (to experience a different lifestyle), to India (to observe grinding poverty and filth) or to Turkmenistan (to see golden statues of the local President/"Father of the People") instead. But the feeling of being at the end of the world really
provides an undescribable buzz and the landscapes are nevertheless a match for anywhere else in the world. Besides, South America is the talk of the town due to some rather interesting political developments in recent months, so pretty fascinating to see what's going on "on the spot".

The itinerary

The plan was to fly to the sun in Santiago de Chile, then get on a very large cruise ship (called Celebrity Cruises' Millennium) which would take me 2,000 miles down the Pacific Ocean through the Chilean Lake District, past glaciers and fjords towards the southern tip of the continent and places with mythical names such as the Straits of Magellan, the Beagle Channel, Ushuaia and Cape Horn. Then sail northwards another 2,000 miles up the Atlantic coast past the British Falkland islands, stopping over in Argentine Patagonia before winding up in the capital cities of Montevideo and Buenos Aires and heading back to work.

Here are some of the highlights of these rather memorable 19 days.

Santiago, Chile



The warm, dry and sunny capital of Chile could be anywhere in Southern Europe, apart from the mixed origins of the population (generally Spanish and Mapucho Indian) and the rather impressive snow-capped Andean peaks looming in the distance. The chic and leafy Providencia neighbourhood where I stayed reminded me mainly of Madrid, with a trendy crowd of businessmen during the day and yuppies at night, patronising restaurant terraces and consuming steaks and pisco sours. Most of the tourist attractions were located in the downtown area, an efficient 10-minute tube ride away, with the mandatory (for any big city) pedestrian street, presidential palace (this one had the misfortune of having been bombed by the air force during a rather nasty coup in 1973 hence its rather “fresh‿ appearance) and very green central square with a colonial cathedral. The centre was actually rather grim, crowded and felt unsafe so I mainly retreated to the safety of Providencia and the very nice Hotel Orly, which I can heartily recommend. There was a "democratic" presidential election that weekend, which was interesting to observe: eventually, Michele Bachelet, a single mother whose election posters somehow outnumbered her billionaire businessman rival’s by a ratio of 3-to-1 won to become the one of the first women presidents of a Latin American country whose politician husband hadn’t died violently.


The Chilean Lake District



The first stop of the cruise was in Puerto Montt, the sea port about midway between Santiago and the southern tip, after 36 rather rough hours at sea. But the main draw is to head slightly inland towards Argentina: this area is gorgeous, with emerald-coloured lakes, imposing snow-capped volcanoes and waterfalls with basaltic rock: genuine Lord of the Rings territory, you just expect to see two giant statues at the gateway to the bay! Lake Llanquihue is the second largest on the continent after the unmistakable Lake Titicaca in Peru/Bolivia. Actually, this could be anywhere in Bavaria or in the Swiss Alps, which it looks like because of the architecture: in the 1800s, the Chilean government invited a group of Germans to colonise this wet and windy part of the country and set up a timber industry, which they did with great teutonic efficiency, hence the considerable influence still there now. Incidentally, another group of Germans/Austrians also arrived (maybe uninvited this time) in the mid-1940s in the same area, but we won’t go there…

Fjords and glaciers



Pristine air, imposing waterfalls, fjords, ever-changing skies, small icebergs, calm waters, seals and seabirds, little bays, nature, glaciers, erm looks like Norway, erm or Alaska, lots of photos...



The Straits of Magellan



The Portuguese explorer discovered these in 1520 as well as the Pacific Ocean in the process, with howling winds and rough seas. This rather long strait (actually a succession of lots of different bays) separates the American continental landmass from the island of Tierra del Fuego which may seem tiny on the globe but is in fact the size of Ireland. Though the weather was a bit better this time, it was fascinating to be here: daylight until 11pm, black and foaming water, lead grey skies, snow-capped peaks with dark mountains, no sign of human life. It is simply an amazing experience to stand at the front of the ship, breathe in some fresh air, and listen to Mezzanine by Massive Attack at full volume.

Punta Arenas, Chile



We’re getting into pompous “southernmost‿ terms here: technically, this is the southernmost “city‿ in the world, as it has over 100,000 people. Actually it was too warm, westernised and sunny to feel remote, though the strong wind did remind where we were standing and there was really nothing to do there. A few Belle Epoque monuments (this place used to be very rich until the day the Panama Canal was built – ouch, they mustn’t have been too happy when they received the news 6 months afterwards!), a very pompous 1846 commerorative statue of Senhor Magallanes (kissing the foot of the Indian at the bottom guarantees a return to South America – so I did it of course, as you do) and a massive hunt to find somewhere that served a pisco sour as opposed to the rather gruesome local beer. Eventually found a very manky “British‿ pub that could do so - the pisco sours were fabulous!

Ushuaia, Argentina



As well as being a very popular French TV programme about conservation hosted by a younger version of David Attenborough, this is the southernmost “town‿ in the world (less than 100,000 inhabitants) and is part of Ar-hen-tina on the southern coast of Tierra del Fuego island, which is divided between Chile and Argentina by one of the north-south lines that span the globe. Located on the Beagle channel (the boat of Captain Fitzroy and Charles Darwin which discovered this area whilst heading to the Galapagos to collect turtle eggs and take pictures of iguanas), this place is actually phenomenally beautiful, surrounded by last peaks of the Andes and stuck at the end of a bay. Very calm water (felt like a fjord, hard to contemplate 150km/h winds) so took a catamaran cruise to see an island with sea lions, the “Lighthouse At The End Of The World Inc.‿ (complete with red and white horizontal bands) and a rather nice national park. The town of Ushuaia (a waterfront and a shopping street up the hill) was teaming with tourists trying to find a boat trip to Antarctica, looking for original t-shirts and eating the rather frightening centolla, a massive king crab that allegedly tastes nice and probably eats baby albatross for breakfast. Much nicer than Punta Arenas at any rate: Argentina 1-Chile 0.

Puerto Williams, Chile



4000 inhabitants, mainly military: the southernmost inhabited “village‿ thing in the world, part of Chile (hence the rivalry) and located on the northern coast of Isla Navarino, across the Beagle Channel from Ushuaia. I only mention it because we stopped here to get clearance for Cape Horn (yippee!) and I got a couple of nice photos. Incidentally, looks very nice like this but you wouldn’t want to be stuck alone in those mountains without a torch – and the water is probably a bit chilly.

Cape Horn, Chile



Got up at 6am and stood in the cold to take a picture of the “Black Cliff of Dover‿. OK, fair enough, it is the “End of the World As We Know It‿ and is rather impressive but the sea was calm without the 150km/h winds, so seemed rather lame. I’m sure Ellen MacArthur would beg to differ… Actually Cape Horn is the southernmost island of an archipelago that stretches south from the Beagle Channel towards Antarctica and has a Chilean garrison as well as a recent but rather cool sculpture of an albatross on the back. There’s a very nice Chilean poem to accompany this, which I’ll put on here when I can find it on the internet, something about the sailors who perished in the neighbourhood.

Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland



You may have noticed, I mentioned the rather calm seas and the absence of 150km/h winds beforehand. Well, that wasn't the case anymore: this is about as close as we could get to the Falklands, so no stop there (photo was taken a few hours north when I could stand up again and the skies had cleared up a bit). A bit of a shame really, as I will probably never bother going back there again and wanted to lay a wreath on the war memorial and the scene of Maggie’s greatest triumph. By the way, in case you were wondering, the Falklands didn’t sink into the ocean during the war, there are 500,000 sheep and 2,000 inhabitants, and the islands still belong to Britain (ie. weren’t returned to Argentina through a secret treaty 6 months after the fighting, despite all the propaganda billboards in Buenos Aires claiming the contrary)!

Puerto Madryn, Argentina



Sunny Puerto Madryn, a Patagonian seaside resort town originally colonised by the Welsh with granite cliffs and the pampas leading the way to the Valdes peninsula, a natural reserve with elephant seals, penguins, orcas and right whales. So was really happy when we were told that the port had been closed due to high winds and we had no other choice but to sail two more days north to Montevideo, amounting to a grand total of 5 consecutive days at sea on what was starting to feel like the Titanic. Took this photo to say “I’ve been there‿…

Montevideo, Uruguay



Nice place to finally get off the boat: if Santiago looks like Madrid now, Montevideo is Madrid or Rome 60 years ago. The beautiful 1930s skyscrapers, massive green parks, massive Congress building and café culture all suggest that this was one of the most prosperous countries in the world at that time. But what went wrong since then? Probably military dictatorship and economic mismanagement, plus the rise of veganism (given that there is quite a lot of beef produced around there)… It is a lovely town to walk around nevertheless, with great architecture, notably the Salvo Palace (pictured above), and a more laid-back, safer and friendlier atmosphere than Buenos Aires with some very nice sandy beaches. Had lunch in the picturesque harbour market with char-grilled meats which looked and smelled gorgeous but which broke my jaw whilst trying to chew them. Was looking for buseca, a spicy oxtail soup I’d had on my last visit 12 years earlier, but was told that you could only find it in July or August as a winter warmer – shame!

Buenos Aires, Argentina



I was last here in 1994 and loved it – this time though it seemed that the economic crisis of 5 years ago had taken its toll in a much more visible manner than in Uruguay: besides, it was cloudy, hot and sticky the whole time. Cosmetically, all is very beautiful with the belle époque facades from the turn of the century when Argentina was still very rich – imagine Rome with Spanish speakers and the melancholy strains of tango or the ghost of Eva Peron floating in the air, but the underlying problems still remain, as illustrated by the beggars, street children and shantytowns. Besides, it was very safe before – not anymore… At the same time, this massive but well-structured harbour city is showing signs of improvement, with the development of a new “docklands‿ district called Puerto Madero and monuments like the Casa Rosada (the Presidential Palace, pictured above) are immortal. Also and very importantly, the food is excellent and cheap, this massive slab of fillet steak (“baby beef‿) just costing the equivalent of USD13!



A Note about Cruising on the Millennium



Cruising is a journey and travelling experience in itself as opposed to just a way for getting from A to B and, like any means of travel, has its advantages and drawbacks, which I will very objectively list here:

• PROS
- Relaxation: great to chill out reading a book, do sports (if you can stand up whilst the boat is rolling the waves), watch a film (updated my rom-com mental library), go to see a theatre show, attend a cultural lecture, gamble, shop etc etc By the way, this book - "The Fail-Proof Enterprise" by Bob Thomas - is excellent.
- Good food: cordon bleu cuisine served 3 times a day with excellent staff, each meal having up to 6 courses.
- Get to see the scenery from a totally different perspective: how else to get so close to Cape Horn and the Magellan Straits?
- Stay in a 5-star hotel with excellent valet service
- Excellent and well-trained crew with great reactivity when something goes pear-shaped to ensure everybody stays happy.
- Wake up in a different port every day (at least that’s the plan!)
- No need to do everything and be pampered: you’re driven, fattened up and entertained, a similar activity level to that of an elephant seal.

• CONS
- No sense of culture shock or adventure: you get off for a shore excursion when the boat actually stops and end up getting back into your luxury cocoon at the end of the day. No contact with the locals, their food or their beverages…
- Being stuck on a giant ship with 1,899 other passengers for two weeks can get a bit annoying.
- Boredom strikes after a while: besides, all the relaxing activities listed above can be done at home, why pay so much money to go to the end of the world?
- At the end of the cruise you’re asked to fork out almost the price of the trip to pay gratuities to all the staff members. That’s fair enough as they’re mostly excellent and aren’t paid salaries aside from that but in Europe, we’re not used to being forced to pay “compulsory tips‿.
- It’s probably more worthwhile travelling by plane, train or automobile to get a better feel for a place. Cruising is better for travellers who cruising for the sake of the cruising experience. It was an interesting experience and definitely worth it, but in the future, if I do head back to Patagonia (which I am now destined to, I kissed the Indian’s foot in Punta Arenas, after all), I’ll do it independently.

Nice restaurants - Chez Poupon et Marinette

Forget what most guidebooks say about trying Niçois food in the Old Nice; with the exception of a few excellent places (about four good addresses), most of the purportedly “traditional‿ places are overpriced tourist traps. For the real deal, Poupon et Marinette, named after the elderly couple that have run it with their family since 1968, is a must and you can’t get more traditional than this. Mr Sigaut, aka Poupon, used to be the head cook at the Palais de la Méditerranée casino restaurant during its heyday in the 1960s before opening this small place in the popular neighbourhood of la Madeleine. A single menu at €22 awaits, with a starter of pissaladière, fried vegetables and anchoïade (a local anchovy paste with olive oil). But the real treat is the main course, generally various stews that change each week, including the daube with porcini mushrooms, the lamb fricassee, Poupon’s special rabbit stew and the legendary menon, a wild goat cooked in a tomato sauce with lots of garlic and peppers. All these dishes are served in traditional copper cooking pots: don’t expect a great deal of refinement of course, but this is easily compensated by a pleasant atmosphere and delightful service from the owners who really make you feel as if you are invited into their country home.

102 boulevard de la Madeleine 06000 NICE, tel: 04 93 86 21 39, open every day except Sundays, annual holidays from mid-July to mid-September. It is pretty far from the town centre, so to get there either take a car or else bus line no.3 from Place Massena towards La Madeleine

Useful links

This section lists various sites that can provide information not yet available on this blog. As mentioned, this is an advertising-free list so all links are posted entirely at my discretion.


Read unbiased opinions about
hotels and
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Nice restaurants - Restaurant d'Angleterre

A very decent family-run restaurant about 2 minutes’ walk away from my hotel, so a favourite with the guests who always return with rave reviews about the value-for money. Expect massive portions of hearty, classical French food at very reasonable prices: the three-course menus vary from €14.50 to €27 according to the type of dish. The cheapest menu is already excellent and for the €27, you can expect dishes like foie gras, sole meunière or even the delicious and very rare poêlée de ris de veau à l’ancienne for offal-lovers. Do not expect the most refined decoration as the place is very busy so not ideal for a romantic meal, but the service is always breezy and friendly. Either book in advance or go early as the place has a very loyal following in the neighbourhood.

25 rue d’Angleterre, 06000 NICE, tel: 04 93 88 64 49, closed on Sunday evenings and Mondays. Closed for annual holidays until 20 December 2005.