Côte Abode
http://www.loumessugo.com/en/blog
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
MY PARENTS' CHATEAU
This is all about a beautiful apartment in Nice in a château. A château in the centre of Nice? That can't be possible!, I hear you say. Well it is, believe me. My parents have lived here happily for some years. It is a well-kept secret. Tucked away from the bustle of the city, the château sits apart in its own grounds decorated with eccentric statues (a lion wrestling a crocodile is just one of the more outlandish pieces). Yet it is only a quick skip to the beach and the centre of town on foot.
The château has a rather grand pedigree. Built circa 1850 in a fantastical neo-Gothic meets Moorish style, its gardens originally stretched down to the Promenade and sea front of Nice. The second owner, Count Joseph Caravadossi d'Asprement, took it over in 1879. It was later passed to his son who had married a wealthy American heiress, Elizabeth de Groot. Tragically the son died young as did his wife and daughter. Some say the castle is haunted. (but we can't say we have seen a ghost).
But back to the apartment (which is for sale, by the way). Glorious high ceilings, original black and white marble floors, lead skylights. The apartment is an elegant example of fin-de-siècle style. And the pièce de resistance - a garden with 400-year old olive trees.
Stepping through the front door is to step back in history but with twenty-first century Nice on your doorstep. It's the best of all worlds, one could say.
For enquiries about the Château apartment, please email home@coteabode.com
The Lou Messugo #AllAboutFrance blog link up, see here
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Beaches of the Côte d'Azur
Plage Mala, Cap d'Ail
It's official. The first swim of the season on the Côte d'Azur. Or rather, I dived into the exquisite turquoise-blue water and almost immediately ran out. Yes the water was really that cold, but the sun was hot and the day has been perfect.
Although I have lived here for many years I have never been to the mythical Plage Mala, Cap d'Ail, near Monaco. So it was about time I took a trip. It is often mooted as the most beautiful beach on the Côte, the most unspoilt and so on. In reality it is very nice, but not as unspoilt as I had hoped. (But then, I'm from New Zealand so unspoilt beaches for me are another thing altogether.)
The thing about Plage Mala that keeps it relatively low-key is the difficulty of getting there. There are 120 steps or so down to the beach. Going down, not so bad. Coming up, just a bit harder. You can also walk along the coastal path from Monaco, but this takes time. The extremely stylish alternative is to arrive by yacht and be ferried ashore. I think I am going to go for that option next time.
There are two restaurant-clubs on the beach. Both very cool and very expensive (the young Monaco crowd obviously likes to hang here). But we took home-made sandwiches like real Niçois locals do and sat on the pebbles. You get use to them, honest you do. Anyway, sun loungers are for sissies.
So that's Plage Mala for you. Stunningly beautiful, difficult to get to, but not as remote and unspoilt as I would have hoped.
I'll carry on my swims of the summer around the Côte's different beaches and report back.
Friday, May 1, 2015
how to blend in like a local
HOW TO BLEND IN LIKE A LOCAL ON THE RIVIERA
Holiday season has started on the Côte d'Azur and I've been thinking about tourists and how so often they would like to blend in but don't. So here are a few tips to get you looking and behaving like a local on the French Riviera
SUNGLASSES
It is mandatory at all times to wear sunglasses - indoors and out; day and night. They must be designer and the bigger the better if you are a woman. We don't take them off as not only do they protect our eyes from the sunshine, but after several hours of wearing them they leave rather unattractive marks on our cheeks. So it's better just to keep them on.
CARRY A BAGUETE
Go to a boulangerie and buy a baguette and carry it around with you. People will think you are a local going home with your bread. It really works.
NICE MATIN THE 'JOURNAL' OF THE LOCALS
Nice Matin, what can we say? The daily newspaper of the Côte that swings between a double-page spread on a boule competition in Grasse to the latest murder in a Nice neighbourhood. It appears to be written in old French and has footnotes. Yes footnotes in a daily rag! For that alone we love it. Pretend to read it in the café. Perhaps you will not understand a word. But neither do most locals.
LOCALS DO NOT WEAR HATS
I can't stress this one enough. Sunglasses good. Hats bad. It is tempting to go all 50s Audrey Hepburn-Riviera-straw-hat but the local women would not be seen dead in one. As for the Panama hat for men. Please don't go there. The most you will see is an 'ado' (teenager) with a baseball cap trying to look cool and American, and failing. Locals do not wear hats.
THE SHOPPING BASKET ON WHEELS
I promise that this will guarantee you local street (market) creed. I know that your dream is to go to the market with that cute Provençal straw basket. I had that dream, too, once upon a time. Reality is this says 'tourist'. Most of us carry around scrunched-up plastic recyclable supermarket bags (if you want to be trendy, an Italian supermarket bag says something extra). But to go the whole way, then the shopping trolley - the more battered the better - really shouts 'local'. Make sure you bang in to a few people as you march through the market muttering to yourself.
ROSE WINE
Drink only rosé and ask for ice with it to be served in a separate glass with a spoon. It is one of life's mysteries that rosé can range from €2.50 a bottle to €20 and it all tastes exactly the same. So order the cheapest and pile on the ice cubes like the locals do.
GET A DOG
If all else fails, get a dog. The smaller the better is the rule and they must go with you everywhere, especially to restaurants where they can be given a seat at the table. There is nothing like a dog to signal that you have stopped playing at being a local and can now be taken seriously.
Ciao!, as they say here (this will also help if you speak like a local)
This is a link to a blog we like at Côte Abode - All about France http://www.loumessugo.com/en/blog/entry/all-about-france-4
Holiday season has started on the Côte d'Azur and I've been thinking about tourists and how so often they would like to blend in but don't. So here are a few tips to get you looking and behaving like a local on the French Riviera
SUNGLASSES
It is mandatory at all times to wear sunglasses - indoors and out; day and night. They must be designer and the bigger the better if you are a woman. We don't take them off as not only do they protect our eyes from the sunshine, but after several hours of wearing them they leave rather unattractive marks on our cheeks. So it's better just to keep them on.
CARRY A BAGUETE
Go to a boulangerie and buy a baguette and carry it around with you. People will think you are a local going home with your bread. It really works.
NICE MATIN THE 'JOURNAL' OF THE LOCALS
Nice Matin, what can we say? The daily newspaper of the Côte that swings between a double-page spread on a boule competition in Grasse to the latest murder in a Nice neighbourhood. It appears to be written in old French and has footnotes. Yes footnotes in a daily rag! For that alone we love it. Pretend to read it in the café. Perhaps you will not understand a word. But neither do most locals.
LOCALS DO NOT WEAR HATS
I can't stress this one enough. Sunglasses good. Hats bad. It is tempting to go all 50s Audrey Hepburn-Riviera-straw-hat but the local women would not be seen dead in one. As for the Panama hat for men. Please don't go there. The most you will see is an 'ado' (teenager) with a baseball cap trying to look cool and American, and failing. Locals do not wear hats.
THE SHOPPING BASKET ON WHEELS
I promise that this will guarantee you local street (market) creed. I know that your dream is to go to the market with that cute Provençal straw basket. I had that dream, too, once upon a time. Reality is this says 'tourist'. Most of us carry around scrunched-up plastic recyclable supermarket bags (if you want to be trendy, an Italian supermarket bag says something extra). But to go the whole way, then the shopping trolley - the more battered the better - really shouts 'local'. Make sure you bang in to a few people as you march through the market muttering to yourself.
ROSE WINE
Drink only rosé and ask for ice with it to be served in a separate glass with a spoon. It is one of life's mysteries that rosé can range from €2.50 a bottle to €20 and it all tastes exactly the same. So order the cheapest and pile on the ice cubes like the locals do.
GET A DOG
If all else fails, get a dog. The smaller the better is the rule and they must go with you everywhere, especially to restaurants where they can be given a seat at the table. There is nothing like a dog to signal that you have stopped playing at being a local and can now be taken seriously.
Ciao!, as they say here (this will also help if you speak like a local)
This is a link to a blog we like at Côte Abode - All about France http://www.loumessugo.com/en/blog/entry/all-about-france-4
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Fayence and around
FAYENCE AND AROUND
It's an unusual week for me. I am leaving the Côte d'Azur coast that I am so familiar with for the hills far above Cannes. The 'perched' villages of Fayence, Seillans and Caillans are in the Var, but only about 40 minutes away from Nice.
It's another world. Less hectic than the coast with a generous dash of Provençal charm. These villages are very quiet at the moment, but will soon come to life as Spring arrives.
It's another world. Less hectic than the coast with a generous dash of Provençal charm. These villages are very quiet at the moment, but will soon come to life as Spring arrives.
The trip is to show a client around with a good but modest budget. He wants a house, and with house prices on the coast so high, these small, charming inland villages are an incredible bargain by comparison. For the price of a two-bedroom apartment in Cannes, you can find a whole house with a pool in this neck of the woods.
After doing several research trips I am quite pleased to have discovered a new side to living here. After years of resisting going up the hill, I now think I may have found an area that is not only beautiful and not far away, but also affordable. May it last!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)