Day #8 St Paul de Vence and Farewell Dinner

 It's the last day! Today we went to St Paul de Vence and had our Farewell Dinner. The highlights.... 

St Paul de Vence is a walled city in the French Alps. It's been an artist's colony for most of its life and has plenty of tiny shops and art galleries. It's a fun place to walk around, then sit with a glass of wine and watch the world go by. I may have done some good shopping while I was there, with things that are more difficult to find in America, but I wouldn't admit to it.....  :)  St Paul's also did a good job of reminding me that we were in the French Alps. Lots of hills and steps! 

Later that evening was the Farewell Dinner at Bozzi. Departures started at 6am the next day, so this was the last chance we all had to hang out. I have to give credit to Collette Tours, they did a good job of finding restaurants with good food and that could accommodate a group of 40+ people. Eating French food for the past 8+ days has really given me incentive to cook better things for myself. The difference in taste is amazing. 

One more story, even though it's technically the day after. Most of you know my fascination with Hermes. I was in the London airport with 15 minutes to spare on my way home, and passed right by the Hermes store. The rumors were that the airport stores were tiny and never had anything good. But.....I made the split second decision to try. And I got my bag! The one I wanted, in a gorgeous color. The sales ladies were the nicest I'd ever worked with in an Hermes store, as well. Totally a worthwhile stop! :) 

......and now, the pictures! 

St Paul - tiny streets, mostly uphill. Looked like something out of a medieval fairy tale. 

Couldn't get a good picture of it, but I loved the sculpture in the window. 

More of pretty St Paul 

The walled city

Can you imagine walking down this alley in America? Again, the definition of normal.... 

At lunch we spoke with a lady who had a home in St Paul and one in Monaco. Wow..... 

Pretty walking places

Most of the mailboxes were painted with intricate scenes. Again, art everywhere 

A bulldog on a skateboard, carrying an Hermes bag. Made me giggle. 

I got the bag! 

More art, this time from the airport. 

Final view from the hotel room. Gorgeous.... 

Jill told me I had to put this picture of her in the blog. She kept us laughing for most of the trip. 

More of the ladies - Caroline and Ruth

The dinner table

40+ people at dinner - not an easy feat to accomplish! 

Teri and Jill - some of the ladies

Caroline - the one I want to be able to dress like. She helped me tie my scarf on the way to dinner.... 

This was labeled on the menu as "chocolate cake". So much better than just chocolate cake!

Beef with gnocchi. Yummmmmm....... 

Roasted veggies with some sort of sausage filling. Gonna need to learn how to make this myself. 

The menu from the farewell dinner. All good food! 

Day #7 Villa Rothschild and a fabulous restaurant

 Good morning from France! The trip is winding down, and for some reason I'm up really, really early so you get a blog post. Day #7 was more beautiful things - beautiful homes, gardens and food. We visited the Villa Rothschild in the morning, then in the afternoon there was an optional trip to Eze. I didn't think there was enough time to look around in Eze, and there was also a restaurant I really, really wanted to go to so I stayed behind. Definitely the right choice - more on that later. 

The Villa Rothschild was absolutely beautiful. Originally built by the Ephrussi family and later gifted to the Rothschilds, it's a beautiful piece of Belle Epoque architecture. It also featured some gardens that were amazing. On a related note - the houses (Maisons) in the surrounding area were fantastic as well. Several of us decided it would be a great idea to pool our money and rent one. It should only take about 80+ of us..... 

.....and the dinner! I had read about a tiny restaurant located off a side street in Nice called La Cucina. When I say tiny, I mean it could only hold about 10 people, max. It's run by 2 brothers and their mom, and the food was supposed to be amazing. La Cucina doesn't open until 6:30pm, but people are regularly lining up by 5:30pm to get a seat. I arrived right at 5:30pm and was (very politely) told there was no way in he^& I was getting a seat, people had already beaten me to the punch. The waiter and I went back and forth in discussion for a while, until (just as I was about to give up and walk away), his expression changed and he said "Well, we can squeeze one more table in the back. Let's get you into the line." Success! I waited for over an hour, but it was totally worth it. Lamb so tender it fell off the bone, delicious rose wine, and lovely tiramisu. Surrounding me was a table from Denmark, a table from the USA, one from Canada, and me. In a French / Italian restaurant. Truly an international experience. 

.....and now, the pictures! 

Some of the mansions surrounding the Villa. Please note the perfectly manicured gardens, the swimming pool, the walkways...... 

Me! 

Gardens, views, and one of me! :) 

La Cucina. If you didn't know it was there, you wouldn't find it. Off the side alley of a side alley. 

Sangria while I was waiting in line.....

Dinner. Lamb with mashed potatoes (mashed?) and Rose. 

Tiramisu and a shot of limoncello for dessert. I had to (discreetly)) google how to drink the limoncello while I was sitting there. You're supposed to sip it as a palate cleanser. 

This was the entire restaurant. The tables you can see are all the tables that existed. The kitchen was behind the back wall. All open air and yummy!

The line waiting was 20 people deep by the time I left...... They had been told to expect a 2+ hour wait. The waiter said this was an everyday occurrence.