Cote d'Azure, 2023
Family Vacation
A family was interested in a southern France vacation during spring break so we chose to make Nice our home base and the Mediterranean Sea our backdrop. After a guided walking tour to get our bearings, we delved into learning more about the city itself, the surrounding areas of interest, and the regional food. Oh! The food! Unforgettable meals with food you can't find anywhere else, like pissaladière, socca, and pan begnat. Other trip highlights were the botanical gardens, the antique market (antiques in Europe are SO antique!), scoping out the yachts of the rich and famous (we saw Paul Allen's megaship), making our own perfume, and hearing the daily BOOM at noon from the cannon on the hilltop. We also spotted Sir Elton John's house but unfortunately not the Legend himself. The stunning beauty of the area and the generous hospitality of the people is incomparable.
Perfume
Grasse is the international capital of perfume and it's a fascinating town to check out! We visited a perfumer and, after learning the basics of how to formulate a perfume, we were given access to dozen of scents in order to concoct our own.
Gardens
The temperate climate of the south of France makes for exceptional beauty when it comes to plants. We visited (three? four?) different botanical gardens. Each one was unique and special. Notice the photo of Libby, above, in front of a giant agave plant.
Socca
Most Americans have probably not heard of socca, one of the true regional dishes of Nissa. It's made from chickpeas and the fishermen used to eat it in the morning to keep them satisfied until they returned to shore with their catch. I like mine with salt and pepper and paired with an Aperol Spritz.