Nice, France

Italian Festival, Nice, France

There is an Italian Festival in Nice this weekend (May 30-Jun1) and all sorts of products are on display for sale along the Quai des Etats-Unis overlooking the fabulous blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea!

After a delightful lunch at Voglia, we discovered that the same owners now have an adjoining restaurant, Di Piu with open views to the Mediterranean Sea!  This will definitely be our next stop for lunch when we visit Nice next time!

With gentle breezes blowing, we crossed over to the seaside to take hold of the Italian Fair.  We shopped for sweet Italian sausage, 4 year old Parmesan Cheese, black truffle, truffle oil and truffle salt! We strolled and strolled and sampled so much but one can only buy and eat so much!

Laden with bags full of goodies, we stopped at our favorite coffee store, Nespresso.  Yes, you could have a cup of coffee, but it is a shop to buy your coffee capsules or maybe the latest Nespresso coffee machine.  While gorgeous Penelope Cruz markets a Nespresso coffee machine in the US, here in Europe George Clooney has been making the commercials for many years!  We purchased more than a month's worth of coffee capsules and left the shop now fully loaded down with more shopping bags than we had hands!

When we arrived home, we opened all the shopping bags to our own oohs and aahs - and the scent of truffle filled our kitchen!  Of course dinner was cancelled and instead we enjoyed a bottle of wine, some cheeses, a little sausage and delightful salad dressed with white truffle oil and sweet aged balsamic vinegar - with tiny tomatoes from our garden!  Delightful!
Here's a short video snapshot of the day!

Pasta, Cheese and Dry Italian Sausage

     Well, we have been here 10 days and already made the trip to Italy - Ventimiglia specifically for a day of shopping at the market for cheese, pasta, produce and more.  This time, we took the "granny bag".  What is a "granny bag" you ask?   Well, when I was growing up I went food shopping with my mother and she had a metal shopping cart.  We were able to stack 4-6 brown paper bags (half or three-quarter full) of groceries.  Never saw these shopping carts again once I could drive - you now drive your groceries home...or when we lived in Manhattan you had someone else drive them home for you!
     Anyway, come to France and not everyone has a car, a few small local mini-markets can delivery your groceries but for the most part, you take your "granny bag" and either walk home or you take the bus!  This version of the shopping cart has a set of wheels, a kick stand and a canvas bag attached to the frame with a flap over the top - protects your groceries from sun, rain, wind and gawkers.  While not as large as the US version, this little shopping cart does hold quite a bit - especially handy if the stuff you are buying is heavy!          Ours is a black "granny bag" - a gift from our British neighbors when they moved away.  For several past trips to Ventimiglia's market, I have suggested we take the "granny bag"... and the reply has been: "nah, we won't need it, we're not buying that much, we'll just take a shopping bag"...yeah right - on the last trip the shopping bag was laden down with hunks of cheeses, kilos of pasta and any other items we can fit into it.  That trip was the deciding factor - the bag was so heavy we had to each carry a handle and every so often switch sides because your hand would be aching from the weight never mind the pull on your shoulder!  Ah...the "granny bag"...I dreamt of it as we lugged that shopping bag - I know we're gonna love it!
     On this trip we took our pliable cooler bag, inserted a few ice-packs and slipped the whole thing into the granny bag and off we went.  First stop - a massive hunk of aged (24 mos) parmesano cheese.  Price per pound? $7.50 Oh, a wheel of parmesano cheese dotted with black truffle...$15  Throw in some hot dry Sopressata sausage and grated cheese...that should do us for a couple of weeks.  Next stop: pasta!  Momma mia - almost 2 1/4 lbs of ravioli was only $15 and almost 2 1/4 lbs of fresh spaghetti was only $7.  All that pasta will make 16 servings for an average of $2 per serving.  Can you believe it?  Strawberries are in and we could not resist a huge basket for only $4.50 - the sweet smell was incredible...we made up 3 portions of strawberries - it was too much to eat in one sitting and they were perfectly ripe and would not last for another 3 or 4 days in the fridge; we froze two portions.  Wait 'til you see the photo of what one portion looks like!  Oh, the soup greens: two bags for $5 - cooked it up, made 8 servings for about $1.25 each!
     So, after looking at all the food and knowing what we had in "granny bag", we were hungry and needed to stop for lunch.  We decided upon a restaurant we've walked by, and commented on, each time we passed it.  Boy oh boy, was it good!  This is definitely our stop for lunch each and every time: for $20 each we had some meal.  First the chef sent out a wedge of egg/potato/parsley/basil torta.  Then our starters: I have a huge plateful of grilled veggies, my husband had a vegetarian lasagne, we both had veal in white wine as the main meal and then we got dessert: I had chocolate gelato and while he had the Tiramisu - excellent from start to finish.  Remember, the $20 included tax and tip...of course we always leave another 5-10% for service.  Below is a picture of the restaurant because if and when you come to Italy or the Cote d'Azur, Ventimiglia should be one of your stops for the market and Restaurant Cuneo must be your lunch stop!
(www.ristorantecuneo.com)

Pasta, Cheeses, Fruits & Veggies

This is ONE portion of Strawberries served up with Proseco, of course!

Restaurant Cuneo, Ventimiglia

Delightful interior - and impeccable!

Group Cruise Planned

On The Travel Side of Life....

I am thinking of assembling one or two European cruise groups for late Spring into Summer 2015.  The schedules, pricing, ships and itineraries have not been published yet, but having the time now does allow for saving/budgeting for such a trip.

If you've never been to Europe, this is a great way to see many cities with comfort and ease.  If you have traveled through Europe, but not by cruise, it is a great experience.  Aside from cruises calling on ports all along the shores Western and Northern Europe, there are also river cruises that offer a slower more relaxed pace winding their way into the heart of Europe.  I have one or two of these river cruises in mind.

When the 2015 Spring/Summer Europe catalogues are available, I will outline what  group space has been reserved.  The group space will be for: (1) travelers who want to do thing own thing once ashore, and (2) for those who would like an escorted tour for all or part of the cruise stops; either way travelers will enjoy the benefits of a group travel booking!  These benefits vary by cruise line and itinerary and are always a welcome "treat" as a result of booking through a travel agent's reserved group space.

I'll keep you posted....

www.VirtualGlobalTravel.com

Arriving to France!

There is an amusing ending to this post....

The day finally rolled around for our trip to France.  We'd be travelling a little later this year, just about the time of the Cannes Film Festival (mid-May).  We were just glad to have gotten seats on the flight considering how many international celebrities and their entourages book seats in advance, in anticipation of the world class film event.  But, we did get our seats, on the flights we wanted and were so happy to be travelling.

It was a great flight on Air France - Premium Economy Class - that afforded us few little perks that went a long way for comfort and ease of travel.  First our TWO BAGS EACH are checked free and tagged "Priority" - they will be among the first group of bags to come off the plane; we boarded and disembarked as "Priority" - but the best was Security/Immigration/Passport Control: dedicated lanes marked "Priority" which meant limited time, if any, on line!  What a pleasure - highly recommend it!

Our arrival to the Nice airport was effortless.  True to the "Priority" tags, our bags are among the first to come out.  We secured a luggage cart, loaded it with 4 huge bags and decide to teeter another two small carry on bags on top - six bags in all are stacked high and a bit shaky if you ask me.  I walk ahead of my husband always looking back to make sure the stack of bags haven't fallen.

Now, as we approach the exit of the baggage claim area we encounter hundreds of paparazzi...oh my goodness, "the" film festival!  They've blocked the main exit area and passengers have to divert to a side area to exit.  Seemed fair enough, no excitement.  I exit the area and immediately there is a rush, no a stampede of paparazzi around him and the teetering cart of 6 bags.  I look back and they are swarming what seems like all around him - I can see his face, the look of shock....I run back and start pushing them away from him and the luggage cart...they weren't after my husband BUT the guy behind him!  Whoever that celebrity was, he was short and must have been using my husband as a shield!  The paparazzi did clear the way  and began snapping photos of this guy as we made our way in the opposite direction!  Now we need cash to pay for a taxi; I'm left outside with the sky-high luggage cart while he goes to the ATM....no sooner he leaves there is another rush of paparazzi within inches of me walking/running backwards for another celebrity (I remember this guy, because he was on our flight from Paris - but did not know who he was).  These paparazzi were crazed - one guy fell backwards and two more fell on him and they all got up and kept snapping photos.  It was unreal!  At that moment, I realized how dangerous they were to the celebrity and to passersby.  Needless to say after that bit of excitement, we were all charged up and ready to leave the airport!
Taxi, please!

Fifi

Travel (Agent) Update...

Well, since last week I have been studying and re-learning the travel business!  So much has happened since I was in the travel industry - lots of new computer programs, search engines, tour operators, cruise lines for both sea and river.  It is all very exciting.

I do have a website up and running: www.VirtualGlobalTravel.com (what else would I name it!).  The site
is great for searching for airfares and hotels.  Creating vacation packages and booking cruises need to be done person-to-person for the best options.  I'm still learning what all those best options are and where I can find them...hoping in a few months I'll have learned most of it.

I will be using this blog to advertise some of the travel packages that offer terrific value.  There may even be a future where I will accompany guests on travel arrangements as a "host" with insider/local tips - nothing is better than seeing sights with a "local"!  Since I spend so much time living and traveling around Europe, I thought others might want to benefit from my "local" knowledge.

I will be reaching out to wedding planners as well - destination weddings in Europe or aboard a cruise ship are a great alternative to a land wedding and could be very cost effective by comparison - there are several options available to consider!
 
I look forward to keeping you up-to-date on my progress and sharing great travel opportunities as they come along!

In the meantime, don't forget to look over the travel portion of this blog: just click on "Travel"  on the right hand column as well as the "Where we Stayed/Dined".  There are photos and videos,too.

Happy planning!

email: Camille@VirtualGlobalTravel.com

Recipe: Almond Cookies with Pine Nuts

I thought to try my hand at baking these cookies...I had plenty of almond flour left in the cupboard and thought I should try something new. So here it goes:

3 1/4 cups Flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
2 sticks plus 2 Tablespoons of Butter - soft/room temp
2 cups Sugar
3 egg yolks
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon Lemon Extract
1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract
1 cup Almond Flour
1 1/2 cups Pine Nuts (or 3/4 cup sliced almonds)

Parchment Paper
Cookie baking sheet
Small round "biscuit" cutter
Rolling Pin and extra flour for dusting

In a medium bowl blend Flour, Baking Powder and Salt (set aside)
In the mixer bowl add the butter and sugar and beat medium speed until it is fluffy (2-3 minutes)
Reduce mixer speed to low.
Add all the eggs, then the lemon and almond extracts.
Beat low speed until well blended.
Slowly add the flour (maybe one cup at a time)
Slowly add the almond flour
Blend well, low speed.
It is a very creamy, gooey dough...

Place a long plastic wrap on the work surface/counter and pour/scrape all the dough onto the center of the plastic wrap.
Let it spread out naturally and wrap it in the plastic wrap.  Carefully slide the dough onto a tray and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

After the dough has chilled, get ready to bake!
In a non-stick frying pan, lightly brown the pine nuts. (If you are using sliced almonds, skip this step!)
Set the lightly browned pine nuts aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper
Cut a long piece of parchment paper for your work surface/counter.  Dust with flour.
Remove the plastic wrap and place the dough on the paper and gently begin to roll out.
I cut my dough in half and place the other in the 'fridge (re-wrapped) until ready to use. Otherwise it gets too soft to work with.
Roll dough to about 1/4" thickness and begin cutting out round circles.  (My cutter is about 2" in diameter.)
The cutter works best with cold, firm dough.
Assemble your cookies onto the baking sheet.
You may end up with little bits and pieces of dough, it will be very soft - so take a small handful of dough pieces, roll it into a ball, place on baking tray and press down to form a cookie and top with nuts.
Place a few toasted pine nuts (or sliced almonds) on top of each cookie
Place in oven - middle rack - and bake 15-20 minutes - just until the edges start to brown.  
If your cookies are thicker, you'll need 20 min, it you make small cookies, 15 min may be just right.

Repeat the same procedure with the remaining cookie dough in the 'fridge.
The recipe makes about 48 cookies!

Mix butter & sugar until fluffy

Lightly brown the pine nuts

Place on sheet, top with nuts

Bake, Serve & Enjoy