I really should consider a get-away to the mountains with fresh cool air, pine trees, chilly lakes and streams, less than 10 people per square kilometre, and where the only Internet access is TCP/IP by Carrier Pigeon. Some place like Evian-les-Bains, France; Sweden; northern Quebec; or maybe Cicely, Alaska.

Cannes is a smallish city compared to Nice 35 Km away, but when the film festival and summer high season comes about, the place just swells with tourists that have a tendency to leave their brains at home. Oh hum.

Thankfully, I have a road trip to England to visit friends beginning of August. Hope it rains the whole time I’m there. Yes I’m tad odd.

Some of the haiku I wrote this week were tagged #haiku #humour #yoda and they were an amusing attempt at writing haiku as the character Yoda from Stars Wars might do, with his odd endearing manner of speaking and succinct wisdom.

To: info@cannes-centre.pizza-shop.fr, postmaster@cannes-centre.pizza-shop.fr, contact@cannes-centre.pizza-shop.fr, riviera@angloinfo.com, riviera.forums@angloinfo.com.

CC: info@mister-pizza.com, contact@mister-pizza.com, postmaster@mister-pizza.com

(Note that some addresses may not be active, though RFC requirements do require a postmaster@ address, though many domains choose to ignore this at their peril.)

I thank you for being fuckers.

For all the claims of quality, you fail to respect service. I’ve already
announce on Twitter #Cannes

http://twitter.com/SirWumpus/statuses/9787915922

your failures and I’ll publish in other Internet places related to Cannes / Cote d’Azur your refusal to respect common practice concerning 10-points for a free pizza.

Your most current flyer claims free delivery and makes no exceptions concerning 10 points for a free pizza. All the competitors, especially Mister Pizza (http://www.mister-pizza.com/index_fr.html), respect the concept of delivering a 10-point free pizza. PIZZA SHOP DOES NOT!

Your requirement that I must order a regular pizza at the same time as the free pizza is unreasonable for single person. How do you expect one person to eat two pizzas?! Totally stupid. Typically french as the english have come to know; certainly wanker behaviour

I’ve including Anglinfo.fr, Mister Pizza, and friends in this communication. I hope that they publish these details about your
failures to respect common practices.

Update: since the Pizza Shop fuckers won’t respect the “10-point get one free” concept, I’ve opted to order from a new different delivery place in Cannes, Wasabi d’Azur(04 93 39 55 70). This is my second time trying their service. No point system, but at least honest and friendly thus far.

Still, Cannes does have many a calm moment: sitting in cafés drinking tea or wine watching the world go by; walking along the Croisette in the early mornings or late evenings; just being at home watching the sun set over the Estérel hills.

Summer along the Côte d’Azur can be glorious, once you get yourself out of traffic, park, find a table, get served a drink, and cool down enough to noticed that the world around you is beautiful.

On the way to Monaco to fix the music box at Stars’N'Bars, I stupidly got off the A8 at the Monaco exit, instead of the subsequent La Turbie exit, thinking that it was too early for lunch time tourist traffic into Cap d’Ail and Monaco (Monte Carlo Daily Photo). Oops! Well there was a convenient turn-about, so I opted to by-pass the traffic and go back up via La Turbie and enter Monaco via Beausoleil, which despite the detour was a far more enjoyable and smooth drive.

Looking out on the Moyen Corniche – La Turbie road.

It was late Friday night and I had an unexpected visitor come to Cannes and drag me out to wonder about the Cannes Film Festival. We eventually ended up at Croisette 72 café opposite the Martinez hotel for drinks and people watching.

This past weekend the Cannes Film Festival parties were subdued compared to past years. I didn’t hear any music drift down from the hills of Cannes through the night. Normally the first weekend during the festival has several loud late night parties. It wouldn’t be so bad if they invited some of the neighbours, like me; if I’m going to be kept awake, I may as well have some fun.

Regardless whether the festival is on or not, the early spring mornings in Cannes around av. Isola Bella are very peaceful. Only the steady rhythm of birds as dawn’s light rises and the last remnants of Jasmine scents are carried by the mild chill air.

Later, while running, having just passed the Colline de Saint Michel on the boundary between Cannes and Vallauris, I noticed a solitaire poppy on the rough cut hill, while opposite it one could see the Mediterranean Sea. I was struck by an image of loneliness and beauty.

The morning was cold. Hands chilled as I held Baka’s lead. The ground damp from the previous day’s rain. I still wanted more. And I my wish was granted so conveniently after a brief light 6 Km run. On the return leg I passed by St. George’s church, a quaint little church that appears seldom used these days, and my eye caught the sight of how the the steeple stuck out against Boreas’ approach. Greeks 1, God nil.

av. du Grand Pré
Cannes

Further along and closer to home, I started my final descent. The beat of the drums in my ear could have been mistaken for the announcement of Boreas’ coming, instead of some techno beat providing the cadence for my foot falls. The final kilometre home was no sprint, but the sky was still saying that I had better not linger, as it had other plans in mind. Cool.

View north above Monaco

View north-east over Monaco

View east over Monaco.

Standing on the Quai Antoine 1er just in front of Stars’N'Bars in Monaco, the sun was starting it descent casting the last of it brightness on the face of mountains surrounding the principality. I’ve always enjoyed the views of dusk year round from here; the feeling if being held in the bosom of the Alpes as they gaze out to sea.

D50 looking east towards Gorbio.

D50 looking towards Menton and Italy.

I really enjoy the drive along the D50, which runs along the hills from Gorbio to the Grand Corniche just above Roquebrune village. It is woody, a little remote, peaceful, and offers wonderful views. The route is about 8 kilometres long and is very popular for walkers, runners, and cyclists. At this time of year, it’s about the only place I get a true sense of autumn, as the south of France tends to be constantly green due to the warmer climate of the region.

D50 looking south over Cap Martin.

Grande Corniche looking west towards Monaco.

Menton road, looking
west towards Gorbio.

Gorbio lies in the hills (aka mountains) above Menton (official site) about 20 minutes drive east of Monaco. The southern Alpes come right up to the water between Nice and Italy, so most of the villages and homes are all built on the side of the mountain with views overlooking the Mediterranean sea.

It takes me about an hour from my place in Cannes to get to Jilly’s place, which is just below Gorbio village under the A8 autoroute viaduct. You might think it would be pretty noisy there, but the sound of traffic is pretty muted; the sound seems to go outwards and upwards rather than downwards, probably because the autoroute itself blocks the noise. I suppose it also helps that she’s partially deaf, so the location works out well for her.

The autoroute is a bit of an eyesore, but otherwise Jilly is in an nice location for what she does, which is run a pension, essentially a doggy hotel where the dogs have free rein of the house and fenced in garden. People who travel or need to quarantine their animals before moving countries can leave their pets with Jilly knowing that they will be loved, cared for, and have others to play with.

Menton road, below Gorbio

I left the A8 autoroute at La Turbie (official site) and drove along the Grand Corniche till I reached the D50 road just before Roquebrune village (official site). The D50 road is a narrow road that passes above Roquebrune and traverses the hilly terrain to approach Gorbio from the west. There are only two roads into Gorbio, the D50 and the road coming up from Menton on the east side.

When ever I go to visit Jilly in Gorbio, I tend to always come along the D50. I really find it a pleasant scenic drive. The mountain side is covered in evergreens and a scattering of deciduous trees. Driving along this route you really feel like you’re really isolated, despite the proximity of the coast, the autoroute, and the popular tourist towns. One thing about France is the towns are small and there is often a clear distinction between village and country side. The city of Nice is the 5th largest in France, yet it’s tiny compared to what I’m used to; Toronto, Montreal, Sydney. So everything else is just that much smaller. One minute your in a popular coastal town, next your in the Alpine highlands.

On this day, it was gloriously overcast. The clouds were just above the village at around 900 metres. It reminded me so much of being in the Swiss mountain village of Leysin, where I spent many a ski season during my teens. There the clouds often descend to envelope the village, imposing a peaceful blanket of silence. This day in Gorbio was almost the same, though the clouds wouldn’t come much lower.

The Beau Sejour
in autumn.

Jilly invited me to lunch in the village at the Beau Sejour. I love this place. It has a wonderfully delicious menu. We had a Brouilly red wine, a Farandole, which consists of a small salad surrounded by deep fried eggplant and courgette flower, Barbajuan, dried ham, and melon. For the main course I had a lovely sliced breast of duck in green pepper sauce. After came cheeses and dessert. I was obviously very very stuff by the end. If I fell down I might have rolled down the road all the way to Menton.

From the Beau Sejour dinning room, you have a beautiful view of the valley and the front terrace opens onto the village square, where you find a fountain and 300 year old oak tree. From the square you have access to the old village where can be found rustic residences and a couple of artistic stores and galleries.

Gorbio is also the part time home of Sayed Haider Raza, a contemporary Indian artist. He lives in the village half the year and the other half in Paris. His wife (buried in Gorbio) was an artist too and the work of both of them is shown at the village chateau. I hope to write about their work another time.

All in all, my time in Gorbio yesterday was glorious relaxing and pleasurable, even though I was working supposedly I recommend it to anyone looking to get away for a day’s outing be them local to the Riviera or tourist.