Cote d'Azur Festivals

[menton1]

The sunny Southeast coast of France really gets going in February... with many folks thinking about the Caribbean or the South Pacific, the Cote d'Azur is really a terrific place in the wintertime. After all, as short as 75 years ago, people ONLY went here in the winter!!

Carnaval, of course, is big here, with the biggest celebration going on in Nice.

The Fete du Citron in Menton is a 2 week gala event with unusual giant displays made entirely of citrus fruit. This year's theme will be the Disney characters, with Mickey, Dumbo et al., all being paraded around made entirely of lemons and oranges!! Fete Du Citron Web Site

About 50 km west near St Raphael is Roquebrune sur Argens, with its orchid festival, and another 30 km west is Bormes les Mimosas, where the namesake mimosas are all in bloom and you can actually smell the lovely fragrance in and around the town.

Since my travels to France have been only during the months of May, June, or September, I have only seen these winter events in magazines or on the net. Has anybody spent time on the Cote during the winter, and could you please relate some of your interesting experiences during this "off season"? Merci!!

[menton1]

While suffering through an awful winter here in the Northeast US, I was hoping to vicariously live through someone's interesting experience in the South of France during the winter. Anyone?

[Bageless]

In early January 1973, when I was 15, my family arrived in Menton by train and at the station my parents asked a taxi driver to bring us to any hotel by the beach. My father was taking a year's leave from work in Washington and my parents had decided we should go to France. Someone had recommended Menton so there we were.

We stayed at that hotel for a week while my parents hunted for apartment to rent. Each day while they looked for a place for us to live for a few months my younger siblings and I spent hours on the stony beach. It was winter but very mild to us. There were bits and pieces of colored marble tiles washed up on the beach and we built little towns from them. Eventually my parents found an apartment to sublet in a big apartment building on a hill, called the Sospel I think. It had a dome and you could see it from almost anywhere in town. My brother and sister and I were enrolled in school, and on the floors of the classroom I recognized the designs we'd seen on the tile pieces on the beach. We stayed until mid-March but that first week on the beach was the most wonderful period of freedom.

[menton1]

Even if you are not attending, this Nice Carnaval web site is a show all by itself, almost like seeing a movie! Carnaval Web Site

[robert brown]

I'm off to Nice next week for a week, Menton. If I get a chance, I'll check out some of these events and let you know. I told Jonathan Day to take his kids to La Rotonde restaurant at the Negresco. It's magical. One of us should write about it.

[Jonathan Day]

Where Robert recommends, we go. Report on the Negresco next weekend. We're also hoping to visit the Menton lemon festival. And I'm hoping to take some of the sting out of an early morning Ryanair flight by having lunch at the Auberge La Fenière in Lourmarin.

[menton1]

And I'm hoping to take some of the sting out of an early morning Ryanair flight by having lunch at the Auberge La Fenière in Lourmarin.

Lourmarin? That's 2 hours from Nice-Cote d'Azur Airport! Beautiful town, though....

[Jonathan Day]

Ah, yes, but Ryanair, which we are taking, flies into Nimes (FNI). Lourmarin is (roughly) enroute to Mougins. This is a bit of an experiment. We usually use Easyjet into Nice, but these tickets were so cheap (some were actually free) and Nice tickets so expensive because of school half term that it seemed worth trying Ryanair.

[menton1]

Ah, yes, but Ryanair, which we are taking, flies into Nimes (FNI). Lourmarin is (roughly) enroute to Mougins. This is a bit of an experiment. We usually use Easyjet into Nice, but these tickets were so cheap (some were actually free) and Nice tickets so expensive because of school half term that it seemed worth trying Ryanair.

Wow, never figured Nimes for an international airport.

Are you familiar with two pastries that are only available in Nimes: Croquants and Caladons? They are a crunchy type of cookie and are a treat when you are visiting Nimes (Not forgetting Maison Carré).

Please report, I am very intertested in a hands-on view of Nice Carnaval and the Fete du Citron in Menton.

Bon voyage!

[Jonathan Day]

The website for the Carnaval was incredibly cranky when it came to ordering tickets, but I finally managed to get seated tickets to the illuminated parade (Tuesday night) and the flower parade on Wednesday afternoon. I hope we'll be dining at La Rotonde on one of those days. We may give the "new" Moulin de Mougins, under Llorca, a try.

Full report in a week.

[Bux]

Ah, yes, but Ryanair, which we are taking, flies into Nimes (FNI). Lourmarin is (roughly) enroute to Mougins.  This is a bit of an experiment. We usually use Easyjet into Nice, but these tickets were so cheap (some were actually free) and Nice tickets so expensive because of school half term that it seemed worth trying Ryanair.

Wow, never figured Nimes for an international airport.

I wondered where you were landing in France. I figured maybe Avignon, but I don't even know what kind of airport they might have. It will be interesting to see what effect these airlines have in geo-economic terms.

[menton1]

I wondered where you were landing in France. I figured maybe Avignon, but I don't even know what kind of airport they might have. It will be interesting to see what effect these airlines have in geo-economic terms.

Probably close to zero. Nimes, with the demise of Air Littoral, handles 1-2 Ryanair flights/day. Avignon has 2 flights/day with AF to Paris/Orly. Other than those, it's mainly cargo flights and "general aviation" that uses these airports. Not much competition for Marseille/Marignane with over 300 flights daily, or Nice with over 800 flights daily.

Nice Airport is still a wonder to me, it's the only major international airport in the world where you can come off a 7 1/2 hour international flight, and be downtown in 6 minutes with very little traffic or hassle!

[Jonathan Day]

Here's a report from the Nice winter carnival, including two restaurants.

We bought tickets to the evening "corso illuminé" and the following afternoon's "bataille de fleurs" via the Nice website -- which was cranky about allocating seats, but finally did. In both cases, we drove from Mougins. We had seen signs that the centre of Nice closes down about 2 hours before the start of each parade, so we planned to have a meal before each event.

For the first dinner, my eldest son had asked that we return to one of those pan-Asian restaurants toward the back of the flower market. We never made it: the motorway was plagued by "bouchons" (traffic jams) apparently unrelated to the carnival, and by the time we arrived in Nice, the promenade des Anglais and other roads were crowded. I had engaged in plenty of cursing and swearing after numerous near misses on the motorway, on the local roads and in the car park. By the time we had collected our tickets, the flower market was too far away: we had just enough time to pop into Le Sansas, a touristy-looking restaurant near the gates. Ah well, I thought, it will be marginally better than McDonald's.

It was a lot better. One son's pizza was beautifully done, with a crisp crust and a good balance of cheeses and herbs; another's pasta alla carbonara was almost perfect: an eggy sauce, noodles cooked exactly right. I had a plate of veal with peppers that was tender and flavourful. It was simple, honest cookery at a fair price, and a place to which we will return. We left in a happy mood.

The evening parade was a lot of fun. The theme of the carnival as a whole was "le roi de la clonerie" -- which means "the king of clownery" but was intentionally misspelled to refer to cloning. As the carnival website says:

The theme refers to the exponential development of scientific techniques, to the evolution of technologies and the difficulty of defining their limits in a society which is not always ready to accept them.

They recruited top newspaper cartoonists (e.g. Banx from the Financial Times, Franco Bruna from La Stampa) to make drawings about the dangers of biotechnology, evolution, and the like -- and then these were turned into elaborate floats. You can see the cartoons themselves by going to the official website, linked in Menton1's post above, and clicking on "theme".

The king himself was preceded by numerous "clones"; the queen turned up naked, inside the glass dome of a futuristic "machine à cloner". Bands from various countries marched and played on the stage as floats and clowns paraded by. As ever with these events around Mardi Gras in France and Italy, there was a wonderful abandon -- at various points, some of the actors on the floats adopted lascivious positions, and there were plenty of witches, devils and monsters on display. The audience contented itself with shouting, following the master of ceremonies' admonition to do "Mexican waves", tossing confetti and shooting off canisters of "silly string".

We returned to Nice the next day for the "bataille de fleurs". This time, the traffic co-operated, and following Robert Brown's advice we had lunch at La Rotonde, in the Négresco. As he had predicted, most of the food was mediocre, but the room itself is magic: it's decorated to resemble a carousel (merry-go-round). At various times during the meal they start a clockwork mechanism that animates the horses, an orchestra conductor and other figures. The pastries were good. Incidentally, the Négresco offers a terrace that overlooks the Promenade des Anglais; as long as you consume at least EUR20 per person (the same price as seats for the bataille de fleurs) you can sit on the terrace and watch the fun. Unfortunately we had already bought our tickets -- perhaps next year we'll reserve places on the terrace and enjoy a good bottle of wine during the proceedings.

The day was bright and sunny but cold, with a brisk wind blowing in from the seafront. The bataille de fleurs itself was less wild and more sedate and the floats somewhat more traditional than those from the previous evening's illuminated parade; actors on floats tried to toss branches of mimosa into the crowd, but the wind meant that they didn't go far. Again, there was the overtone of the forbidden and the sexually risqué. Women from Brazil and Cuba danced along, wearing virtually nothing; I wondered how they managed to keep smiling in that cold wind, but enjoyed them nonetheless. Count on the French to mingle fun, intellect, sex and religion in a single event.

All in all, lots of fun, and something I might have overlooked without eGullet. Thanks to Menton1 for calling attention to these events. Next year we hope to get to the Menton lemon festival.

=====

Le Sansas, "Bar Restaurant Pizzeria, Spécialistes de Poissons". 4 av. des Phocéens, 06300 Nice, tel 04 93 62 29 22.

La Rotonde, in the Hôtel Négresco. 37 promenade des Anglais 06000 Nice, tel 04 93 16 64 00.

[menton1]

Anybody planning to get to Carnaval or the Fete du Citron? This year they are celebrating Spain! (?)

Jonathan, Robert...?

[menton1]

As these festivals draw closer, I thought I'd revive this and see if anyone is going this year-- Carnaval in Nice, and the Fete du Citron in Menton.

Note: For the "Spainophiles" who also like France (Bux)(?!) this year's theme for the Fete du Citron, amazingly enough, is "Espana" even though Menton, on the Italian border, is 600 kilometers from Spain! (You ought to go, Bux!)

[menton1]

Any reports on Carnaval or Fete du Cirton? Anybody going? How's the weather?

[cigalechanta]

Bageless :) I liked your memory of those days.

The Avignon airport is small but I liked it very much. We left the rentasl car there and flew to Paris and onto Boston

[menton1]

For those lucky enough to carry on the original tradition of visiting the Riviera in wintertime, there are two exceptional festivals that are huge, interesting events, with plenty for everyone.

The Nice Carnaval runs this year from the 11th Feb to the 28th. This year's theme is the "King of Dupes" which is supposed to demonstrate the intermingling in today's society of "reality, virtuality, and show-business". There will be 12 parades, inclucing a Flower Parade, Carnival Parade, and a Parade of Lights. The event is actually bigger than anything New Orleans or Rio, the more famous venues, have to offer.

The other big event, the Fete du Citron in Menton, runs concurrently, from the 10th Feb to the 26th. Menton is on a protected bay, and it tends to have temperatures from 5 to 10 degrees warmer than the surrounding towns, so it is usually quite comfortable. This year's theme is Brazil. The floats are all made of citrus fruits, they use about 500,000 kilos of citrus each year to prepare the beautiful floats. Photos here: http://www.menton.fr/IMG/pdf/programme_fet...citron_2006.pdf

Anyone planning to go to either of these?

[menton1]

Just read that this year's Fete du Citron will be saluting not only the Rio Carnaval, but also the New Orleans one, along with a salute to all the victims of the Hurricane. Nice touch.

Anybody going?

[pierre45]

      Anybody going?

←

Yes i'll be going to the one in Rio

[menton1]

Thanks, John; thought I'd give this thread it's own bump, in light of the upcoming 2 great festivals on the Riviera. The Nice Carnaval, the biggest "Carnival" celebration in Europe, and perhaps 2nd only to Rio in pomp and celebration.

The Nice theme this year is the "Roi de la Grand Mélee" , or, King of the Grand Free-for All. It is a 10 day event with parades, food, and lots of activities.

The Menton Fete du Citron this year is celebrating India.

Giant floats made out of lemons and oranges, just an unbelievable sight, in 6 venues all over town, including some glorious gardens. Menton has a warm micro-climate from its protected bay that keeps it several degrees warmer than the surrounding areas.

One of these years I will get to these two great festivals. In the meantime, anybody planning on going to either of these?