Pont du Gard

Pont du Gard

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Tight Quarters

On Monday, we left for the train station about 6:00 AM and the street cleaners were still busy cleaning the streets. All of the streets are cleaned each morning using water hoses and brooms, so every morning the streets are clean and free of debris. After the street markets close, the cleaners appear and clean up the mess, so Nice is a very clean city. At this time of year, the pontine are running, pontine are an immature small fish that look like a gelatinous gray mass in a basket. Apparently these are a local delicacy which are spread on small toast and consumed without any cooking. This must be an acquired taste since just the appearance of these for sale in the basket are enough to ruin our appetites.

The streets are very narrow, yet somehow cars and motor scooters are able to get through the streets, but not easily. One has to be constantly aware of speeding vehicles through the narrow lanes. We watched out of our window earlier as an emergency vehicle tried to go though the narrow lane in front of the church, this required four other vehicles to maneuver around backing up, turning into a side lane, until the emergency vehicle was able to get past. Maybe that is why people here are healthy since it would take half an hour for the ambulance to get to a person in need.

Today we went to the market for ingredients to make our main meal. We purchased fresh tomatoes, cheese, pesto, salad greens, sun dried tomatoes, fresh spices, fresh ravioli, pain ciabatta, and of course some wine. For dessert, fresh fraises (strawberries), ementhal cheese and a half bottle of champagne. Cooking here is much fun with all the fresh ingredients, the pastas are fantastic, made fresh each morning. You can choose between local produce or produce imported from other areas. Although everything is expensive here, it is much less expensive to purchase the ingredients instead of eating at restaurants.

Weather here is very pleasant so we walked to the beach which is full of people sunbathing, and the occasional daredevil going into the water. Tomorrow, we will do something, or maybe nothing, we will know tomorrow.

1 comment:

  1. The food sounds wonderful! I'm putting on weight just drolling over it! Bev

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