The Violet Festival – Tourrettes-sur-Loup

It was confirmed to me today that spring is on its way at La Fête des Violettes in Tourrettes-sur-Loup. I don’t know much about when certain flowers bloom but February seemed early for violets. But I was wrong as they are apparently the harbinger of spring and were displayed all over the village for its annual celebration. And there weren’t just violets; mimosas and other seasonal flowers were decorating the town and its floats, but the violet was the star of the show.

Usually these festivals come with a hassle factor in that it is impossible to park, but I felt very clever in tackling that. I saw a walking trail on the map that connected the old train station to the medieval town. So while the others waited for the shuttle bus, I set off on my little path, which used to be the old railway line and followed it as it went into the woods on a perfect stone trail and then upwards. 

Twenty minutes later, as soon as I neared the top and the medieval gate, I got a sense of how popular this fair was. Perhaps was because the kids were on school break, but it seemed like there were at least a thousand Italians. I heard Italian everywhere and hardly a word of French. Did they all come together? Is this what the Italians do every year? I decided to take a deep breath and enjoy this beautifully sunny day and ignore the fact that the hassle factor might quadruple with the Italian invasion. Now off to explore the village…

The village of Tourrettes-sur-Loup sits at about 400 meters (1,300 ft) above sea level and is your classic medieval town with what seems like one solid piece of stone carved up into individual attached homes with old wooden doorways and has amazing views all the way down to the sea. Today, due to the festival, there were displays of flower arrangements and loads of people. 

The shop doing the best business in the pedestrian part of the old town was the ice cream shop and the most popular flavor of the day was just as you would expect -  violet! I usually don’t like the flowery ice creams, like lavender or rose but I really enjoyed my creamy violet treat.

Having very slowly (remember, all those Italians?) made it to the other side of this tiny village and through another old portal, I arrived in the main square. This is where most of the action was happening – restaurants serving lunch (al fresco as it was a warm sunny day), stands selling the using Provençal wares (ceramics, linens) plus violet soaps, crystalized violets candies and lots of food choices. I went for a glass of rosé with my plate of sausage, and then had a Tunisian ‘brik’. Okay, this is not typical Provençal but there is a huge community of Northern Africans living in this area and I have fond memories of ‘brik’ when visiting my friends in Tunis. It’s fried philo dough stuffed with tuna, egg, onions and parsley and it was really yummy.

Now it was time to sit down and wait for the parade to come past with the flowery floats. The photos don’t really give you a sense of the moment as each group had some sort of music either played by live bands or blasting from a sound system. People were dancing around, spraying each other with the classic Carnival style string like goop and generally enjoying themselves. The most fun float was the Tourrettes-sur-Loup rugby team, whose decorated ‘car’ was Fred Flintstone like with the whole rugby team inside acting as the wheels. 

The most talented group were the kids who led the float of the local soccer team. They must have been about 10 yrs old and they were doing fancy foot work bouncing the ball on their knees, passing it around, back on the knees, all while leading their float through the village. 



When the last float came through I decided it was time to head down back through the medieval town (which was now gloriously empty), hike down the forested path and back to my car, parked for a perfect getaway. I can only imagine there was absolute mayhem when the crowds decided to leave town.

Another tough day living on the Côte d’Azur!

Detox weekend

I am probably not the only one thinking of my health and fitness in January. Last weekend my friend Christine put on a weekend of detox with yoga, meditation and organic eating, with much of the menu following the raw movement. I just went for the Saturday as she was full up in her B&B and I had a brilliant day. It had all the right ingredients of being educational, physical, good cuisine and a great social gathering.

Christine lives in Biot, which is one of those perfect little medieval villages above the coastal town of Antibes. She and her friend Noona joined forces and offered a program of yoga and meditation interspersed with juicing sessions and really tasty meals that were non-gluten, non-dairy and no sugar.

I only knew Christine and was happy to discover a delightful crowd of 6 others (German, English and French). I felt very relaxed with the others, some of whom knew each other already, and it set the tone of the day.

We started with a mediation session led by Noona and her perfect relaxing, soothing voice. I wasn’t the only to comment on how marvelous her voice was and I imagine it is key for a yoga & meditation teacher. She teaches classes in and around Antibes so refer to her website if you are in town - http://www.revitalize.fr.

It was my first time with meditation and I will certainly persevere in trying to master the art as there are many random thoughts running through my head far too often. Feeling relaxed, we all moved into the kitchen for a juicing session with Christine. Of course, juicing is the latest trend with people juicing for every reason - getting more of the right nutrients, fighting cancer, losing weight… I haven’t followed it and still might not when I learned how much a good juicer costs! We started with a celery, cucumber, apple and spinach juice that tasted really nice. Considering that I absolutely hate cucumber and celery that is quite a statement! Then we did a smoothie in a blender, which was pineapple and kale. It was that perfect little demo that was fast, instructive and you got to taste something too.

Then came breakfast with an amazing selection of yummy foods that were all great replacements to the usual milk, cereal and toast. Christine had sprouted buckwheat (one version with cocoa) that was served with homemade almond milk (plain or flavored with dates or vanilla). We also added a nut and dried fruit mixture that was prepared in a way that was as if it was a stand alonea healthy cereal in itself. There were breakfast bars/bread with fig upon which we spread almond or hazelnut butter or a berry jam. We were all full and satisfied.

Now off to yoga. Most people have done yoga by now, although you haven’t done it to Noona’s dulcet tones. Her style is integral yoga, which was perfect for me and kept true to the weekend’s theme of relaxation. 

After our session it was time for lunch already and we were lucky to be able to eat outside in the garden. Most foods served were raw, such as kale and orange salad, spinach salad, julienned raw beets, apple and carrot salad and the one non-raw entry of a cooked lentil, quinoa loaf with lots of interesting spices (curry for sure) to make it worth going back for seconds.

Following lunch, and feeling perfectly filled up, we had free time with options for a walk into Biot’s historical center, reiki with Noona or a massage with Christine. The day was so glorious that a few of us took a walk into town and poked around its little alleyways, perused restaurant menus for the future and went into the main church of Church Sainte Marie Madeleine, which is a hidden gem as it truly looks like nothing from the outside. You probably wouldn’t even know it’s a church.  Back at Christine’s house just in time for my massage, which was much appreciated and far too short – as are all massages.

Discover Biot 

We had our next yoga session, which was a variation on the morning’s session finished up with a dose of mediation. Thanks again Noona!

Before dinner we had some chill time and so I started looking through Christine’s books, read ing near the fireplace. The books covered organic eating, the raw food movement and detox methods. I find the topic interesting and enjoy reading about food and what can be beneficial and what can be harmful, but I do find it a bit overwhelming and plan to stick with my usual routine of healthy home cooked meals, along with some decadent moments too.

Now it was dinner time and we all knew by now that Christine wouldn’t disappoint us. Given it was winter her philosophy is that, although raw good is good, you need some hot cooked food as well. We started with a pumpkin soup that was divine and we are still all waiting for that recipe. Then she made a vegetable curry, focusing on green vegetables like broccoli, with a black rice side dish that had the perfect texture and taste. Then came her amazing dessert that I know I will not explain well. It was a sort of cheesecake consistency made up of what I believe were miso and ground cashews with a sesame crust. Really yummy!

As I was only a day guest I headed back towards home, leaving the others to chat around the fireplace and enjoy another day with Noona and Christine on the Sunday. Well done you two!

NB - all photos from Noona

Grasse truffle fair

One of the traditions I was introduced to while living here on the French Riviera is attending the annual local truffle fair. It is a 2-day event and takes place in Grasse on the Saturday and moves to the village of Le Rouret on Sunday. We like the Grasse venue better since it is hosted by the Relais et Châteaux Bastide Saint-Antoine. The restaurant’s renowned chef Jacques Chibois and his kitchen do a great job with their sampling of truffle dishes for just Euro 4.5 a plate. You can opt for the gourmet truffle lunch for Euro 130 p.p., as many of the finely turned out guests do. But not us. I am not even convinced I would want the full on truffle lunch. 

The dish that gets the crowds lined up each year, and the best without a doubt, is the truffle soup. Apart from its rich wonderful taste, you experience different textures from its velvety smooth base, the crunchy truffle shavings and the soft cubes of foie gras. Really yummy. I had two bowls but my friend Terry went for a record three. This is a once a year treat so nobody is counting and hunger doesn’t really enter into the picture. 

There is also a wheel of brie, filled with truffles, and served on crusty bread. As we were debating our choices, chef Chibois himself came out and advised on how thick the bread should be (very thick). 

The other 2 dishes I love are the ‘croque monsieur a la truffe’ and then a very creamy ‘puree de truffe’ (creamy mashed potatoes with truffles). I love savory dishes so all the truffles infused desserts were easy to pass up.

As we had our vin chaud (not really necessary as it was almost 60 degrees Fahrenheit) in hand, we wandered over towards the aromatic truffle stands and watched everyone sniffing the black tubers like dogs.

 I have done a few truffle hunts in my time and they are good fun but I think it's really all about the dog. I have no idea if a few truffles get planted in advance, just in case, but I get a kick out of watching the dog go to work. And sometimes get distracted as they go off course. In Italy once our truffle hunter told us that he named his dog Maria as it was the same name as his mistress and he would get in less trouble if he shouted her name. Probably a story for the tourists.

There are other stands besides those dedicated to truffles, all offering local produce such as olive oil, jams, wine and produce (I always buy clementines), Our usual tradition is to buy a bottle of wine from one of the producers and take our truffle feast to the lower garden area of the hotel and enjoy the time with friends and our tasty treats. A few of the group have eaten at the Bastide and all had a great dining experience so I guess that goes on my list of eventual things to do. To get the best deal in France you have to go at lunch and choose the fixed menu. You might have a 50% savings at a place like La Bastide. Except of course on truffle day.

Every year a local artist designs and draws a poster to advertise and immortalize the fair (this is the 19^th year). This year's cartoonist came to sign the posters with his 'Je Suis Charlie' tag. Falling only a few days after the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris, it was quite sobering.