Nostalgie de la boue

The show:

The theatre:

The performance (low light so the photos are "atmospheric" :-))

There was a bit too much emphasis on realism for my taste - even real cigarettes on stage (amazed intake of breath when they did it for the FIRST time from two women behind us - I'm sure it was against fire regulations).

I would have preferred a pretty straight performance of the songs rather than all the poverty and bickering couple stuff - but that was also because I couldn't understand the humour in French.

However there were some nice old songs, with audience sing-along and it was good to get out and away from the computer and TV, yet only a short walk home on a cold night.

Nostalgie de la boue

 "The French have a deliciously helpful phrase for just about everything, and one of the best is nostalgie de la boue. Nostalgia for the mud, roughly meaning an artist's or a reader's fondness for slime, muck, sewage, degradation, treachery and perversion. It's a specialty of the comfy bourgeoisie, who yearn for the real and the raw as experienced through the lens of literature or cinema. As far as actually, ick, touching the mud ... no thank you."

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=207385

Dejeuner Rotonde

Rotonde at the Negresco, Nice, Sunday 23rd Nov.:





with Christian and Sigrid:



After the meal:



Nice sky:



The bar of the Meridien:



Which has a very nice view of the Promenade des Anglais:

Cagnes and Tourrette sur Loup

Sunday we went to Cagnes and had lunch at La Bourride and had a table looking out over the old port:




Choosing is a serious business :





"The port is unique on this part of the coast as it is still used solely by fisherman. The private yachts that dominate the marinas in nearby towns such as Antibes and Cannes are nowhere to be seen":





After the meal a stroll by the sea:



where there was an exhibition of paintings:



Then we drove up into the hills to the medieval charm of Tourrette sur Loup:

"The main "Place" in the center is a parking lot; not so pretty, but there's not much choice in this rocky country. The "pétanque" court is at the end of the parking lot next to the road"

A group of Swedish visitors :



The locals:



The prettier part:



"Tourrettes was a fortified village, and the arched passages remain through the wall of houses in three places into the center of the 'vieux village'."



Provence - as more of it used to be:



Back by the sea at sunset:

Nice belly dancers

I often have a drink in this bistro, the Gambetta, in the LIberation ! area of Nice and is just a short walk away. Last week I noticed that they were having an "Oriental evening", very reasonable for couscous meal, half a bottle of wine and the dancing, so booked and we went last night. I wondered whether it would popular, it was:







M. joined in

M's birthday

After the terrace of the Grand Aston, a drink in Cours Saleya:

A walk through Nice - and time

Then:

Now

A greener tomorrow?

The title of the restaurant "Le Long Cours" seems apt:

But back here - time to relax:

Then the clouds rolled in and we had more storms.