After an amazing winter season in Mexico, (one of the best weather seasons we can remember), we are back in the south of France and quickly acquainting ourselves with the venues and activities we most enjoy here. For me it means getting back into biking, with trips to places like La Turbie, Roquebrune (which I’ve previously written about so won’t mention anymore about them), the Monte Carlo golf club up and above Monaco, and a new trip to La Revere.
I wanted to check out the golf club to perhaps get in a game or two this year. The rates are reasonable, course is short though, but the views are amazing. It sits on top of the mountain behind Monaco. La Revere is an old fort on top of the mountain behind Eze. There are viewpoints, nature walks and picnic tables, all overlooking the Cote d’Azur coastline.
We also arrived back to discover there is still snow on the hills behind Nice, and that there would be a fresh dump of now on a Sunday and into the night. So we drove up Sunday afternoon to Auron, had a wonderful dinner at El White restaurant, stayed the night at the Hôtel l’Ecureuil, and got up early the next morning to blue skies, six inches of fresh powder snow, and hardly anyone on the hill. As we waited for the lift to open, the only other people we saw were those that worked on the hill. We managed to do a few runs before we even saw any other skiers, and certainly never had to wait in line at the lifts. It was a great day. We skied for a few hours, had a coffee break at our favorite restaurant on the hill, Sauma Longue, and then returned a few hours later for lunch.
The ski area offers 135 kms of ski runs with 43 routes: 8 blacks, 16 reds, 16 blues, 3 greens. There’s 16 skilifts: 3 cable cars, 9 chairlifts, 3 draglifts, 1 tear-lift.
That evening we went out for dinner in the village to the restaurant El White. We all had steak frites, washed down with a lovely Provence wine from Chateau Roubine. Highly recommended. Food is fantastic, as is the decor… we’ll be back…
We drove back on late Monday afternoon, quite exhausted, had a good night’s sleep and then got up and drove to Ventimigila in Italy for some shopping and lunch. We stocked up on aged balsamic vinegar, olive oil, limoncello, and plenty of fruits and vegetables. For lunch we left Ventimiglia and visited our favorite place in the area, L’Osteria di Caterina located in the main plaza of the old town of Dolceaqua. Great food at great prices.
Now it’s time to back our bags for a couple of weeks in Portugal…