Restaurant Review: Caffe delle Carrozze

FLORENCE, ITALY

This was the first thing I ate in Florence, and I was absolutely starving. This was the first place we spotted that looked decent, and it was right by the Ponte Vecchio. I ordered a sandwich with prosciutto, cheese, tomato, arugula, and truffle oil. It was fantastic. The bread was soft without being two crusty on the outside, the ingredients were fresh, and the truffle oil provided a nice touch to complete the sandwich. I also had an espresso, which was one of the best that I had in Italy. On top of the great food, they also have free Wifi. One of the best sandwhiches I ate while in Italy, so I would recommend this place for sure.

French Riviera Weekend

It was the last full weekend in Montpellier, with one place left to visit: Nice and the French Riviera. Somewhat of a last minute decision, I decided that I had to see what all the hype is about the French Riviera. This ended up paying off huge, and it was probably my favorite part of my whole trip in France. We arrived in town in mid-afternoon. This gave us a little time to walk down the Promenade des Anglais, which is the popular strip with hotels, restaurants, and bars that runs down the beach.

After seeing the beach and stopping for a drink, we had dinner at the hotel, which was complimentary thanks to my friend’s resourcefulness. After dinner is when the city really came to life. We started the night by grabbing a few beers and sitting out on the beach, which was packed with groups of people doing the same.

We were walking around the city center around 10:30ish, and noticed that everyone was eating dinner. I guess we were a couple hours early when we ate. We wondered around through the plethora of alleys that connected all the little squares and courtyards, which were scattered with restaurants and bars. Eventually, we made it to an area just parallel to the Promenade, which was a couple hundred yards long and filled in with tables and chairs from at least a dozen different restaurants. There was also a flea market running through the middle, with vendors selling all kinds of things from purses to jewelry to dishes. The atmosphere of young, lively people was amazing. We settled in at a bar called Waynes. This place wasn’t that big, it was very hot inside, and it was somewhat crowded(but not too crowded). However, it was a good time and was filled with a mix of young people from all over the world. The signature of this place is the long tables in the music room, on which everyone dances on top of.

On Saturday, we kicked off the morning by walking up the hill to do a little sightseeing. We walked through a cemetery that was unbelievable. Then, we continued up the hill to see the little waterfall. Above the waterfall, there was a patio that displayed a panoramic view of Nice. This was one of the most breathtaking sights that I saw all trip.

Up next, we hit the beach. On a friend’s connection, we scored two free beachfront chairs and a couple of cocktails. We finished the afternoon on the rooftop bar at the hotel, and here is the view.

 

After the beach and a little rest, we took off to Monte Carlo, Monaco. For just 1 Euro, we took the 30 minute scenic bus ride that drove along the edge of the coast. All though it seemed like we were going to fall off the edge of the cliff at times, that bus ride was amazing. When we arrived in Monaco, we set out to have a cocktail at Buddha Bar. Luckily it was happy hour, so drinks were only 12 Euro instead of 20. We moved on to the casino, which was beautiful on the outside. The cars parked outside included Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls Royse, Maybach, just about anything you could think of.

The actual gambling itself was not impressive, with very few tables in the room and even less that were actually open. There was only one low minimum table as well, which was constantly packed. So, I still threw a few dollars in the slot machine and on roulette, but I guess luck wasn’t on my side that night. We enjoyed “victory” cigars in the park in front of the casino, even though none of us walked away a winner, and then decided to go back to Nice. Sounds simple enough, but we could find the bus for a while, then couldn’t get a consistent answer on where the bus picked up. We finally found the bus by 3am and got back to Nice safely.

On Sunday, we left fairly early to spend the afternoon in Cannes. This is where the famous film festival takes place. We walked around for a while, took a tour around the city, then had a great lunch. We saw the convention center where the film festival is held, the famous Carlton Hotel, and the Promenade de la Croisette, the strip down the beach where all the fancy shops are. We ate lunch after our tour at a place called La Sousta, which was awesome. By the time we were finished with lunch, it was time to leave, and we left very satisfied.

Pork Tenderloin and Polenta with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

After being gone all weekend in Nice, I felt the need to cook because I had been dining out for every meal. This dish is one that I have made several times at home, and I have nearly perfected the sauce after several attempts. The critical factors are to make sure to add plenty of worcestershire sauce, and to not add too much gorgonzola(will overpower the sauce). The polenta, which was suprisingly cheap, was creamy but provided some texture. The creamy gorgonzola sauce plays perfectly with the tender pieces of balsamic glazed pork. This is one of my favorite go-to dishes, and this time is just as satisfying as it was the last time or the next time.

Quick Stop in Genoa

In route to Venice, our first stop was in Genoa. This city isn’t the most well-known, with Rome, Florence, and Venice overshadowing. Even though we only were in town for one night, it seemed to be a very laid back, fun city. Not a super large city, Genoa is still a large port.

We walked around the Porto Antico(Old Port) area, which was a beautiful part of the city and relaxing to stroll through. After dinner, we walked down to the Piazza de Ferrari, which is the main square of the city. Although there wasn’t too much going on, the lively scene was at nearby Piazza de Erbe. The little square was lined with bars and filled with outdoor seating. There atmosphere was laid back and easy going, as there were many young people out having a drink and socializing at the tables. We decided to take a seat right in the middle, and wind down the night(after 9 hours of train travel) with a crisp glass of prosecco.

This prosecco was so good, as it was not too sweet or not to bitter, as some champagnes can be. This cold, slightly fruity Italian specialty couldn’t have tasted better on a warm night’s end.

Being in Italy, I naturally had to drink a cappuccino in the morning. Luckily, we had an hour to burn before the train left and there was a café right across the street from the hotel. The cappuccino was one of the best I’ve had. The milk was frothed such a silky smooth foam and the espresso was full of rich coffee flavor. For a connection city to Venice, Genoa turned out to be a pleasurable experience.

Bar Review: Papa Doble

MONTPELLIER, FRANCE

I stumbled upon this bar by accident, as I was searching for a good bar in Rome. I searched the top 50 bars in the world looking for Rome, and saw at number 41 was a bar in Montpellier. Without hesitation, I decided I was going to have to get a drink there. I made the trip within a couple nights.

When you first walk in, the bar seems rather low key. You have to walk down stairs from the street entrance. There were not many people there, but we figured out later that there was a patio up by the street that also is part of the bar. Nevertheless, we decided to stay downstairs in the bar.

I first ordered a drink called the basil smash. This drink was a smooth concoction based with gin, shaken with lots of fresh basil and finished off with lime and maybe some club soda. I’m not sure exactly what was in it, but I do know that it was one of the best drinks I’ve ever had.

My second time to the bar, I ordered a Hendricks gin fizz(that’s what they told me). I don’t think it was actually a gin fizz, but it was really good. It was a gin drink with cucumber, lime, and club soda. It was so smooth and refreshing.

Other drinks ordered by people in my group were the Stigmata, which was an intense berry drink, and the Blonde Bombshell, which I didn’t care for because of the butterscotch flavor.

You may have to wait a while for your drinks, but each drink is artfully put together, so it makes it well worth the wait. The drinks are 9.5 Euro.

Vineyard Visit in Montpellier

Montpellier is home to its very own vineyard, just a few minutes outside the main city center. Although the Langudeuc region is not known for its fine wines, it is the largest producing region in France. Some refer to the region as the “wine lake” due to the mass production of wine taking place. Usually, the wines from there are table wines or lower quality everyday wines. It is also known for producing roses, particularly in the summer

We first took a tour of the “mansion” on the chateau, which was filled with old items that had been used there in the last couple hundred years. This was not the reason we were all there, however. The wine tasting, which consisted of one white, one rose, and two reds, took place with the wine producer leading the discussion. I like one of the reds, and all 4 were decent. One common flaw I found is the lack of depth and complexity. The red that I liked did have some balance with a hint of tobacco/smoke and a fair level of fruit flavor. Maybe all the hype of French wine led me to expect more, but looking back it was decent wine at a very reasonable price of about 10 Euro. Would I drink it again? Yes. Would I buy it again? Maybe not.

After the tasting we went out to the vineyard itself. It was cool walking through and seeing the grapes on the vines. When he was explaining the wines and discussing everything that goes into winemaking while at the vineyard, I could really sense from the winemaker the passion and the amount of care that goes into making wine. I would have like to see the area where the wine is actually made, but I’m not sure that they make that available for tours.

Restaurant Review: La Sousta

CANNES, FRANCE

We only had a brief stop in Cannes on Sunday, so we weren’t quite sure what we would do. One thing was for certain, and that was to find a good restaurant. After walking around a while, we took a riding tour of the city. As we traveled up the historic part of the city, which was situated on a hill overlooking the port, we noticed some restaurants. Tucked away on a not-so-busy street on the hill, we found this restaurant called La Sousta. It stuck out on the quiet street, as the bistro/bar was overflowing into the street with locals, which is always a good sign. After we glanced at the menu written on the chalkboard out front, we sat down and asked for a menu. As it turns out, that chalkboard is the menu. There were seven items on the menu that day. We had 5 people in our group, so we ordered 5 different things and shared family style.

My favorite was the beef carpaccio and the melon and feta tartare. The beef carpaccio was so fresh, paired with a bed of lightly dressed arugala and shaved parmesan, and was just delicious. The tartare was absolutely delightful, as the melon was sweet and the feta was salty, dressed with a vinagarette and fresh mint. It was a perfect way to start(or end) a meal.

The other dishes we ordered, which were also very, very good, included osso bucco, seafood taggatelle, and beef with a peppercorn cream sauce. With this variety of top notch dishes, along with a chilled bottle of local rose, we couldn’t have asked for a better or more relaxing meal(until it started raining when we were paying).