Summer in the French Riviera

Summer in France is pretty awesome I have to admit. However, summer in the French Riviera takes you to a whole new level. We’ve got the sun, sea, sand, mountains and much more. Everything becomes so lively and animated. People are more outdoors, carefree and laid back. There are more and more visitors to this region each year. My summer in Nice has been an eventful one. I’ve picked up a new musical instrument - the guitar. It just seems so appropriate for summer.

My summer days are also filled with tasting different gelato flavours and have discovered that I simply adore Bacio, which is in fact two heavenly mixtures of chocolate and hazelnut flavours and coincidently means kiss in Italian! I’ve also been having countless barbeques and Mojitos with good live music (most of the time with Jake Hall playing bien sûr) at bars . Mojitos are such a summer drink as it consists of delicious Rum, mint, lime topped with Perrier, so gratifyingly refreshing on a hot summer day and night.

As I mentioned earlier, summer is when you see people go out. You see people wearing summer outfit, the skimpier the better. If you’re someone who is completely fine and comfortable with your physic – Pas de problème ! But for someone like me who loves to eat and is quite conscience of appearances, in other words, I don’t want to look like a total idiot wearing a tube, I need to work out.

So I’ve been hitting the gym 3-4 times a week getting a good 1 ½ hours workout per session. I attend numerous classes – Body Pump, Body Jam, Fat Burner, Yoga, Maxi Gym, Culture Physique, Step and Stretching. My instructors are excellently qualified with a sense of humour, which makes all the difference! I usually, in summer of course, attend classes in the afternoon, which basically means you have a lot of “grannies” coming in for a workout. At first, I thought to myself, “This is a piece of cake and I’ll show these “neneks” how it’s done!” Oh how so grossly wrong was I! These “neneks” have been training for years and what seems to be heavy weight for me, is in fact light weight for them! And we’re talking 5kgs in each hand. These are the real super grannies! Well, what can I say, I’m still young and I’ll catch up with age? Anyhow, all work and no sports make Helena a dull girl!

What else? Salsa. Have I told you that I’m in love with this dance? No? So here it is, I heart Salsa! Dancing is another famous activity here, Salsa in the streets in particular. Every aspect of it is fabulous - in my eyes at least. You move and you groove to the beat of Yuri Buenaventura while dancing with a male partner. People come to these soirées for many reasons. Some simply for the love of this passionate Cuban/Porto Rican dance, some to meet new people, some to meet their special someone, some to get a good workout while having a good time. I go for all the reasons above and to have a smashing time! I have to say though that it’s very easy to be the female dancer as opposed to a male dancer as he needs to do all work as he’s the leader in this sexy dance. But all is good when you’re dancing the night away under the stars!

Could life actually get better than this?

Another part of me

Every 3rd person in the world plays it, it looks facile. I started having the urge since my piano days and I've always been fascinated by it - the beautiful sound that comes from strumming a few strings together and the most modest fact - it's a completely mobile stringed instrument.
Let me introduce you to my latest craze - learning to play the guitar.

Who would have thought that playing the guitar would be hard work. I never knew one could bend fingers that way! And it's confirmed - my left index, middle and ring fingers are sore. The consolation is that they are now slowly but surely developing callouses! It should be well on its way as I put in 3 and more hours of strumming. It's quite easy to give up but what keeps me inspired is this piece delivered by John Mayer at MJ's memorial tribute - Human Nature. That's what I'm aiming for and if all goes well as planned, I should be strumming to that tune in no time *wishful thinking*.

I love music. I love everything about it. I've always been musically inclined. Inside my head, there's an on-going radio that does not switch off. It's quite easy for me to shut everything out by filling it with music. Music gives me passion, it de-stresses and balances life.

I cannot imagine a life without music, so let the music play on!

Illusion

Antibes is a charming city in the French Riviera with its clean tiny streets, artisan crafts, the best gelato I have ever tasted in this region, decent pubs and bars and a fair amount of expatriates from the UK. I like this city. Or I used too. The other day, my girlfriends - E, S and I decided to spend the afternoon there.

After having lunch at this ever so disappointing Indian Restaurant called Achiana, we walked in the streets and stumbled upon a delightful little street where there were some healthy looking flowers hanging off a balcony. We thought that would make a nice background for our photographs. E was snapping S and I with her camera then mine when out of nowhere, a bucket of water splashed on E! We heard laughs from one of the flats above right after the incident but did not see a face. How outrageous! E got soaked and instinctively became furious! My Panasonic Lumix got wet too and is no longer in proper working condition which made me momentarily frenzied and now infuriated.

Naturally we marched straight to the local Police station (which resembled a deserted place with no one at the counter to greet us) to complain in hopes that an investigation will be carried out at that instant. The assigned Policeman only attended to us once he was done "chit chatting" with another colleague, walked as if he was the king of the jungle and all should bow down to him, looked at me from top to bottom as if to insinuate that I was a prostitute, sat down like he had just consumed a tonne worth of food and waited for us to say something! How harassed and judged I felt at that point! To no avail, nothing came out of it giving reasons that perhaps X might have been watering her plants - that flat had neither a balcony nor plants and of course he had already learned that fact from us earlier or maybe she accidentally spilled her drink! And what, no apology? As unlucky as we were that day, that Policeman treated the case as light as feather.
We left, feeling utterly dumbfounded and speechless.

I wonder how this country's police force could entrust an incompetent fellow colleague to sign an official document which states that he, Guy LUCAS certifies that he promises to make the grade to the duties of providing public security?

I cannot even distinguish which situation is worse - two crazy women splashing water on another human being with no reason, no apology and finding it amusing or a policeman who was just too lazy to assume his role to ensure national security.

This goes beyond my comprehension.

Euphoria at its best

I was never a fan, don't know if I ever will be but at the point when these competitors passed by, I was exhilarated, not to mention euphoric!

Le Tour de France is an event you must (try) not miss when in France. The race takes place in summer from almost every corner of France, varying from city to city every year. This year will be the 96th Tour de France and it kicks off in Monaco on July 4^th and finishes in Paris, July 26^th 2009, covering a total distance of 3,500 kilometres. The stop-overs include new cities like Brignoles, Gérone (Spain), Issoudun, Martigny (Switzerland), Saint-Fargeau, Tonnerre and Verbier (Switzerland). They go through diversified stages - 3 mountain finishes, 2 rest days, 55 kms of individual time-trials and so on.

Since I am now in the south of France and they were going to pass through Nice, I decided to go cheer for them and follow them to the finishing line of the day, Brignoles - an hour inland from St. Tropez. This is the tricky part, choosing the right spot. If you pick a hilly spot, it happens so quickly you don't even know what passed by but when you're at the finishing line like I was - and at spitting distance too from the cyclists - you get to see and hear every bit of them, even succumb to the sweat shaken off them at the end of the race! I managed to get a close up of the ever famous Lance Armstrong who finished at no. 10 yesterday - day 2 of the race. He was huffing and puffing like the rest of them in the scorching 35°c heat but was generous enough to give away his water bottle to a kid who probably didn't know who he was.









It may seem like a feasible race to some people but to me, that's just plain madness! I can't even imagine cycling more than 10 kms a day! If not, I couldn't help but shout out "Bravo to these courageous cyclists!" Cycling is a sport of endurance which is attained through age. With that said, it gives me hope.

Gone too soon

Michael Joseph Jackson
29 August 1958 - 25 June 2009

Like a comet
Blazing 'cross the evening sky
Gone too soon

Like a rainbow
Fading in the twinkling of an eye
Gone too soon

Shiny and sparkly
And splendidly bright
Here one day
Gone one night

Like the loss of sunlight
On a cloudy afternoon
Gone too soon

Like a castle
Built upon a sandy beach
Gone too soon

Like a perfect flower
That is just beyond your reach
Gone too soon

Born to amuse, to inspire, to delight
Here one day
Gone one night

Like a sunset
Dying with the rising of the moon
Gone too soon
Gone too soon...

You will be missed and thought of for the rest of my life.
Rest in Peace.

Piggin' out in ol' London

It has been a hot Spring, unlike previous Springs (so I've been told) in Nice and since moving here from the capital, I've been having a hard time adjusting to the heat. Being a Malaysian I should be able to stomach temperatures between 25°C - 35°C. This may come as a surprise but believe it or not, my body, apparently now, can only endure 23°C maximum, anything beyond that and I'm toast! This is where my London escape materializes, often enough without the spouse.

London is my retreat as far as Malaysian food and cold weather cravings light up. Nice Côte d'Azur International Airport is where jet-setters fly to luxurious vacation resorts or to second homes in places such as St. Tropez, Antibes, Cannes and Monaco. It is literally 20 minutes drive away from our apartment and even though it is the 2nd busiest airport in France (after Charles de Gaulle bien sûr), the whole process is a breeze from the moment you step in which makes flying convenient and hassle-free. My sister lives close to London City Airport and that's where I get off, again, a piece of cake.

It was a week of blissful fooding with rain and grey skies! I ate, like my title, as a pig would! I went to Jom Makan, Rasa Sayang and Ekachai where I had just-as good as-back home Hokkein Fried Noodles, Chicken Satay, Nasi Ayam Percik, Singapore Fried Noodles, Roti Canai, Sago Gula Melaka, Teh Tarik etc. We also went to a Brazilian restaurant at the O², Rodizio Rico where we ordered the only meal that is served, Churrasco. To make the soirée even more stimulating was the live band playing Bossa Nova with my favourite music scores from my all time favourite film, Woman On Top! Exceptionally brilliant.









To sum up my trip with a song: Yummy yummy yummy, I have love in my tummy!

Niçois aren't crazy to be anywhere else!

And they are right! Nice is the new paradise. Why would you leave Nice to go live anywhere else when you've got the sun, the sea, the mountains and plenty of gelato to go around, all year round?

So my husband and I moved to Nice 2 months ago because he was given the opportunity to work in Sophia Antipolis, which is your French equivalent Silicon Valley. On that account, I had to leave Paris, my job, friends and start a whole new chapter here which is all exciting. It was hard at first, seeing that Paris was my home for the last 3 years or more. And at times, the grass would appear greener on the other side! But it must be said that I am gradually swimming with the tide.

Honestly, how many people can actually say (in their lifetime) that they've lived in the French Riviera? The lifestyle is completely the opposite than that of Paris. People here are friendly and laid back. Food is exquisite, notably Italian cuisine - not surprising as this life-loving country is right next door. The weather is perpetually pleasant and it goes without saying - one of the best sceneries I've ever had to witness.

My blog title still reads "C'est la vie, c'est Paris" when it should say "Nice" somewhere in there. I guess I still have a strong connection with Paris and still feel like a Parisian. The day I forget which metro line it is to take to reach Trocadero or Bastille and know by heart, instead, the timetable of the trains to Monaco/Cannes, is the day I can finally call myself a Niçoise and change the title to something more appropriate.