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The Medieval Village of Eze sits perched high on a mountaintop with dramatic views down steep ravines to the sea below. We parked at the base of the village and climbed for about 15 minutes to reach the preserved village above.
The Medieval Village of Eze sits perched high on a mountaintop with dramatic views down steep ravines to the sea below. We parked at the base of the village and climbed for about 15 minutes to reach the preserved village above.
At the town of Eze, two perfumeries have outlets: Fragonard and Galimard, both displaying dozens of different scented colognes, soaps, and moisturizers with signature regional fragrances from verbena to rose. Both have large manufacturing facilities in Grasse, a town about an hour northeast of Nice close to where all the flowers grow. We sampled the verbena perfume before ascending the steep climb to the medieval village and luxuriated in drifts of that sweet, succulent scent caught in the mountain air.
As we entered the main town area, we felt transported back in time, as Eze remains little changed from its original medieval structure. What used to be small homes tucked in stone crevices now house artisan shops specializing in jewelry, art, and clothing. You can meander through the whole town in about a half hour, getting lost in the charming ambiance of flowers, cacti, cobblestone staircases, and open-air cafés.
All entryways have hand-carved wooden doors and stand only around 5’7” tall.
Olive trees growing the Niçoise olives can be found throughout Southern France. In Eze we saw one over 2,000 years old.
Around each corner we encounter beautifully built rooftops with handcrafted weather vanes, including the dramatic gold goat that sits atop an upscale hotel, Chateau du Chevre – aptly named “hotel of the goat.”
The chateau features beautifully manicured terraced gardens that descend several levels along the steep mountainside. Scattered throughout, we found dramatically large metal animal statues, from a mother and baby giraffe to frolicking dolphins and snapping alligators. Pristine green lawns meet carefully pruned roses.
To top it all off, one of the lawns boasts a human-size chess board on which we played by lifting the pieces with both hands while stepping around the stone lions that keep the board aloft from its grass base.
We had lunch at the elegant Chateau d’Eze, which serves classic French cuisine in an upscale setting. Many of the tables sit by open windows with a striking view of the sea far below, with silver settings, white linen tablecloths, and beautiful rose centerpieces.
The kitchen offers French cuisine at its finest – very small portions but densely packed with intricate layers of flavors and textures. The amuse bouche from the chef featured a seasoned creamy carrot soup topped with a quail egg sitting on a carved piece of carrot and an edible violet flower cap.
The menu du jour (fixed price meal of the day) next came with a rich, thick avocado mousse topped with fresh peas, tiny cherry tomatoes that literally exploded with flavor (could they have been marinated or somehow injected with an additional flavor, we wondered?), a topping of lettuce, base of tomato and thin sliver of crusted bread, and surrounded by dots of aged balsamic. We also spied a tiny piece of fresh, raw salmon inside.
The main course consisted of two small, perfectly grilled pieces of sea bass with very sweet, local clams and fresh fennel salad. The subtle licorice flavors of the fennel so delicately complemented the freshly caught fish. Alongside this came small baked loaves of Parmesan, tomato, and traditional baguettes served with creamy butter on a slate with sprinkles of sea salt.
Lastly, vanilla ice cream sitting on top of dried rose petals, sugar crumbles and raspberry brioche (identical to our French toast) capped the three-hour meal.
Another point of interest: No one ever hurries in this Southern French region – and lunches easily stretch for two to three hours. The French definitely linger over their meals, so ultimately, we had to signal the waiter for “l’addition,” the check – to which tax and service have already been included in the price of the food.
On the way out, we stumbled across a small, round doorway in the village wall through which the Moors in the 15th century slipped into the village in the dead of night, conquering it and staying for the next 70 years. Tempting!We arrived at 10 a.m., after a long overnight flight, excited about our seafood experience and adventure in the French Mediterranean, based out of Nice, France. Traveling with me, I had my daughter, Kyle, who just finished with her sophomore year at college, and we were both incredibly excited to spend time together on a culinary and exploratory adventure. The long journey from Boston behind us, I drove our cute, small rental car from the airport, hugging the beach and the long stretch of promenade until we reached our hotel, Hotel La Perouse. With our room not yet ready, we decided to venture forth into the adjourning city.
We headed into the vieille ville (old town), the oldest and most scenic area of the now-bustling urban city. The buildings all sport colorful pastel hues and classic European wooden shutters, often with flowers hanging off the porches, or clothes drying outside high windows. We wandered to an open square with a beautiful fountain and view of the dramatic Mediterranean hillside.
The winding cobblestone and narrow streets of Nice start right off the ocean-adjacent Promenade des Anglais — where the English and French upper class flocked during the 19th century to stroll, while taking in the sights of the azure ocean, fresh salt air, and majestic Palm trees.
The old town meanders for about six blocks in all directions — spilling forth a mélange of bistros, bakeries, and merchants offering Provençal goods from scented soaps to exotic spices. Every corner we turned brought surprises, including rich smells and endless temptations — from the caramelized onions on the popular, Nice pizza-like tart called Pissaladière that comes topped with white anchovies and Niçoise olives to socca, Nice’s version of street crêpes, featuring a chickpea flour base and served hot from large, iron, baking rounds.
Patisseries, French bakeries, serve up dozens of pastry variations, along with crusty, long baguettes with delicate, soft bread inside and an assortment of butter cookies, containing fruits, nuts, or spices.
Salt, pepper, and dried herbs from basil to chervil lie nestled in open wicker baskets, waiting to be combined with the Provençal olive oil and fresh lemon juice base that dominates much of Mediterranean cooking.
Cheeses form another core part of the Southern France cuisine and storefronts offer carefully selected varieties to choose from for the after-dinner cheese course. The selections run from rounds of soft, creamy cheese to slices of sharp blue and Roquefort.
Soaps, scents, and sachets are also popular in the area. Lavender buds picked in season from the heart of Provence form much of the tourist offerings — from tapestry-wrapped sachets to light fragrances. Scented soaps are another regional specialty, with dozens of alluring scents to choose from.
We followed the narrow winding streets of the old city until we located Café de Turin, recommended to us as the best seafood lunch spot in the area.
We sat down for lunch at the Café de Turin — a seafood specialty restaurant nestled in the former post station for mail making its way from France into Italy via the Turin poste. What started a century ago as a café serving coffee and refreshments to weary mailmen, has morphed into one of Nice’s most upscale seafood cafés, still housed in its original building, now designated as a national monument.
The restaurant serves its own oysters, grown in both salt-water beds in Provence, as well as up north in Normandy. All oysters come with a rating number, with No. 1 being the largest oysters on the market and descending down to No. 3, which most closely resemble our large U.S. oysters. The No. 1 oysters weigh over 300 grams each and are larger than a man’s hand in size.
They’re served simply, with choices of fresh lemon wedges or Tabasco or, with some polite pleading, seasoned red wine vinaigrette. Later, we learned that the restaurant also offers a garlic aioli (French mayonnaise) for the other cold seafood.
We ordered a dozen of the No. 1 giant oysters and Richard, the charismatic general manager, struck up a passionate conversation with us about seafood in Nice and, in particular, in his restaurant. He loved having Americans dining with him and told us he wants to travel to Boston to compare the oysters and shucking tools with his own. His pride about oysters and seafood proved contagious and he had us easily convinced that his restaurant served up the very best of the best. We spent quite a bit of time chatting with Richard, who explained the history and farming of the restaurant’s oysters and introduced us to the family patriarch, who currently manages the business.
It takes about five, rather large bites to finish each No. 1 oyster, which tastes much brinier and flavor-intensive than oysters in the States. As seafood purists, the staff only serves the seafood with dense, hard, pumpernickel bread and nothing else. Not even pommes frites (French fries) grace the restaurant’s dishes of steamed mussels. So, seafood purists only!
We also got to see the elaborate, artful platters of raw and steamed seafood being served to the restaurant’s less jet-lagged patrons! Each offered a mouth-watering variety of fresh fish, prawns, clams, large crabs, oysters, and mussels.
After lunch, we came upon the open-air seafood market in the old city, where salty fishermen sell their catches of the day. The local fish are mainly comprised of variations of white fish, similar to our cod and flounder, from John Dory to Turbot, as well as sea bass.
Another regional specialty is small white anchovies that get fried up, much like French fries at local restaurants and can be eaten whole. (I have to admit we did skip the heads.) The anchovies have a sweet, fresh taste and the fine bones dissolve in cooking. In the photos, you can see them raw, as well as served flash-fried along with calamari.
You can also find a wide variety of prawns, squid, scallops, mussels, and clams, which most often get served up in bouillabaisse, fish soups, and delicate seafood pastas.
But, there’s also some exotics featured in the mix, such as whole octopus, which held little appeal to us! The local Mediterranean crab is huge!
In neighboring shops, adjacent to the seafood stands, vendors sell multiple variations of dried and salted fish for soup bases.
Moreover, sardines as an area specialty get served up, sometimes preserved in glass jars, but, most typically, in tin cans, each with different seasoning marinades.
