We arrived in Mougins on Saturday. I was not happy to be here for a variety of reasons. I was tired. I was stressed. I was hungry. Our hotel was hard to find. I missed Aix and our terrific apartment. I wanted my mommy.
On Sunday, as I headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner, I ran into two couples who were also going to dinner. The two couples are from California. Sisters and their husbands. One couple—Connie and Roman—are from Bakersfield and celebrating their 50th anniversary. The other couple—Martha and Tony—live in Manhattan Beach. Since David and I are both from California, we all instantly became BFFs.
The six of us had dinner that night and drank lots of wine. We met the next morning for breakfast in the hotel restaurant and ended up having dinner again on Monday night. While we toured Mougins on Monday, they took their rental car to Monte Carlo where Connie actually played Blackjack at a casino. She’s a high roller from Bakersfield!
Our new friends left on Tuesday morning headed to Lourdes and then Paris. We’ll miss them, but Tony and I are Facebook friends now! We hope to visit them in Manhattan Beach when we travel to California to see Avriee, my new great-niece. And Tony and Martha has promised to come see us in Seattle. W00t!
Ah, Mougins. It’s a darling town on the top of a hill that specializes in art galleries and restaurants. Did I say hill? I meant to say “mini-mountain” It’s pretty steep. If I was the enemy in the 15th century, loaded down with armor and artillery, I wouldn’t even try to overtake the town. I’d just keep walking. I’m just sayin’.
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| Alley in Mougins |
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| Stone buildings abound. |
Winding streets (what else is new?), cobblestone paths, friendly people. A small church with lovely stained glass. Plus, on one end of town, there are huge gated stucco mansions with terrific views out to the Mediterranean. I can’t even imagine how many Euro those estates cost!
After walking around and around (see photo of map), we sat outside at a café and drank wine and enjoyed the views. Plus…bonus! We found good parking and didn’t get lost! It was pretty relaxing--just what we needed.
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| Walkway between estates in Mougins |
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| View from Mougins |
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| Here we go 'round in circles... |
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| David in Mougins |
We had dinner back at the hotel. Did I mention the wonderful restaurant at Hotel Club Mougins? A young married couple runs it—the husband is the chef and the wife the waitress. The husband was master chef at the Cordon Bleu restaurant aboard a cruise ship. His meals are fabulous and he uses herbs that he grows in a garden right outside the restaurant. Last night’s starters were jambon and cantaloupe (David) and tomato-basil soup (me). The special was a delightful fresh halibut on a bed of risotto and asparagus. In English: Yum! In French: Bon Appetit!
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