Nice restaurants to remember in NICE

A trip to the French Riviera in October is a perfect way to prepare for coming winter. With temperature around 20 degrees daytime, lunch outside is a must. Having Nice as a base you can easily do longer and shorter excursions. Antibes one day and Monaco the next.

Dinners we usually had in our cosy, vibrant local neighbourhood, a couple of blocks above the port in Nice. Rue Bonaparte is a street leading to the Garibaldi square. This street, as well as the parallel and crossing ones, are filled with restaurants, bars, bakeries, patisseries. It's an area with walking distance almost everywhere but with the advantage of being away from the tourist spots.

Thanks to our excellent host, Jose, we found some of these places and the others by ourselves.

Vinivore
Had my best cheese plate hear. Beside the restaurant is a wine bar. Same owners.
10 rue Lascaris, Nice
Tel: +33 (0)4 93146809
contact@vinivore.fr
www.vinivore.fr 

L’atelier du Port
Trendy and nice with a menu based on the seasons.
45 Rue Bonaparte, 06300 Nice
Tel: +33 (0)9 83038844
Facebook page

L’Esprit Gourmand
Friendly neighbourhood restaurant.
17 Rue Beaumont, 06300 Nice
Tel: +33 (0)9 81671037
Facebook page

Bel oeil
A small menu that changes frequently. Pleasant, minimalist design.
12 Emmanuel Philibert, 06300 Nice
Tel: +33 (0)9 80330838
Facebook page

Le Victor Hugo
French brasserie-style with many patrons and local atmosphere. Located a couple of blocks behind Hotel Negresco.
1 Rue Berlioz, 06000 Nice
Tel: +33 (0)4 93871158

Comptoir Central Éléctrique at10 Rue Bonaparte is a nice bar which also serves food. We didn't try the food but used to finalize the evening here with a glass of wine.
Facebook page

Outside Nice:

Newport steakhouse & seafood bar
Situated by the waterfront in Villefranche-sur-mer. Walking distance from Nice or two stops by train from the central station.
1 Quil Courbet, 06230 Villefranche-sur-mer
Tel: +33 (0)9 83697014
newport.restaurant06@gmail.com

Le Pigennier
Located in the old town of Vence, inside the medieval walls. To reach Vence, take bus no 400 to end station. Takes about an hour depending on traffic. The same bus pass by Saint-Paul-de-Vence - an art mecca with countless of galleries and studios. This is where most of the passengers drop off the bus.
5&7 Place du Peyra, 06140 Vence
Tel: +33 (0)4 93580300
restaurant-le-pigeonnier@hotmail.com
Facebook page

Nacional beef & wine bar
Trendy spot in Antibes with a stylish inner yard. Perfect for lunch on a sunny day.
61 Place Nationale, 06600 Antibes
Tel: +33 (0)4 93617730
contact@nacional.fr
Website

Tips:
Tentazione is a small cheese shop located in the old town of Nice. While visiting this street, take a look at the wine shop close by, called La cave de Stephane.
6 Rue du Collet, 06300 Vieux Nice

La Traviata: Ljuvlig musik i ny, naken kostym på Folkoperan

(Foto: Lilian)

La Traviata betyder ’Den vilseledda’ och är en av Giuseppi Verdis mest älskade operor. Verket hänför och förför och som publik gäller att inte ’vilseledas’ bort från musiken när man överraskas och stundtals överrumplas av Folkoperans uppsättning, i regi av Mellika Melouani Melani.

Öppningsscenen gör sitt bästa för att chockera publiken med nakenhet, sex och dekadens för att sedan landa i ett komplicerat, men nog så aktuellt, relationsdrama mellan Violetta, Alfredo och Alfredos pappa Germont. Violetta och hennes umgänge vill leva i fria relationer utifrån sina egna preferenser. Oavsett det handlar om Paris i slutet av 1800-talet eller nutid så blir de, och vi, varse om samhällsstrukturens inrotade kraft där gift, hetero tvåsamhet anses vara normen.

(Foto: Folkoperans pressbild, Markus Gårder)

Överlag är det en välsjungen föreställning. Kören står för elegans, Violetta (Julia Sporsén) och Germont (Jeremy Carpenter) imponerar. De sjunger kraftfullt och utstrålar stabilitet på scenen vilket känns tryggt då den unga Alfredo (Jesper Säll) stundtals svajar till. Ibland vill jag blunda för att inte distraheras av aktiviteterna på scenen. Det ser jag som ett mycket gott betyg till dirigent Marit Strindlund och Folkoperans orkester som får musiken att glöda.

(Foto: Lilian)

Innan premiären har det varit en del diskussionen kring nakenhet och sexanspelningar. Föreställningen har därför fått en åldersgräns på 12 år. ”Less is more” används i diverse sammanhang och här har Folkoperan verkligen anammat uttrycket i sin konkreta form. Naket på scen är i sig inget nytt och jag blir heller inte särskilt berörd. ”More is less” kan ibland vara mer sensuellt.

Sammanfattningsvis går jag från föreställningen med musiken klingande inombords och med ett par frågetecken. Dör verkligen Violetta på slutet och vad spelar de dockliknande barnen för roll i detta drama? Rekommenderar att ni ser föreställningen - kanske finner ni svaren.

(Foto: Folkoperans pressbild, Markus Gårder)

Fakta:
La Traviata är en italiensk opera i tre akter av Giuseppe Verdi. Libretto skrevs av Francesco Maria Piave baserat på dramat Kameliadamen av Alexandre Dumas d.y. Folkoperans uppsättning har fått svensk text av Alf Henriksson. Huvudrollerna som Violetta altererar mellan Julia Sporsén och Susanna Andersson och Alfredo sjungs av Jesper Säll och Per-Håkan Precht.
Mer information på www.folkoperan.se  

PS: La Traviata lär vara världens mest spelade opera, före Carmen och La Bohème.

Eurovision 2016: Stockholm is the place!

(Photo credit Globen: Johanna Lundberg. Montage: Lilian)

Sooner than expected we got a result from the Swedish broadcaster SVT. The host city of Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is Stockholm and the venue is the Globe Arena. Back to the place where Eurovision was held in year 2000. We can call it "recycling" and a familiar place for those who have attended Melodifestivalen.

Vienna was a wonderful Eurovision-city but how will Stockholm perform in comparison? Quite good, I believe. However there is one area where we can't compete with Vienna. WINE. Doesn't matter how efficient Swedes are, we will not be able to produce wine in the capital region as they do in Austria. Besides that we are rather well off. Here are five examples:

1) In Vienna we had Wienerschnitzel. In Stockholm we will have Biff Lindstrom and Wallenbergare.

2) In Vienna we had Sachertorte. In Stockholm we will have Princesstårta.

3) In Vienna we had Strudel. In Stockholm we will have Kanelbulle (= cinnamon bun).

4) In Vienna we had the Danube river. In Stockholm we will have Lake Mälaren.

5) In Vienna we had the Haus der Musik. In Stockholm we will have ABBA museum.

More to come within this item. Some weeks ago I wrote down 10 reasons why Stockholm should be the hosting city. Read more about my thoughts HERE.

Photos: Lilian, Alexandros, SVT, Kungsörnen

10 reasons why Stockholm should host Eurovision 2016

Eurovision in Vienna goes to history as one of the best organized contests ever - according to my opinion after 10 years of experiences. It puts a real pressure on Sweden to live up to the same level, or hopefully do even better.

Garrett Mulhall, editor-in-chief at Eurovision Ireland, asked me to write down 10 reasons why Stockholm should be the hosting city of ESC 2016. You can find the article HERE. He also asked Ludvig Alfredsson at Poplight to list his 10 reasons why ESC should be held in Gothenburg. You find them HERE.

In August SVT will announce their decision. What a surprise if we end up in Gävle-Sandviken or in Linköping.

10 reason why Stockholm gets 12 points from me:

1. Stockholm is built on islands, some say 14, some say 17. How often do you have a chance to do island-hopping in a Eurovision-capital?

2. Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Our slogan is "Capital of Scandinavia" according to Stockholm Visitors Board. You may also call us "The Venice of the North" or "Beauty on Water". Isn’t that a perfect image for a ESC hosting city?

3. Stockholm is the engine in the Swedish tourism industry with airline connections to 50 countries and with a hotel capacity around 20.000 rooms a night.

4. Stockholm is one of the world’s favourite, award-winning gay and lesbian destinations. Imagine Eurovision music flowing from the gay-friendly establishments to attract the huge international ESC-crowd.

5. The Eurovision slogan in Vienna was "Building Bridges". Believe it or not – it has been adapted among the political parties in Stockholm city council. Both the right and left wings agree for once and will cooperate and do their utmost to bring Eurovision to Stockholm. Hurrah!

6. In Stockholm modernity meets tranquillity – just like a line-up of Eurovision entries.

(Photo: Sören Andersson/mediabank.visitstockholm.com)

7. Recycling idea number 1. The Globe is still one of the landmarks in Stockholm. It has passed 16 years since this building hosted Eurovision year 2000. It’s not the most updated venue when it comes to facilities but I’m sure the press area can be placed in a tent nearby… Recycling is trendy and we would love to “ESC-recycle” the Globe.

8. Recycling idea number 2. Ask Nokia to become one of the sponsors. We can reuse their old slogan "Connecting People" and save some money for the Swedish broadcaster SVT. To connect people should be the aim in the world of Eurovision. Okay – this recycling idea might also work in Gothenburg but the response will be bigger in Stockholm. After all Stockholm has about 2,2 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area while Gothenburg has about half of this number.

9. Cooking is fun. With Eurovision in Stockholm I will stay at home for two weeks, busy cooking for my friends who need a break from the Eurovision-mania. Sorry – but I will have no time for artist interviews or Eurovision-reports. Just a small request dear friends! Please bring you own booze and wine. Alcohol is expensive in Sweden.

10. ABBA, our most famous Eurovision-winner, sang "Take a chance on me". Well, take a chance to visit the ABBA-museum and take a chance to meet me as well – somewhere in the Eurovision-bubble. If you can’t find me in the press centre, look for the kitchen.

 
Photos: Lilian, Alexandros Liapis, Sören Andersson/mediabank.visitstockholm.com

Memories from Vienna and Eurovision 2015

The Eurovision Song Contest is like a yearly balloon. The air lasts for two weeks and then it goes phut.

We are back to normal life but with nice memories from a great contest in a great city. My 12 points goes to the city of Vienna and the organizers. You are all HEROES and did a fantastic work!

Enjoy this short video with some photos from the city and the 60th edition of Eurovision Song Contest.



To Vienna I also want to say - I will be back! So see you again.

Photos: Lilian & Roges