Slow & Coastal

Còte d’Azur – Monte Carlo – Italian Riviera

10 Nights:   8th – 18th  May 2007

 

Day 1. Arrival: Còte d’Azur

Tuesday 8 May: Luigi and Isabella Dusi will meet you at Nice International Airport. This spectacular corner of Provence is blessed with a warm climate and sunny image. As guests may arrive on international flights today, no formal activities are planned. Once we have checked into our hotel, where we will stay for five nights, you will be free to rest in the afternoon, or to explore your delightful surroundings. Provencàl cuisine is an ambassador of the soul and this evening we’ll sit down to our first Provencal dinner.

Overnight: *** Hotel in Provence. Dinner with wines included. 

Day 2. Nice Markets – Olive Oil – the village of Eze

Wednesday 9 May: The daily markets of Nice offer an array of fascinating foods and a meander from fromagerie to boucherie, pàtisserie to boulangerie is a singularly provencàl experience. This market is the melting pot for Niçois cuisine and that of the region. In the squares you will find “socca” sellers, transporting delicious golden pancakes in two wheeler vehicles. At the market you can sit and enjoy caffè au lait as the sounds and aromas waft over. Reputedly the best ice cream in all of France is made at ParadIce, on Cours Saleya, right where the market is. If you prefer, you may like to visit the Musèe Matisse or the Musèe des Beaux Arts.

This afternoon we’ll explore the olive oil of Provence before visiting a village perched on a cliff like an eagle’s nest overlooking the sea. Eze is surrounded by walls hiding oddly angled streets and stairways decked with cacti and palms with boutiques selling scented flower products, ceramics hand blown glassware and gorgeous tablecloths and throws. Should you wander to the top of the town you will find an exotic garden suspended between sea and sky surrounding the ruins of the castle of Eze. After a fabulous coastal day we’ll return to our hotel and you will be free for the evening.

Overnight***Hotel in Provence.

Day 3. The Maestro’s Kitchen – Fragonard and Chocolate

Thursday 10 May: This morning is the first of two demonstration cooking sessions under the instruction of the Chefs who made Moulin de Mougins one of France’s most famed restaurants. The name Alain Llorca is recognised all over the world. After a decade at The Negresco, Leading Hotel of the World in Nice, Alain Llorca took over the kitchen at the Moulin de Mougins - The Mill of Mougins. Both cooking school and restaurant function at the highest

level of French cuisine. After a brilliant morning learning about the plates prepared under your eyes taste buds aroused by the colours, flavours, scents and textures of Mougins cuisine, we will sit down to a superb lunch at Moulin de Mougins. Recipes from your class sessions will be available.

This corner of Provence is also famous as the world’s perfume capital. In the 16^th century Caterina de’ Medici married the King of France and set the fashion for scented gloves. Ernest Beaux from nearby Grasse was the first to manipulate the ingredients of seduction and began the extraction of fragrances with which to make the world’s perfumes. Our route this afternoon is towards Cannes and Antibes. We’ll call in at the fabulous house of Fragonard and closer to Cannes we’ll visit the famed Chocolatier Maiffret to study the production of delicious creations equally as seductive as Fragonard perfume. Passing through coastal villages we’ll return to our hotel and you will be free for the evening to recover from a day of cooking, eating, seductive aromas and scrumptious chocolates.

Overnight***Hotel in Provence. Moulin de Mougins Lunch with wines included.

Day 4. Flower Farm - Mountain villages – Wine tasting - Monte Carlo

Friday 11 May: Around Gourdon are the flower farms and orchards growing violets, roses, jasmine, orange blossom and acacia. This morning, accompanied by a flower expert, we’ll visit the farm which should be in full spring bloom and learn about fragrances and glazed and sugared fruit confectionary, which is now the secondary industry. The inland villages of Provence, such as Gourdon, are always delightful to visit,  tucked into the hillsides surrounded by the Alpes de Haute Provence.

This afternoon we have an appointment with the Sommelier of Moulin de Mougins Restaurant. Although Provence is not recognised as one of the internationally renowned wine regions of France, these are French wines with the Appellation AOC which deserve higher acclaim and which marry perfectly with the sunny cuisine of Provence. Our Sommelier will lead us through a tasting session of wines of the region in a cavè near the village of Mougins, another enchanting and typical Provencàl village.

This evening our coach will be available should you wish to take up the option of an evening at Monte Carlo. The grand Casino of Monte Carlo has been associated with wealth, mystery and intrigue ever since Mata Hari shot a Russian spy. There is a minimum cost to enter the main Casino, dress codes apply, and you must present your passport. Alternatively, a second casino offers its pleasures with less strict dress and entry requirements.  As an alternative, we offer to request a booking for you to dine at Restaurant Le Louis XV under the extraordinary hand of Chef Alain Ducasse. This offers an extravagant and stupendous evening. Opulent Le Louis XV is situated in the Hòtel de Paris in Place du Casino and is favoured by royalty and celebrities and those who cannot resist the temptation to dine in exemplary surroundings on out-of-this-world food. The nearby bistro at Caffè de Paris is also an excellent dining choice. The coach will depart Monte Carlo and return to our hotel at approximately 11 pm, depending on your activities, which will be at your choice and expense.

Overnight ***Hotel in Provence.

Day 5. Vence – Henry Matisse - Llorca Cuisine

Saturday 12 May: The village of St Paul de Vence boasts art galleries tucked in between the boulangerie and patisserie, whereas Vence, a few kilometres distant, equally charming but with less visitors, is punctuated with ceramists and provencàl fabrics and charming boutiques. This morning we’ll explore Vence and Chapelle du Rosaire, decorated by Henri Matisse. If time permits we’ll make a shorter stop at St Paul de Vence on our return journey, but this is a different kind of experience as St Paul is a mecca to tourism and whilst it is a typically provencàl village, one can become frustrated trying to appreciate its treasures.

Later today the Chefs of Moulin de Mougins will be waiting in the demonstration kitchen. Today you’ll learn more of the secrets of a true maestro at our second session, sipping a glass of wine and becoming deliciously creative under their watchful eyes. Following our lesson we’ll take a break back at our hotel for  your last minute shopping and wandering and because you will need time to prepare for our superb farewell dinner, which will be in the fine restaurant at Moulin de Mougins under the hand of Chef Alain Llorca.

Overnight***Hotel in Provence. Moulin de Mougins Dinner with wines included.

6. Monaco – Buongiorno Italia - Bordighera

Sunday 13 May: This morning we load our baggage into the coach and depart for the Italian Riviera. You may have visited Monte Carlo Casino by night, but today you can visit the Principality of Monaco itself. It is the world’s oldest monarchy and is a stubbornly independent two square kilometre principality. A short walk brings you to the Palace of the Prince; the changing of the guard ceremony takes place every day. If Prince Albert is not in residence you are able to visit the palace. The Cathedral is close by, burial place for all of the Princes of Monaco, Princess Grace and in 2005 her Prince was interred near his beloved wife. After our visit we’ll travel across the border and into Italia.

Italian Riviera: Once settled into our hotel, home for the next three nights, we’ll begin to explore the Ligurian coast which is heavily influenced by the seafaring city of Genova. This coastal frontier was a point of departure to thousands of mariners who exported Ligurian herbs. Ligurian cuisine became known as ‘the cuisine of the return’ - characterised by the hours the women passed preparing food for when husbands and sons returned to port. An evening walk to discover our surroundings will be followed by a dinner in a trattoria. A far cry from the finesse of Monte Carlo or the chefs of Mougins, but no less delicious will be our first encounter with Ligurian cuisine. Italian cuisine was born in the home, not the restaurant, and that is where it is at its simplest and best.

Overnight: *** Hotel on Italian Riviera. Dinner with wines included

Day 7. Dolceacqua -  Olive Oil - Wine – Apricale

Monday 14 May: Catastrophes of all kind, manmade and natural, are common in the Ligurian mountains where ravines and peaks abruptly vanish and suddenly reappear. Today we’ll explore the olive oil made in villages whose stoic citizens live in evocative houses where even today chickens, sheep and goats still share the ground floor in covered alleys that have never seen the sun. Dolceacqua was probably a Druidic site of a Celtic tribe. Today it basis its economy on Rossese di Dolceaqua, a red wine, full bodied and ruby which we will taste at lunch. A few kilometres into the mountains Apricale appears to be clinging to the side of the hill, struggling to prevent itself from toppling into the river. It is a muddle of blackened houses, tightly crammed among tortuous lanes into which cars cannot enter. But even in the remotest, most inaccessible places in Italy, always there is at least one family trattoria! On our off-the-track journey today we’ll investigate the fruity olive oil, Rossese and Vermentino wines and other local specialities made by these Ligurian mountain folk.

Overnight: ***Hotel on Italian Riviera. Lunch with wines included.

Day 8. San Remo markets – Goat Cheese

Tuesday 15 May: By the time we arrive, the locals will already be at the covered market which exposes how the people from Liguria treat the market as a social encounter. From the pasticceria they will be purchasing pane del marinaio, sailors bread, and here you will find the fabulous ingredients which are the basis of the cuisine. Boutique shopping is excellent, and so is the open air market. The oldest part of San Remo is a labyrinth of alleys into which modern life has barely encroached. The smells of cooking from wood burning stoves mingle as you pass open windows and doors, but the residents do not wish to modernise nor pretty up their neighbourhood.

After the markets we’ll travel a little way into the mountains to find a goat herder who specialises in mountain goat cheese. This promises to be a ‘rural’ experience – as we get to the heart of Italian products made by artisan farmers who live a simplistic and isolated life far away from the places where their produce is devoured. We’ll return in the late afternoon and if time permits we’ll make a short visit to the fascinating olive oil museum at Imperia. You will be free for the evening.

Overnight***Hotel on Italian Riviera.

Day 9. Portovenere

Wednesday 16 May: Continuing our travels from coast to coast, we will depart our hotel and begin our journey along the Ligurian Coast. Our destination is Portovenere which sits at the tip of the enchanting Cinque Terre fishing villages strung along this magical coast. The morning will pass quickly as we journey along the coast, at times high above the sea, and sometimes surrounded by wooded hills which reach down to the water, passing seagoing Genova and La Spezia, an interesting city which suffered terrible bombing during the Second World War. Once at Portovenere we’ll begin our explorations; the castle looking down upon the town is a challenging walk, but the 11^th century church at the very end of the promontory is easily reached and offers enchanting views towards Cinque Terre. Lord Byron often swam in the sea at Portovenere and if the weather is fine, and the cove is open, it may be possible for you swim to his grotto. This evening you can explore Portovenere, walking along the shoreline where the fishermen pile up their nets. We’ll gather for a casual pizza dinner this evening in Portovenere.

Overnight ***Portovenere. Pizza dinner with wine included.

10. Five Sparkling Jewels along the Coast – Cinque Terre

Thursday 17 May: These five fishing villages of Cinque Terre – Riomaggiore, Manorala, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso Mare - are on the wish-list of every visitor to Italy, but not easily reached by road because access is severely restricted due to the rugged terrain. Although these were once isolated and quiet fishing villages, international tourism ‘discovered’ Cinque Terre about ten years ago and since then the villages have experienced a meteoric rise to fame and this has brought a welter of tourism. But it remains an enchanting coastline and the villages are divine. Weather permitting, (if the weather is unkind the boats cannot berth at the coves at the villages),we’ll travel by boat up this magical coastline disembarking at one of the villages, and you may choose to take one of the mountain walks. Some of the walks are arduous and require a high level of fitness, but Lovers Walk from Manorala to Riomaggiore is relatively flat and comfortable. If the weather is fine you may like to swim, or lunch at one of the restaurants offering a spectacular. Our day will be flexible to allow you to follow your own itinerary. If the weather is unkind we will use alternative transport to and from the Cinque Terre. This will be a captivating day, and this evening we’ll join together for a delicious dinner at Portovenere, savouring the flavours of the sea.

Overnight***Portovenere. Dinner with wines included.

Day 11.  Florence - Departure

Friday 18 May: Following breakfast we’ll load the baggage onto the coach and begin our journey to Florence. Departure points will be Florence Airport or Florence Railway Station. Any activities on our route to Florence will not be finalised until we are aware of the departure arrangements of tour guests, but if time permits we’ll include an interesting visit. Estimated time of arrival at Florence airport is 16.30 pm and Florence railway station 17.30 pm. Your tour hosts request that you do not make arrangements for any flight or train journey departing Florence prior to 1800 hours. Please note it is your responsibility to ensure your ongoing travel plans are not endangered due to any unexpected weather, traffic or other delay on the final day of the tour which are outside of the control of the tour operators and for which they take no responsibility.