Postcard From Nice

Old town

New town

Breakfast of baguette, jam, butter and honey

Une grande crème

Olives provençales (the size of your pinky nail!)

Sea salt

Chickpea fries

Grilled toast with goat cheese, honey and slivered almonds

Socca with ratatouille

Grilled peach with pecan praline cookie, vanilla-macadamia nut ice cream, red currants, honey

“Pain perdu” (French toast) with carmelized apple and caramel-sea salt ice cream

Mint liqueur digestif

We arrived in Nice yesterday morning at 9 AM. Our hotel rooms weren’t ready yet, so my dad and I explored the city and grabbed a bite of lunch. Nice is divided into “old town” and “new town” (above), but the two are only a few paces from each other. “Old town” has all kinds of cafes and shops that specialize in things like olive oils, sea salts (we came out with four different kinds!), stinky cheeses, fresh pastas… it’s paradise. “New town” has more modern restaurants and is more accessible to traffic and public transportation.

We are a family of eaters, and such eating have we done! Everything has been exquisite. There is a fantastic daily produce market, and once a week the market swells exponentially and vendors come from all over France to sell their goods. Luckily that day is tomorrow (Saturday), so we’ll be stopping there on our way out to the country. One of Nice’s specialties is socca, a crêpe made with chickpea flour (I first tried this at NYC’s Nizza earlier this summer), but it is also home to the tuna niçoise salad, fantastic wine and very friendly people. My favorite tastes so far have been a salad topped with grilled toasts with chevre, honey and almonds (above), and two desserts my dad and I split at the Luc Salbedo Restaurant: grilled peach and pain perdu (above).

As you can see, we’re having a pretty terrible time. I wonder what I’ve done to deserve it all.

Luc Salsedo Restaurant

I’ve got internet while I’m here at the hotel, but it may not be as consistent when we get to the house we’ve rented. Unfortunately WordPress.org’s post scheduling system has proved to be completely unreliable, but don’t worry, guest posters! I’ll do what I have to to make sure your hard work is honored and your posts go up.

It’s after midnight here, so I’m going to try to read a few pages before my eyes close. Have a fabulous weekend, wherever you are!

Gray trousers, My Pants (Barney’s Co-Op); gray tee, American Apparel; nude wedges, Aerosoles

Because a few of you have been asking for some fashion photos, I thought I would share tonight’s outfit. I am in France after all, so I modeled my look after Isabel Marant’s iconic Fall trousers. I brought a pair of lightweight pleated gray pants, which I cuffed and paired with nude wedges. I wanted the effect to be put together but unfussy, so I threw on a basic gray tee shirt and pinned my hair up. Easy peasy!