fev 15-18: Two quiet outings, then Nice

Writing from a hostel computer in Nice, so not to be too long here. (Will upload photos when there are fewer people) Last Friday was a final day of olive tree pruning which was just as enjoyable as the others, especially with more sunny skies and reasonable temperatures. I took another challenging trail run that afternoon involving many hills with lots of rocks. I survived.

Saturday I caught the early bus to Cannes, hit up the market for some picnic fodder, and then took the 25-minute ferry to Ile St Honorat. It's the smaller of two islands off Cannes, inhabited only by a small order of monks who have been there in one incarnation or another for 16 centuries. Apparently the monks who once owned Domaine de la Sylviane moved down there when they left Valbonne. It is quite a small island -- you can walk from coast to coast across the shorter axis in about 10 minutes. One of the most astonishing things about the landscape was the fact that the coastal rocks all seemed to have heaved up enough so that their layers ran vertically instead of horizontally, all craggy white stone bleached by the sun. Lots of cypress and other evergreen trees, plus birds including some kind of game bird (pheasant, quail or partridge, don't know the difference...). I did see two monks as well, one of whom smiled at me instead of saying Bonjour since they are a silent order.

These monks, though, apparently make some very fine wines. I didn't taste any, but I did buy myself a sampler pack of their five liqueurs, one of which is made with 44 different herbs. Perhaps the coolest thing on the island, though, is the ruined fortified monastery that was built over the course of the 13th-16th centuries, I think. Unfortunately, my camera battery died just as I got there, but it was the stone shell of something that looked like a large castle tower with different rooms for prayer, working and sleeping inside.

Sunday, after a leisurely breakfast, I took my walk to the town of Biot along the river Brague. It was nice enough, but the scenery varied too little for my taste. Lots of ivy-covered trees, bare trees, mossy trees, the small river, and the path in front of me. The path, in fact, was the most interesting part. I've never been on a path in the woods before that was paved; it was paved with stones and built up like a kind of wall along the river bank. Quite the contrast to see this piece of mad-made masonry in the midst of the forest.

Both days I had Filipino dinners including learning more about everyone's families and watching the video of last year's pig roast that celebrated one of their friend's 50th birthdays.

And now in Nice where I walked around lots today and took a somewhat disappointing tour of Confiserie Florian, a traditional candy company. I did splurge on clementine confit which are these incredible whole candied clementines that just drop syrup when you bite into them. I'll make the bag last for at least a week. Just like my birthday present to myself -- the box of chocolates from Maison du Chocolat that I bought on Saturday in Cannes. In fact, off to have one for dessert right now.