Food, Glorious Food!

As well as being "Le Perle de France," (The Pearl of France), Menton is the citrus capital of France, with a climate mild enough for a citrus festival in February... and citrus is perennially in bloom here (it blooms and is harvested all year round).

Being right on the Franco-Italian border, it also has this amazing fusion of French and Italian food. Last night, Paul & went to our favourite restaurant (how we resisted until now? It was closed Tuesday & Wednesday!), Sotto le Stelle (Under the Stars) and we both had the amazing Pizza Diablo (the devil's pizza). It has a wonderfully thin yet chewy crust (How do they do that????) topped with a piquant tomato sauce, a heavy hand of cheese, and spicy slices of capiccolo and nicoise olives. It's wood-fired and always singed at the edges (sort of like a tarte flambee), the charring adding a particular deliciousness to the final result.

Today's photos are food-oriented. There is a shot of authentic Menton lemons (taken at the covered market), the daily special board at our favourite creperie (more on that in a later post) and a photo of those oh-so-delicious Diablo pizzas. I'm also incuding a video of Sotto le Stele. It doesn't accurately portray its beautiful setting in the middle of the marina (and notice how the people chatting at the next table are speaking Italian, not French!).

May Day (May 1st) is a holiday here and in Italy, so the town is about to be over-run with holiday makers. We want to get out and get in groceries, as we won't be able to get a seat in any restaurant until about Tuesday of next week (Everyone will have Monday off as May 1st is on a Saturday.

Yum, yum... wonder what we'll find?