The lunch in Italy made me sleepy, so I took a long nap while Mark went to the beach with Simon. After he got back and showered, we scrounged some food for the kids and left them in the apartment with their computers so we could look for a nice dinner together.
If you’re keeping track, you might have noticed that there were exactly two things I did on Saturday:
- Go out to get lunch
- Go out to get dinner
Anyway, we left the apartment and started walking east.
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Menton is a town stretched out along a curved bay nestled against the very end of the Alps coming down to the sea.
The old town is toward the east, and that’s where the winding streets and the picturesque stairs and the high concentration of restaurants are. We thought we’d like to stay at that end, but the best apartment for us we found on the west end, on a wide boulevard that comes straight down from the train station. No matter: it is a 15-minute walk to the old town. All along the seaside is a string of stony beaches and bars and gelaterias; or you can sidestep one block inland and walk along a street that’s a mix of touristy shops and ordinary shops like pharmacies and hardware stores and sporting goods stores.
We went into the old town and found a place that wasn’t particularly Italian surrounded by Italian restaurants, tucked in a little plaza with a tree growing in the middle, strung with lights.
I’ll just highlight the food here. Scallop carpaccio with chunks of citrus
Duck breast in port wine reduction
Seared rare tuna with piquillo puree and fennel slaw
More tomorrow, I hope, especially if I can get out to a café for a pastry as soon as the shops open.
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