Today I had a bit of a surprise for Becky as I had booked a few months ago a cooking class and market tour with a lady named Rosa Jackson who is a food blogger and writer and 10 year Nice resident. We met up with Rosa and the rest of the class (2 New Yorkers, 1 Californian, 1 Australian, and 1 from South Africa) and Rosa began to teach us about the history of Nicoise cuisine and general info on selecting items from the market. She showed us ways to tell local versus imported food and also who were direct farmers selling their goods versus the warehouse items, etc. After a stroll through the market where she selected items for our cooking menu we then visited a bakery, wine shop and fromagerie (cheese shop) again selecting items we would use for the meal.

Once we had all of our items selected we went to Rosa’s apartment in Old Town (so many stairs!). We all gathered around a table with a cutting board and apron, etc for helping to prepare the meal. We each took turns doing different chopping and prep tasks, Becky was the star egg separator! We made a meal of several courses starting with thinly sliced artichokes (raw) with lemon and olive oil. Next was goat cheese stuffed zucchini blossoms, sauteed asparagus, arugula and shaved asparagus salad with home made strawberry vinegar in a vinaigrette. The main course was a fish stew of fresh local vegetables and local hake fish. For the cheese course we had two types of goat cheese, a brie and another cows milk cheese. Finally for dessert we had a cherry dish with kind of a crepe batter which came out like a cherry flan or other type of custard.

After finishing the class we decided to try and see the beautiful Russian Orthodox Cathedral which is supposed to be the finest outside of Russia itself. To explain why it is here this used to be a favored vacation destination for Russian tsars and other nobles. Unfortunately as we had read was possible but couldn’t verify the cathedral itself was under construction and closed to visitors. I still got a few pictures of the domes that were visible. After returning I grabbed some items at a local candy maker and Becky headed back to the apartment.

When I got back to the apartment Becky was pretty distraught as she had discovered upon returning that her wallet had been lifted from her purse (likely on the crowded tram). This meant about 30 minutes of quickly calling and cancelling cards and determining which we could use for the rest of the trip (all is good on that note). Overall the only “real” loss was some cash she had in her purse. Still it has made both of us try to be more conscious of our surroundings and items we are carrying.

After I took a nap we went for a sunset walk along the Promenade du Anglais along the beach and as Becky wasn’t wanting a big dinner we decided it was a good night to have our traditional McDonald’s visit when we are in other countries. Certainly a French McDonald’s was not that odd in general but they had a few different items like “southern cajun chicken sandwich, pasta salad, etc. I got a “grand double cheese with bacon” and Becky tried the pasta salad. On our way back we continued our new tradition of grabbing ice cream at the corner gelateria before retiring to write and upload pics.

Tomorrow is a bit of an early day and exciting for me as we will head to Monaco for Thursday Practice (on NBCSN most likely for those who want to watch). Becky and I will be sitting at Sainte Devote which is the first corner of the track if you are watching.