My introduction to true Mentonese people!

Last night my friend Samir and I were invited to dinner by a couple who knew a friend of mine from last year. Samir and I popped by the store on our way over to get some macaroons for them.  We were supposed to be there at 7:45, so we left at 7:20 because they live behind the train station (which is the farthest point in Menton from us).  In a nutshell-we got lost. The directions they gave us said “the white building above the train station”. We saw several white buildings but didn’t know how to get up to them. We walked forEVER and then we asked a few people but we quickly realized that was pointless because although we could ask them in French-we could only understand about half of their response.

 We ended up going up this HUGE hill and it was very chilly and I was wearing heels, so we were hoping it was right. We got to the top and saw a huge building that said “Winter Castle” which was the name of the building we were looking for. Unfortunately, the hill we walked up was not the correct one, and so we had to go DOWN the hill and then UP another huge hill right next to it. We ended up being about 10 minutes late (which we decided was okay because the French are always late). Then we got there and they buzzed us up and they live in a beautiful flat on the sixth (top) floor of (literally) a castle. We sprinted up ( I don’t know why-so it would feel like a movie?) the marble staircases and went up the lavish elevator and arrived at their flat. We go in and they're SO nice and we start out sitting on the couch drinking some red wine (good wine!!- this is considering that all of the wine i've had here hasn't been good because it's been like 3 Euros) and a French delicacy which is little baby radishes and you put butter on them and then dip the end in salt and they were very yummy, it was hard not to just shove them all down my throat (starving foreign college student!). So then we just talked and talked and they have such good stories and it’s refreshing to hear English and they asked us about our lives and then we sat down to dinner and the first course is a salad with some sort of little yummy lentils and yummy dressing and 2 types of leaves. Keith (the husband) made dinner and he said they’re vegetarians about half the week so I was lucky that this was one of the nights! And then he pours us more wine and brings out a book that’s relevant to the topic we’re discussing and then he brings out this main dish which is like a risotto type thing and it's so yummy.

And we’re talking about Monaco and traveling around and we mention that we really want a scooter to be able to ride around and then they tell us they are going to give us their extra scooter that they don't use anymore (WHAT???Is this real life???). He's talking to his insurance guy to see if that will be okay!! And then he pours more wine and brings out another book that’s relevant to what we’re discussing (He has about a million books!).

And then the next course is being served- he brings out dessert and it's a cabbage tort sort of thing with raisins and craisins and it’s sweet and has like a pie sort of texture. I think it’s unnecessary to say it’s absolutely delicious and made from local ingredients.

Then we clear the table and they make some lemon tea that's from the region and we sit down in the living room and have tea. And I am obsessed with tea and this tea was really good!! I love tea, especially local citrus tea!

And then we're talking more about traveling and they tell us when it gets warmer they're going to take us in their car up into the mountains and some small villages in Italy (a car, a real car?)!!! They are so nice and I think the incredible part was not having to cook.  But really that was a minor thing compared to the magical feeling of being cozy and in a domestic scene again. They were like parental figures and although they didn’t send me peanut butter and cookies, it’s really satisfying to have that after almost a month of no (physical) familial contact.

They asked us over again and said if we need help with anything don't hesitate to contact them!!! So all in all it was a lovely evening and they even let us try the macaroons we brought!

No pictures from this one because although I thought about snapping pictures, I didn't think it would be received that well...

PS. New food obsession: NUTELLA. I may or may not be eating it out of the bottle right now. BUT, in my defense, it is stopping me from eating the peanut butter that my parents sent me, which isn’t as easily replaceable as nutella!