Day 874 (Thursday) 31^st October 2019

I had an email last night from the manager of the big apartment we look after asking if we could do a check-in on Christmas day! I replied asking what time because we have invited some friends to our place for lunch. He replied saying they wanted us to be there at 3.30pm – how dare these guests expect us to give up our Christmas day for a bloody check-in? So selfish. Why don’t these people think about us? It’s not a 5-star hotel; it’s Airbnb! I replied saying that we are prepared to check them in before 1pm on the 25^th or before 6pm on the 24^th, I’m still waiting for the reply! If this does happen we are going to treble our usual rate.

Talking about Christmas I found this article about how to serve champagne – yum yum

How to serve champagne

Is there a perfect temperature to serve champagne? What exactly does 'chilled' mean? Richard Hemming explains and recommends some French fizzes

Q. I know that champagne should be served 'chilled' but what exactly does that mean? Is there an ideal temperature that it should be served at, and how does it affect the taste/drinking experience if you get it 'wrong'?

Living France Wine columnist, Richard Hemming, replies:

The quick answer to this question is that champagne (and all sparkling wine) should be served at between six and 10 degrees Celsius, and there are two important reasons why. Firstly, the volatility of aroma compounds varies at different temperatures, and white wines are generally more delicious when chilled. Coolness also emphasises acidity, making champagne seem crisp and refreshing.

Secondly, cooler temperatures restrain the energy of the dissolved carbon dioxide in champagne, making it safer to open, and preserving the fizz in your glass for longer - although not everyone agrees on this. But there's little doubt that tepid champagne is not a desirable experience! In practical terms, serving champagne straight from the fridge should be fine, as most domestic appliances operate within the ideal champagne-serving temperature. However, a bottle served straight from an ice bucket might be too cold - and when the temperature gets that low, flavour compounds are suppressed. Whereas if you've got a wine fridge or a cellar that hovers around 12 ºC, you might want to chill your champagne a little further before serving - assuming you have the time or patience!

Back to today…it was a little cooler this morning but not bad and Huw gave me a lift to International House in Nice where I had a very pleasant class with Gashbin. I walked up to the train station and was quite surprised to see this giant plastic dog outside the station.

When I got home I looked it up and found the following…(I think it was written by someone with English as a second language but it’s not bad)

Born in Nice in 1963, Stéphane Bolongaro lives and works in Nice; a 3 metre Totor is installed on a roundabout of the city!

Stephane Bolongaro is well known to the general public for his work on "Totor": This independent dog and somewhat pooch straight out of the imagination of the artist (in fact the Jack Russell of his mother blew him the idea of this dog carved initially in a block of polystyrene, which comes alive thanks to the original colours applied by its designer).

A typical character, deeply original and creative, original Niçois but sharing between France and the United States, Stéphane Bolongaro is one of his artists with whom we will have to count in the future. 

This big hyperactive and inventive child likes to surprise and be surprised. Handling humour with consummate art, he manages to seduce the passer-by, the informed collector ... to the President of the United States and Prince Albert II of Monaco, but also other artists...

The works of Stéphane Bolongaro are always full of humour and his dog Totor is the most famous recurring subject.

But his creativity is not limited to poaching animals; Stephane also creates installations that he mixes with vintage design furniture that he collects to create surrealist-like scenes.

And this was on Facebook

[Art in station] Totor takes the pose on the square of your station! From October 28th to December 31st, come and take a picture with the famous Jack Russell of Stéphane Bolongaro. Share your most beautiful shots on the Facebook page Gare de Nice Ville or with the #totorgareniceville
3,2,1: Smile!

It absolutely poured down for a few hours this afternoon so I didn’t take any beautiful photos so here are some of my extra photos to cheer us up.