Day 3408 (Thursday) 8th October 2026.

This is Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat

and this is Coco beach near the old port of Nice.

Huw found this photo online this morning - this was the storm over Nice yesterday.

All is well in the world again as the sun was shining and the Rade looked as good as usual.

After lunch we went for a walk down to the beach and were chuffed to see that they are dismantling the private beach DeliBo - it’ll be gone soon. 

On the way home we stopped for a coffee in one of the restaurants  along the seafront and the waiter’s English was very good. We overheard him saying that he’d lived in Croydon, how do you get from Croydon to Villefranche? Huw couldn't resist and asked him and he was pleased to announce that he had lived in Galway and then London and that he’d travelled to Wales.

Here are the rest of the French Customs and Traditions by Andi Fisher.

Thursday Carte du Jour

Eating out is one of the major expenses of any trip – especially for a foodie like me. So I really appreciate the Menu du Jour, which often offers two or three courses for a fraction of the à la carte equivalent.

We never eat breakfast in the hotel unless, of course, it is included in the price of the room. Most hotel breakfasts are outrageously priced, and the quality is usually not that good. Instead, we will go to a local bar or cafe and have their “petit déjeuner,” which consists of coffee, orange juice, and either a croissant or half a baguette with butter and jams. Some places give both a croissant and a baguette. The price is usually around 10 Euros (I’ve seen it at 7).

For lunch, we will grab a sandwich at a bakery, or you could grab a crepe or kebab from the street. They are all filling and excellent. You can also eat at many high-end restaurants for lunch and pay much less than you would for dinner and still get a fantastic meal. If you do that, then you can switch my suggestion and have a sandwich for dinner; believe me, a meal at one of the fine establishments will fill you up, and you may even skip dinner altogether.

For dinner (or even for lunch), you can’t go wrong with the “carte du jour”; it is the special of the day and usually costs less. Or there is the “menu du jour,” which lets you select a starter, main course, and dessert from a set list. It is much cheaper than ordering three individual courses.

Relationships in France

Relationships between people are never easy to navigate, but it is a whole different ballgame when you throw in cultural differences. Being married to a Frenchman, with French friends (and in-laws), is something I am very much aware of. It is not necessarily good or bad.

La bise

La bise. A specific kind of kiss that you see French people (as well as many other European nationalities) do in greeting (and in departure). It is the most French way to greet someone, but it can be a tricky business to navigate. Who do you kiss? Which cheek should you start on? How many times? Don't be too scared of getting it wrong, though.

The French themselves may have had a lifetime of practice, but…The Flower Game

Flower Bouquet

The first time my mother-in-law visited us in the U.S., I bought her a bouquet of flowers. A pretty one from our local grocery store. When I gave it to her, she gave me a strange look, and I was quite taken aback. Then (my husband) Mr. Misadventures looked at the bouquet and whispered in my ear, “Those flowers are only for funerals and cemeteries.” Mon dieu! The type of flower and the colour make a difference for French people – here is a list to help you.

No chrysanthemums; this is for funerals, cemeteries, and gravesites.

My second favourite flower, carnations, are not popular either. Reds especially are “threatening.”

You can only give red roses to people you are romantically in love with. And only in odd numbers (but no 13). All-yellow bouquets mean unfaithfulness

Everyday French Etiquette and Quirks

There are too many aspects of French culture to sort into specific categories. So, here are some of my reflections on diverse subjects.

Rules of the road

Nobody is immune from road rage. Yet the French can make it even harder to resist a good meltdown with their simultaneous migrations towards the coast at vacation time. 

The French get 7 weeks of vacation and work 35-hour weeks. A vast majority of French people take either the entire month of July or the entire month of August off. That means a mass exodus from Paris, usually toward the various coasts (or sometimes the mountains). They all leave at the same time, going in mostly the same direction.

On the last weekend in July and the first weekend in August, the highways and national roads will be jammed in both directions! One thing is for sure: there is no chance of speeding.

But even if they were, the French highways and European highways, in general, are much safer than American highways, even with the higher speed limit. The speed limit is 130 kph (120 in Switzerland), which is a little over 80 mph, but that does not mean it is unsafe. Barring some Parisian street traffic habits, which are probably on par with New York, here are just some of the things to note about driving on the highway:

Traffic deaths have also gone down significantly in the last 5 years. This is due to several things. One is a huge campaign against drunk driving. Another is the addition of fixed and mobile radar cameras all throughout the country. Probably one of the most effective ways of reducing the number is that it is talked about all the time. Highway death numbers are released every quarter, like unemployment, and shared on the nightly news and discussed.

Whereas you will enjoy July and August if you are visiting Paris because there are a lot fewer people, don’t plan any trips outside of Paris on the “red” weekends, as they call them in France – the first and last weekend of July and August.

Perfume

France has established itself as the capital of perfume for centuries. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that it remains a strong indicator of identity and ceremony – and one you should partake in if you get a chance. Everyone knows the power of perfume, but the French seem to know how to use it to their advantage. A French woman will change her perfume several times a year, usually with the season, to keep her man guessing. Of course, she will still more than likely have a signature perfume for those very special occasions.

And as the world has become smaller and smaller these days, it is very easy to buy French perfume anywhere in the world. Just go into any department store, even Walmart sells Guerlain and Dior online, and for $50 you can pick up a French classic.

But if you ever have the opportunity to go to Paris, you can have a very special, very unique experience of buying a French perfume that is carried in very, very few places in the world. The perfume is a line of perfumes called Serge Lutens (after the designer), and despite the fact it is sold in the U.S. (these days through the Serge Lutens U.S. website and a handful of specialty retailers, since Barneys has closed), the main part of the line is only available at a very special store in the Salons de Palais Royal in Paris.