Food, glorious food. France is well known globally for culinary creativity and my own photos of markets bursting with vibrant fruits, tasty vegetables, tables laden heavy with cheeses and meats and delicious pastries and cakes sets off food envy amongst friends.
I have had my first-ever taste experiences here in France of wild boar stew, escargots, truffle ravioli and all kinds of sweet treats. France has shown me the pleasure of eating socca on a paper napkin sold out of the back of a caravan in a busy town, and savouring a 5-course degustation menu at a Michelin-starred restaurant in a ski resort.
If food is one of your interests (and not just seen as one of the means to life), then take your tastebuds along to ‘Les Étoiles de Mougins’ this week, held Friday 14 September to Sunday 16 September.
Top chefs will be holding cooking demonstrations (including Frédéric Anton of Le Pré Catalan in Paris who some may recognise as a judge from the French version of Masterchef), there will be food and wine tasting, gourmet products for sale and music in the evenings.
The programme for this event is here http://www.lesetoilesdemougins.com/fr/edition2012/programmation
Travel tips: If you are traveling via train, take a local train to Mouans-Sartoux and you then take bus Ligne 650 to Mougins but be aware the buses are irregular off-peak. If you are driving, the streets for ‘Vieux’ (old) Mougins are narrow and you will need to park your car at the carpark at the entrance to the village and walk up steps (therefore, not ideal for less mobile travellers). If the gastronomy festival gets boring for the kids, head to the free Valmasque park near Mougins (via car) with forest trails, a playground and a 5-hectare lake with lotus flowers and water birds. If you are child-free, stop by ‘Le Cave de Mougins’ at the entrance to Vieux Mougins for some tapas and wine tasting.
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