MENTON

TURNING LEMONS INTO LEMONADE

Aug 23, 2024

ARE WE THERE YET?

Menton was a dream. (And, honestly, it could have been … given that we traveled two nights worth of sleep to get there! (16 hours traveled for 45 hours spent with the girls. WORTH IT!)

Vivian and I met at the SoHo House, where she had stayed the night before, at 7am on Friday morning in order to catch the Uber to the station, to then catch the 8:20 am train to Nice... to then catch the 2:20pm train to Menton. It was misting rain on our way to the station that morning – which I found to be perfect! Gloomy days are ALWAYS the best days to leave a place… for another.

Before we boarded, we stopped off at Pret a Manger to pick up a necessary sammie and LARGE coffee for the ride. I mean, we were about to buckle up for a 7+hr journey to reach two of our besties. We needed a caffeine BOOST.

Halfway there, when we both were caffeine CRASHING, Viv pulled a Jim and Pam [The Office reference] with me. She split her earbuds and pumped in some needed pick me up 90s tunes. On deck… The the. (We couldn’t decide whether the band was pronounced with a long e? Or a short e? Or half and half? As you can imagine, there was a lot of slap happy tired laughter as we tested all of these combinations …out loud).

We arrived at the Menton station at 3pm. At 3:07pm we were at our beach bungalow. It was literally across the street from the waves. And to welcome us home… who else but a naked little Italian bambino holding his fire truck, who answered to the name of Fili! COME TO ZIA AC, my love!!!!

This little smoke-show boodle (am I allowed to call him that if he’s under, eh, 4? Who cares! HE IS one!) is going to have to beat the girls off with a stick by the time he reaches full-on pre-k status next month. He is PRECIOUS.

He helped his mama show us to our bedroom, where Vivan and I made a quick change into our bathing suits. Next, ocean bound!

BELLY LAUGHS AND FLOPS + STUBBED TOES

The beach was full of rocks. So, as we attempted to go swimming we were cackling. Everyone looked absolutely absurd, ridiculous, archaic even walking into the waves. Holding arms out for balance but looking quite stupid. I was rolling with laughter every time we went to the shore… just what the doctor ordered. More please!

And the funniest part was that just as you’d think you had it, and were looking (as) good (as you could) walking on rocks – you’d double over. Another stubbed toe!

Vivian created a great strategy. She’d get ankle deep… wait for a large wave … belly flop on to the wave, and ride it out to the ocean where she didn’t have to touch. Genius! I joined suit.

This rocky beach did, though, provide a great bed for napping. I dug myself an AC trench under the umbrella and cozied in as the sun did its job on my WHITE legs. As

I was waking up from my slumber, I heard the sweetest “helllllooooo” (Viv and Fran had gone back to the house for hydration – code for the bottle of rosé we had chilling for our evening apéritif). My Coni was here!!! I get chills even writing it. We have often said that we feel more like sisters than friends and I think it’s because when I hear her voice, like I did that day, I feel like I hear family. Like I’m at home. Familiar, safe, happy, and surrounded with pure L O V E.

Coni put her towel beside mine and after we finally stopped hugging we caught up. For HOURS. We shared all that was going on with me and all that was going on with her. She is so supportive and always has this positive outlook on life that will make anyone, and everyone, second guess if they have considered all angels. MEDICINE for my soul.

The girls, and the boodle, had returned with glasses and we all had the happiest reunion over Vivian’s heavy-handed pours of wine. BLISS.

As the sun was starting to hide from us, we made our way across the road to our home terrace. We dropped our things, let Fili rinse all of our feet (several times - I mean… give a little boy a longer hose than his… and he’ll water things for days!) and then Vivan and Coni sought out to find us dinner. They returned with my favorite kind when on vacation… Baguette, cheese, meats, fruit, veg, and beer… plenty of blond and lager beer!

ZIA AC

At dinner on the first night, Fili gave me the cold shoulder. Not so smart of him because, well, I live for a good challenge. All of my face, head, and arm kisses (yes, I did all of these and often… so sue me... You try to contain yourself when you’re around this EDIBLE boodle!) were met by a grunt of “no” from him. Brokenhearted, and defeated, I started a new tactic… to blow him kisses instead. He liked this. He looked at me with his 3.5 year old grumpy flirts – you know the look, the furrowed brow, heavy side-eye – and a glance at his mama with a half smile for support. But those didn’t work on me. I blew A LOT of smooches anyway.

In his toddler rage of my love bombing, he threw a kiss back to me. Eeeeep! I was in! Albeit, even though he threw his air-kiss very hard. I think it was meant to stop me. It didn’t work! I caught that kiss hurled at me… and did what my father used to do with my blown kisses. I pretended to put salt and pepper on it and then EAT it. Fili’s side-eyes quickly turned into sm-eyes. He ran to his mama with excitement that this “lady” who can’t stop/won’t stop trying to kiss him had made his night! That was the start of our aunty boodle love affair.

The next day – when he lost his mind with excitement that he spotted an ambulance screaming past our house with lights flashing – He high-fived ME… who was right there waiting for it! That’s right! Two can play this love-game, boopy. Game. Set. Match!

On our last morning together, after a night of finding places to put his new magnet that I bought for him (the magic he saw every time the magnet would stick to the fridge, the oven, the door jam.. Anywhere I pointed he would try and we would either celebrate it’s connection, or pretend to look disappointed as we sought out another magnetic attempt) Franci made my day by sharing that Fili woke asking for his … wait for it… “zia ac” (aunt ac).

[Teach a child the word tree and they’ll never see a tree again. I have said this a lot in my life and felt this way when I first came over to France last year. I discovered everything as if I had never seen it before. Fresh. Childlike. It did me so good to be around true, longtime, friends of mine… AND Fili, who continues to discover the surprises of the world. Reminded me to do the SAME as I carry on.]

And if you’re wondering… I did get my kiss. Took work and DAYS. But, I got it! Before the night was over on our final night together. He puckered up and came to ME.

Boodle mouth kisses. Is there actually anything better in life?

DAYS OF TULUM – ARE OVER

I learned on this trip that even Posada Margarita, one of our all time favorites and an establishment of Tulum, was taken by the Mexican government. Just as Coqui Coqui was in 2016 (THE weekend of Coni and Luis’s wedding weekend in Holbox – tragically.) Tulum is not the same.

The girls have moved some 45 minutes away in a beautiful community, because they said that the people who vacation there now are different. They all wear loud clothes, are disrespectful, and eeek “club party” all day with passed cocktails and drugs. We’ll pass.

Both of my friends own beautiful men’s and women’s clothing brands that used to set the world on fire with sales there. Back when it attracted likeminded, calm, beach loving people. Unfortunately now, they are taking their vision elsewhere. As both Franci and Coni expressed that ever since Gucci, Rolex, and even brace yourselves, Starbucks, have moved to the beach of Tulum – the tourists it’s attracting don’t find the originality and specialness of what Tulum IS. Breaks my heart! Tulum is now, and will forever be for us, just fond memories for us… (and some of my best) since 2012...

Eh, c'est la vie. Things change for better or worse… but change nonetheless. Bitter sweet. Goodbye to Tulum and hello Europe! We made a vow on this trip to meet in Italy next!

BUNNY TALES

Coni, my first friend out of this group, is really named Maria Fernanda. Her brother Nico, who is the genius brain behind the elegant brand Coqui Coqui, started calling her Coni when she was a bébé because they, at the time, had a pet bunny, that was named … Coni. When they put Maria Fernanda beside the petit bunny and saw that she was the SAME size – Coni’s nickname was born. One of my favorite stories!

Luis, her husband and a dear friend to us all, and Elana, their GORGEOUS daughter who made us all jealous with her natural eyeliner and dark complexion (she will be a model!), came to see us before we had a feast.

We had the greatest visit, learned about all what is happening with Luis’s incredible restaurant, Safari, and how many hobbies sweet Elenita (nickname) has. Vivian had brought her ribbon rings. Evidently all the fad with this age. And she LOVED them. She actually did exactly what Fili had done with me the first time I impressed him with my “salt and pepper” trick on his thrown kiss. She looked over at her mama with a side eyed smile, proud and excited to have received the gift, then smooched Viv. I loved this moment!!

I love my friends, I love their families, I love that their children love us like aunts - because their mothers love us like sisters. I just loved it.

That day, before Luis and Elana’s visit, and after Franci and Fili did some serious sliding and monkey bar climbing damage on the playground… Vivian, Coni, and I did some serious veggie, cheese, bread, meat, pesto, rotisserie, and pastry buying damage at the market. You name it – we bought it. Then we feasted!

We took full advantage of this full-day in Menton. We strolled the town, we walked to the Italian side to see where we would be eating later that night, we walked along the port, went to Coqui Coqui (the perfumery in the center of town, and the reason we chose to meet in Menton. They had just had a huge 50th birthday party there for Nico), we meandered into a church, we purposely got lost in the town and climbed nearly every step built, we dipped in the ocean as we waited for Fran and Fili’s playdate to commence, and then we ate, we drank, we napped, and we MODELED.

Our other best friend, Fiona, who has always been with us on these trips together, couldn’t make it this time. Alas, in her place, were her MAÄT yoga pants. She sent them by way of Vivian and asked us to shoot the pants when we were all together. Gladly! So Coni and I suited up … as we had the most coveted big-time fashion producer, Vivian Song, producing OUR shoot. Can’t get more lux than this!

That afternoon we attempted to beach it until the rain nearly pelted us off the rocks. (Crazy enough, we were practically the ONLY ones who left the beach. Everyone else just sat soaking wet or got very close to the medal bar (not sure how smart that was given that the lightning was electrocuting the sky) of their umbrella to avoid getting drenched.)

We took this time to open a bottle of rosé bubbles. A bottle that had a ladybug on her label… GREENLIGHT! We toasted our day together before we were off to Coté Sud where we had the BEST dinner and were treated like royalty. Everyone (seemingly no matter where we go in the world) knows Coni Malleville and Francesca Durante. Our dinner ended with all the tastes of Italian digestifs sent to the table along with a giggly walk home and ample souvenir lemon (what Menton is known for) magnets for all!

HOT AND COLD

On our last morning – we beached it, cleaned the apartment, ate the rest of the homemade pesto and pasta, had beers, and loaded Fili onto Franci’s duffel for a ride, as we were station bound.

On the return train back to Paris I decided to do what has been in the back of my mind for this past month… send the Île Saint Louis Soirée WhatsApp group a text about my apartment search. Cast my net wide, eh? Isn’t that the saying?

I held my breath and pressed send on a text that I had attempted to write in French. Within an hour of sending it to the 75 French locals who had been so kind to me – my body fluttered with excitement when I received a private message from Simona… a resident who is leaving her ÎSL pied-à-terre at the end of August, for six months, and wanted to show it to me. PINCH ME!

I was hot with excitement, so I texted her back to arrange to see it the following day – Which was Tuesday. Within seconds of meeting sweet Simona on the street, I knew I would take her place. So, I did!

I will get the keys on the 28th and start cleaning etc until I can move in on the 30th. It has the best bones and is exactly what I had called in. It’s a treehouse of a home. My bedroom is above the kitchen and living room without anyone above me (DREAM). It is small, and precious, and full of light, and on the courtyard side, so it’s quiet. AND bonus. It is well under my budget and bigger than all the other places I was looking at. I do believe… like the baby chicks did last week on the video I shared… I brought this home TO ME!

I am signing the contract today – how serendipitous, eh? To receive the contract on the same day I start my new job. Yes, my friends, I am officially back in FLOW. And hot with excitement.

I am also hot with… dare I say the nasty five letters that spell out … COVID. Ok ok. Maybe I don’t have COVID per se, but I am turning into a full blooded French woman. Because I definitely slept with a cold air conditioning while in Menton and as ALL French people believe (now I do too), I got sick from IT. I feel like I have the ‘RONA. The aches and cough (that still won’t quit) has had me hot and cold since I returned.

Vivian, who is now in Greece for 10 days – lucky her – came back to Paris with me for two nights. When we got off of the train, we went straight to Avant Comptoir de la Terre, one of her and my favorites, where we tucked our bags in their sister hotel and immediately ordered two 50 year aged glasses of calvados to cure my aches and to remind Viv how much she LOVES French brandy.

The next day I had my final “contract” call with the company I am starting to work with – eeep! – and then I met Vivian at the restaurant she sent me just before her phone died: Le Relais de l’Entrecôte. Here we, along with all the other hungry tourists, ate all the pink meat, and drank all the coke-a-cola (I’m still my mother’s child after all. I crave it or bourbon when I don’t feel well. And I mean … it was only noon when I met Vivian for lunch, so I thought coke was the better, more responsible, choice), and for dessert, Vivian chose the profiteroles au chocolat. C'était parfait!

We stopped off at Citypharma to buy fun products for Viv, and all the vitamins and bath salts for moi before being home bound. Which leads me to my ultimate hot and cold tale of this week…

I have been craving to take a bath in Miranda’s gorgeous tub. So, I have been on the hunt for epsom bath salts. Not finding exactly what I was looking for in the FOUR story pharmacy. I did locate the bath salts. Mais, non! They all had a color dye in them. So, I opted for the only one that looked “natural.” Disregarding what it said on the box. When I reached home, I ran a piping hot bath (while talking with my NYC bestie, Erica. It was her last day at King restaurant as head pasta chef. Bitter sweet… but fun things are coming soon. Can’t wait to share and then all go support her on her next venture!!!). Alas, within minutes I was shivering. No no. It wasn’t cold water… couldn’t be. I mean, I was watching the steam rise. I looked at the salts. MAIS, NON!!! Ahhhhhhhhh. Evidently the only bath salts without any coloring dye were the “cooling foot bath” salts that I had purchased. Mint, eucalyptus, and aloe vera. I was cold in my hot bath.

That night, my sweet Vivian returned home from her day of shopping and ordered us Dak Komtang (Korean chicken soup) and another spicy soup that was my ultimate healer. We snuggled down, listened to the downpour outside (she left the day after… so again, it’s always better to leave a place when it’s rainy. Makes for an easier departure), soup in bowls, and queuing up what else? ONLY the newest season of Emily in Paris.

Vivian and I had been texted all weekend from our American friends that we needed to glue in and watch this silly nonsense. So we did… we watched it all in one sitting. WHAT? I think I have COVID, OK! Can’t I use that as my excuse to do (what I know that) we ALL did back through 2020 - 2022 … BINGE?!

We laughed out loud at how ridiculous the lines are. And ummmmm how wildly inappropriate some of them were (front of mind: “…she’s getting rid of the baby” hummmmm excuse me?!!!! I thought we weren’t allowed to say things like this ummm EVER. Or having a fashion show with “dick pants”? What in the wild Eeeef?!!)

All in all, I got filled up these past days with three of my best friends and their precious babies. They gave me pure and unconditional love, laughter, deep talks, baby smooches, and memories that will last a lifetime. I miss them already, yet can’t wait for this new chapter I’m walking into!

Xxo ac