The gourmet's guide to Europe

In the late spring there is an exodus from the Riviera to Aix - les - Bains ; doctors, maftres d'hotel , musicians, lawyers, fly-men, waiters, move into summer quarters ; and any one who has time to spare, and enjoys a three-day drive through beautiful scenery, might well do worse than make a bargain with a fly-man for the trip from the coast to the town on the banks of the lake. When a fly-man does not secure a “ monsieur ” as a passenger, he as often as French Provincial Towns not drives a brace of friendly waiters over just for company sake. Thus any gourmet who knows his Riviera finds himself surrounded by friendly faces at Aix-les-Bains. There are excellent restaurants in some of the larger hotels, and you can dine in a garden, under lanterns lit by electric light, or on a glassed-in terrace whence a glimpse of the lake of Le Bourget under the moon may be obtained. The restaurants of the Casino, the Cercle as it styles itself, and of the Villa des Fleurs, are naturally the dining-places to which any one who is tired or his hotel table a note goes. I have always been well treated at both, and have always regarded the restaurant of the Villa des Fleurs as one of those dining-places where one is invariably well treated. But I find that it is wise to inquire each season who is the maitre d’hotel at each, to ask as to the chef’s qualifications, and whether the service is good. The one restaurant for which every one always has a good word is that attached to Nicola’s Bar, opposite the entrance to the Casino. Nicola is a Nicola’s bright little Italian, who marked himself first in my memory by charging me two francs for a whisky and soda at his bar. His catering for his tiny restaurant, which is under a canopy, is faultless. He will not have any salt-water fish in his larder, for Aix in summer is so hot that sea-fish do not always come to table quite fresh, and this risk he will not run in the interest of his clients. Nicola’s prices are not low, but his chef’s cookery is first-rate, and all the material beyond reproach. Many of the excursions from Aix have a little restaurant as the point to be reached. At Grand Port, the fishing village on the borders Beaurivage of the lake of Le Bourget, there is a pleasant house to breakfast at, the Beaurivage, with 130 ‘The Gourmet's Guide to Europe a garden from which an excellent view of the lake and the little bathing-place can be obtained. They make a Bouillabaisse of fresh-water fish at this restaurant which is well worth eating, and which is generally the Friday fare there. At Chambotte, where there is a fine view of the lake, Lansard has a hotel and restaurant. At Marlioz, near the. race-course and an inhalation and bathing establishment, the pretty ladies of Aix often call a halt to breakfast, Ecrevisses Bordelaises being a specialty. At the little mountain inn at La Chambotte, the proprietor has married a Scotch wife, and her excellent cakes, made after the manner of her fatherland, come as a surprise to the French tourists. The chalets at the summit of the Grand Revard belong, I believe, to Mme. Ritz, wife of the Emperor of Hotels, and the feeding there naturally is excellent.