The Day The British Association De Menton Invited The American Club Of The Riviera To A Lemon Festival Lunch

Monday, 26th February 2018

Yes, they had mentioned the faint possibility of snow in the long term weather forecast, but nobody believed Menton would be affected. No, possibly the mountainous areas behind the coast. Sospel or Gorbio might get a slight covering. We in Menton pride ourselves on sunshine 300 days of the year. After all, we enjoy living in a micro-climate, the most protected region on the Riviera…

We block booked the casino restaurant for the event. Cocktails and canapés were to be served on the terrace in the sun overlooking the sea, with the sultry guitar playing of our classical guitarist in the background. What could possibly go wrong? Everything had been meticulously organised and even the little snow alert had disappeared from my mobile weather app.

It began to snow on the morning of our luncheon and my phone started ringing very early. There were cancellations. Fortunately, not many, considering the distance some of our guests had to travel. Table settings needed to be changed and now the gremlins decided to exacerbate the situation by making printing of new lists impossible, due to a paper jam.

However, we all rose to the challenge. I would like to thank Cy, Annie, Jill, Margaret and, of course, Jeanette, but also wish to express my thanks to the members of the American Club of the Riviera, some of whom had travelled from as far away as Aix en Provence, braving the weather.

Also a special thank you to Philip Mont Charles, the Irishman who runs the L’Orangerie in Monaco, for the little taste and talk about his product. www.orangerie.mc

As we watched the unusual spectacle of snowflakes falling during our end of February lunch, from the restaurant window, I very much hope our guests and members enjoyed themselves.

We all met new people and made new contacts and this is what our clubs and associations are all about. Let's do it again soon.

Birgitt McDonagh-Nordbrink