Last week was a mad one for Curious Wines. It always is when there’s a man down and it would explain why this space goes a little quiet for a while. I decided to leave the grey clouds of the Emerald Isle behind for the only warm sunshine I would see this year. This wasn’t business. It was strictly pleasure.

We based ourselves in Nice, located on the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. For years Nice was actually an Italian dominion, then became part of France in 1860. Perhaps because of this, it has turned out to be a very cosmopolitan city and somewhat of a melting pot in terms of culture and architecture.

September is a great time to go as the temperature rarely goes above 30 or below 25 degrees C, which I think is just perfect. The crowds have also dwindled as peak season has past. Price-wise, the Riviera in general is expensive. Remember Monaco is only up the road, and you only have to check out the super-yachts in the harbours of Nice and Monaco to realise the kind of people this area attracts.

Despite the wealth, there is great value to be found. If you’re a foodie like me, you would find it hard to come across a bad restaurant in the old town, you can eat really well and eat cheaply. There are plenty of meal deals, many restaurants serving up an €18 menu or a €22 menu consisting of three courses. Slow cooked lamb shanks with polenta, grilled red mullet, steak tartare and spinach ravioli (the Italian influence) all made our table and the quality was excellent every time. The ice-cream from the Gelateria’s was the best I’ve ever tried. Mind you, Northern Ireland’s Mauds Honeycomb ice-cream is right up there too.

Although the food was good value, the drink is darn expensive. A 330ml bottle of Coke on my last day set me back €3.60 in a cafe/restaurant. I don’t buy Coke here, is that how much it is? You would be doing well to get a pint of lager for less than €5. I noticed in the airport at the end of the trip, more than €11 for a pint of Heineken.

Thankfully the wine was more affordable, and cheaper in comparison to restaurants at home. We stuck mainly to Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence. The Carignan, Cinsault and Grenache dominated wines of Côtes de Provence AOC made for terrific food wines, and they came in around the €20 mark for a standard 75cl bottle. The carafes were cheaper again. Bandol was given a lash one evening (just had to be done) and lunchtime almost always involved the dry Provençal rosés, for which there is no real demand for here.

Hiring a motorised boat from the neighbouring town of Villefranche-sur-Mer was one of the highlights. It cost us €95 between four of us (Bronagh and I went out with two friends from home) and we had it for four hours in the morning. Money well spent. A day trip to Monaco is also worth doing, just watch where you buy your food there.

But the best part of the whole holiday was to see the look on the face of my long-suffering girlfriend of seven years when I proposed to her. Kinda caught her by surprise. To top it off she said yes.