China is the guest of honor at the Nice Fair 2014. It is the city of Hangzhou, which is twinned with Nice, that represents this immense country also called: ‘the Middle Kingdom’.
Hangzhou is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization, a very ancient city built 2200 years ago. It was described by Marco Polo as the most beautiful city in the world. Today it is a conference city whose development is on a par with that of China. Many hotels have been built there, and thanks to its lake, Hangzhou has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011.
The stand at the Nice Fair aims to introduce us to the dynamism of this city. Beyond economic considerations, Hangzhou invites us to the traditional tea ceremony, and visitors are invited to taste Chinese tea prepared before their eyes in the purest tradition. A stand worth visiting, a stand of calm and tranquility.
The French Antilles have come in force this year to the Nice Fair. Guadeloupe offers on several stands the colors and flavors of its island. There is the sun, the light, and of course rum and punches. The women are colorful, in dazzling dresses. The music flows delicately. The atmosphere is there, Basse Terre, Marie Galante. It is sweet but above all full of sea spray.
The smell of fruits, sweets, chocolate, coffee, and more surprisingly ham. Spices, cinnamon. These stands invite us to dream, to join these windward islands, where our memories, our adolescent readings made of pirates, buccaneers, privateers, and adventures with all sails unfurled, will be stimulated and awaken in us the adventurer we dreamed of being and where the dream becomes reality. The punches blend, for our greatest pleasure, traditions and flavors, which seems to well summarize this overseas France.
The Jura is present for the second year at the Nice Fair. We know this department for the beauty of its landscapes. The stand at the fair allows us to discover other facets of this largely agricultural land with livestock, farming, and vineyards. History is not forgotten with the salt trails or customs officers, monuments, and great men of the Jura, we think of Louis Pasteur.
Gastronomy will also satisfy gourmet enthusiasts, a bit epicurean. Jura is a department of a thousand facets. There is something for everyone, and while athletes will be delighted in both winter and summer, those curious and passionate about history and monuments will also have the opportunity to rejoice in discovering the riches of this department. The Jura stand will introduce you to its wines and cuisine, including fondue, for the satisfaction of oenologists. Jura: a blessed land, a land of wonders, the fruit of the land and the labor of men.
The Museum of Curiosity and the Unusual is present this year at the Nice Fair. The public will thus be able to discover it. Its managers exhibit dolls, mannequins, and orchestrions. It is a world of dreams, of poetry. In addition, you will meet Lรฉon, a robot, but you have to discover it for yourself, all that can be said: Lรฉon is surprising and endearing.
This stand is magical, perhaps the most interesting of the fair for being the most unusual. It does not seek to sell you a miracle product, there is no salesperson. The Museum of Curiosity and the Unusual is located in Nice on Beaumont Street. The older ones will tell you that Madame Barale is still present there because she has left too much of an impression to disappear.
This stand awakens the child sleeping in each of us. It is a journey to the land of Oz: the automatons are alive, the orchestrion plays, a book is written by an invisible hand, and Lรฉon has become your friend. A stand not to be missed, you would miss the fair!
The stand perhaps the most surprising. Have you ever considered buying a can of oxygen? Everything is said in the question. It’s a kind of bottle that you breathe, oxygen, to revitalize us. Besides this can, the stand offers oxyarome. It is the marriage or rather the combination of pure oxygen and essential plants. Their combination has beneficial virtues. You can choose the effect of this therapy: invigorating, de-stressing, detoxifying, or aiding digestion.
The Rest’O2 stand at the Nice Fair will allow you to test this new, beneficial and natural product for both athletes and homebodies! We return to the oxygen can, this concept is appealing, pure oxygen rejuvenates our body. It is a healthy and natural way to prepare for physical or intellectual effort or even improve daily life such as altitude sickness or relieve migraines.
We will end our stroll through the aisles of the Nice Fair with the stand, certainly the smallest, but also the best known, at least among the people of Nice.
Pastis de Nice is present every year, and its host, Father Gil Florini, concocts a new product each time, a new liqueur, a fruit wine, or treats. Besides, there is the recipe book that we have already presented elsewhere. This year we discover his whiskey.
It is with this stand that we wanted to conclude our visit. After the many delicacies offered by the exhibitors, we needed a good digestif, a Pastis de Nice.
Thierry Jan
