and on to Nice, in spite of an addled GPS lady

We sighed goodbye to Vence and the Chateau St Martin, and the helpful garagiste set the GPS for our hotel in Nice. We know the way, but he was so charming we decided to see if the GPS system knew something new, and left it turned on. Perhaps not the best idea we've ever had.
There are a number of exits, twists and turns once you get off the autoroute, and the GPS lady was confused between "bear left" and "turn left." As a result, we visited the nicely paved driveways of a number of charming French people who hadn't been expecting company, and looped, u-turned and reversed our way to our hotel. "Can't we turn that &%¥*% off?" moaned the intrepid driver. The Off button was unlabeled  and not shown in the manual. The Travel Fates continued to toy with us maliciously as we checked in (finally!) and learned that our hoped-for room upgrade had not come through. And then it started to pour. And pour.

A walk in the rain did not raise our spirits.

A walk indoors gave us some giggles, as our hotel is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its - founding? purchase by the family of the current owners? first redecoration in Opulent Romanian style? not clear, but there was an exhibition off the lobby showing famous guests checking in, place settings, chairs from the hotel's original barber shop, folkloric outfits worn by the great-grandparents of the current owner, the hotel's first fire hose... The hotel is a Cherished Local Institution, and it takes its role as such very seriously. Fish for lunch, then upstairs to stare at the sea and watch the rain get worse. We'd booked dinner a difficult 25-mile drive away, and were having doubts about trusting ourselves or our demented GPS after dark, when there was a clap of thunder and the street lights went out.

Time to regroup. After a few phone calls, dinner was moved to Saturday lunch, Saturday night's dinner was moved to Sunday, and Sunday's dinner was moved to - tonight! now! at the two-star restaurant in our hotel!

This last was a lucky break, they were fully booked when we started moving things around, but called us back when they had a timely cancellation. I imagine people not wanting to drive in the torrents were playing Musical Reservations all over the Cote d'Azur.
It's fall, that means chestnuts in the little soup that kicked off the festivities.

My foie gras was light and delicious. Those are morsels of lamb sweetbreads in the middle, and there was house-made brioche to go with it.

His starter drew raves, the outside of two of the croquettes was a potato concoction, and the inside was a soft, different concoction of potatoes and chervil. The other two were filled with langoustines.He had a fish course, I prudently abstained, thinking ahead to dessert. This is seabass, caramelized without the skin, chopped oysters on top, paperthin slices of beet on the plate.
Then he had breast of col vert (wild duck), the leg meat is minced and topped with purée of carrots, and there's also a grilled onion slice. I could live on grilled onions.
And now my main course, veal sweetbreads with chorizo sausage, chanterelle mushrooms, and potatoes.
Here's a closer view of the dear little mushrooms sheltering under a tiny slice of sausage. Awwwww...  

The pre-dessert--and
the real dessert, a Grand Marnier soufflé with citrus pieces, citrus sauce, and flamed in fine rum. Our server set the rum aflame before I could grab it and drink it.
We are planning that it will be sunny tomorrow.