RESTAURANT DE BACON
Barry and Jean-Claude, as you can see in the photos, are fast friends; two sides of the same coin.  Our first night in Antibes, the Novaros treated us to dinner at Restaurant de Bacon.  What we didn’t know at the time is that this is a famous restaurant which has been run by two generations of the Sordello family, and which has hosted not only such famous celebrities as Morgan Freeman and Bruce Willis, but the Sordellos have also cooked for Prime Ministers and Presidents, including the Reagans.  But to Jean-Claude Novaro, it is simply his friend Etienne’s place.  Both Etienne and his restaurant are wonderful.  The dining room is light and airy, with a wall of windows opened fully to let in the sea air.  Jean-Claude’s fish are outside and on every table, and much of the decoration is his.  He, and thus we, was given a hero’s welcome not only by Etienne but by the entire staff.  I didn’t go with Barry and the kids to tour the kitchen, but I did notice the signs for the lavatories were “Ladies” and “Gentlemen” in English rather than French, and another small door close by was marked “Explosives.”  I think that pretty much sums up why I like these folks so much:  They are absolutely excellent at their careers, but they do it for pleasure.  They live with joy and don’t take themselves too seriously.