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Nice, France

Azure blue sea is my favourite colour and this beautiful big bay is a visual feast for me. It was meant to be raining today but we were so fortunate that there was not a cloud in the sky for our one day on the Cote de Azure.

We made the most of the day leaving early to experience the flower and produce markets on the edge of old town and the sea. Bustling with tourists and locals we managed to find some fresh eggplant pizza and apple tart, followed by wholegrain sour dough baguette with fresh soft goats cheese and olive tapenade. It was only €2.50 for the round of cheese compared to probably about NZD16 for similar back home.

Saw lovely big artichokes from Italy and some purple and white asparagus. Next door were large raspberries and blackberries but very expensive at €3.50 for a small chip so we gave that a miss. Oranges and strawberries are also about double the price of Spain. Incidentally so is coffee and we are yet to find as good a coffee as we did in Spain.

After the markets we explored old town, and whilst it is similar to both Seville and Barcelona it has its own character – it is a bit airier and pastel paint colours are framed with wooden shutters instead of stronger terracotta, blue, and white buildings with balconies and tiling. Generally the streets are a bit wider, and there are fewer plaza.

Old town sits under Castle Hill which was settled as early as 110 BC. It has some ruins up the top, but is mainly a beautiful park with views towards Monaco, over the port, and the city of Nice. There is a pretty man made waterfall, a very nice children’s playground and a couple of eateries. Lots of families and tourists were enjoying the warm sunny day up there and both Vern and I caught a bit of colour. There is a free lift up (partially inside) the hill and a nice walk down if you choose (we did both).

After a nice ice cream and views of the coast from Castle Hill we strolled back through old town into the newer section of Nice to find the rail station and work out ‘how’ we get to Italy tomorrow as there will be a several changes …. got the French side sorted with a little difficulty as they weren’t so helpful at the station and its a dump unlike Barcelona Saints which was very modern and user friendly.

Had a wee rest before dinner as our legs were tired – think we clocked over 8km today. Vern was on the computer checking train connections and I just rested my eyes a bit and could hear myself snore a couple of times. Vern maintains I fell asleep but I am sure I was conscious – only just – so it must have been a micro nana nap. First time ever I have done that at 6pm! Terrible!

We treated ourselves to a posh dinner – not too expensive – of traditional local dishes of nicoise salad, bouillabaisse, and veal osso bucco. It was ok, nothing to be super excited about, but check done that one off our list 🙂

Nice has been an enjoyable stop over, it is clean and pretty and people are nice with a semi resort atmosphere. I think there are nice areas and not so nice and lucky we picked a good area that was cheap, clean and safe. Probably not much to do here as a city per-say unless you are very rich and want to relax beach front, but a great spot for launching off to begin a trip elsewhere.

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