When rich old English people used to get sick, their doctors prescribed a nice vacation on the Riviera. So after a couple weeks back in Normandy, in the cold and rain and wind, I too was ready for one of those prescriptions. Unfortunately, my doctor couldn't do that. Luckily, my bank account could. Lisa and I bought tickets leaving Paris Friday night, and we were ready! The train was a night train, taking 10 hours, but it had some cool stuff. First, we went all out on first class tickets. An extra 5 Euros each, well spent if you ask me. The seats are bigger, it's quieter, and it's a lot more comfortable if you're long like me. Stretching out was a huge benefit. They also had party cars, with a live DJ and lights and a bar. Pretty awesome stuff. Not much to look at though, until the morning. And what a thing to wake up to. Lisa discovered that the view out of the other side was this:
This is a good way to start the day if you ask me. The train followed the coast for quite a while, so we built up a lot of excitement watching the sun reflecting off the sea, seeing palm trees, and scattered beaches. Hooray warmth and sunshine and other things Normandy doesn't have! We arrived at the train station around 830 in the morning, giving us a full day to explore. We had a short walk to the hotel, which is cheap AND amazing. It's one block from the beach, behind one of the most famous hotels in all of Nice. Seriously, you can't ask for anything better. We arrived, paid our dues, and received a nice clean room, some tourist literature and a map. Our host was nice enough to pencil in a few of the more important things and areas on the map; thusly armed, we wanted to go out. However, a long night on a train doesn't leave one in the cleanest condition, so we showered and dressed and went out hunting pastries.
Upon successful completion of our mission, I wanted to go to the Promenade des Anglais. It's a great walkway along the beach, and it runs for miles. Everyone goes there on the weekends, so we did too. It's sunny, there's a nice sea breeze, and lots to see. We walked on the beach as well, which is pebbly. I played around in the water because I have to, Lisa watched. In the early afternoon, we decided that a nice sit wouldn't go amiss, nor a coffee. So we found a little cafe and prepared to pay out the nose. It didn't turn out to be too bad, so that was a pleasant surprise. The view is never bad.
I also had a beer; it was cold and I was warm, and besides, I'm on vacation. Since the promenade continued, we did too. There were some people on the beach, enjoying the sun. Here's a shot looking back towards the main beach:
I love the color of the water. It doesn't look like that in Le Havre. If you look closely at the left side of the picture, you can see a pink dome on one of the buildings. That's the
Hotel Negresco, which sits between our hotel and the beach. Nice place, bit out of my price range though.
So we continued walking along the promenade, and it rounded a point and sort of ended. On the other side of the point sits the Monument Aux Morts, to the soldiers who died in the world wars. It's pretty awesome, especially when you're close to it.
After passing the monument, we found one of the harbors. There are a lot of small restaurants around it, plenty of houses and Notre Dame.
It's fascinating how many different styles of church there are in France. This felt a lot more like a Roman building than a church, which isn't surprising as the Italian border is about 20 miles to the east. And as pretty as it was, it didn't fill our stomachs, so we stopped at a nice restaurant and ordered some pizzas. A bit pricey but delicious. Just what a couple of intrepid and bold explorers needed. Sated, we enjoyed the view; the buildings in Nice have a much different color scheme. It's very warm, there are lots of orange and red hues, often muted; I do not know if this is intentional or from the sun. Here's one such building, adorned nicely:
I could stand to live there, I think. We headed down into the harbor to look at some of the boats. There were lots of cute little sailboats, some fishing boats, and a few yachts. Ah! I bought a boat! There was this great boat for sale, not too pricey, and honestly, why wouldn't I? I've since canceled my return flight and will be taking this home:
I'm thinking of keeping it in Nantucket for the summer. You're all welcome to come down for a little putt around the harbor.
As afternoon was settling in, we decided to head back towards downtown Nice. The hill that the Monument Aux Morts is carved into has some paths winding up it, so we hiked up to get the view. There are a few buildings and ruins there, and some awesome mosaics.
On the other side of the hill, you can see Nice spread out before you. It's very pretty, especially in the sun. I really understand why people like it here.
There's also a waterfall near the top, which looks amazing from down below but is just as cool when you're under it. I had a blast taking pictures here, trying out the different modes on my camera. Water offers so many possibilities.
We then headed down as we were getting hungry; a quick trip to the supermarket fixed us up. We bought some snacks and drinks (read:beer) and went to the beach. Not a bad way to cap off the day.
The morning we decided that we would do a little bit of wandering through Nice proper. After our daily stroll down the Promenade, we headed through a park that cuts into the city. There were tons of awesome fountains and statues and palm trees.
Soon thereafter, we came to an open square. There were tram lines, crazy groundwork, and weird modern art...things. They're little light up people on top of poles, and they light up in different colors and rotate through. It's really cool at night.
Lisa wanted to look for some restaurants she wanted to go to, but they were unfortunately closed as it was still the off season. Though there were many cool things to see, our stomachs once again dictated that we find food, so we stopped into a little bakery with some amazing sandwiches. Lisa bought one that is a specialty of Nice, it's got a very odd mix of foods in it. Because you're never far from the beach in Nice, we walked towards it for another picnic. Back on the promenade, we'd found that many fences had been erected and there were tents and vehicles and lots more people than usual. That Sunday was actually the end of the Paris to Nice bike race. Lisa asked a nice man when it ended, and he said around 2PM. So we wandered through the crowds looking for a good place to relax. I took this shot of the opera house on the way:
Ah, and here's why we really came:
Relaxing on the beach in the sun. Life is sooooo good.
After working on our tans (because we forgot sunscreen and it is prohibitively expensive in France), we headed down towards the finishing line for the bike race. Here's a video of the winner and other really insanely good bikers. GO BIKERS GO!
After cheering and watching for a while, we again walked down the Promenade. Sensing a pattern here? I decided that we ought to prove that we were actually there, so here's Lisa enjoying Nice.
After, we decided to hit up the Old City. It's a lot of narrow streets and little squares and tiny shops. There was a great little church in one of the squares. How Mediterranean.
Also in the square was a small gelato shop that had more flavors than I could count. I think it must have be at least 50. Given the wide variety of flavors, I decided to try something weird, like...cactus. It's not bad, it's just different. Tasted kind of sweet and...green?
As the sun began to set, we found a nice restaurant that we thought we'd try, so we went back to change and clean up, because we dress up at the drop of a hat. It's fun!
On the way, we came across this statue of
Nike, the Winged Goddess of Victory that Nice is named after. Between that and the colors of the sky, I couldn't resist. I'm such a sucker for photos like this.
And in the fading light, a photo of the Negresco.
Dinner was fantastic. Unfortunately there are no photos, but I had some rabbit with garlic paste and toast for an appetizer while Lisa began with watercress soup. For the main course, Lisa dined on pork medallions with sage and I had some type of fish (I've sadly forgotten) in cider sauce. We split a bottle of wine as well. All in all, one of the tastier dinners I've had this year. Everything was perfect. Lisa had tiramisu for dessert, while I finished off the night with licorice crème brûlée. I think Tracy would be proud. It wasn't exactly what you'd call a cheap night out on the town, but if you're going to play jet-set, you can't skimp on the food. And I'd pay every penny to do it again.
The next morning, I wanted to wake up early to see the sun rise over the hill. So we set alarms, woke up, and...it was cloudy. Foiled again! But eventually some blue sky appeared, and it got larger, and then the sun came out! Look at all the god rays!
Despite the early hour, the bakery at the grocery store opened up and we got coffee and pastries and then sat on one of the many benches lining the Promenade. And just before leaving, I had to take this shot. The background is the facade over the scaffolding covering the Negresco, which was having some work done on it. France is very good about making sure even construction sites look good.
Although it was a short vacation, I feel like we packed a lot of awesome into just over two days. And I'm just maybe considering applying for an assistant position there next year...
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