I Love Paris In The Springtime...
Jul 29th, 2007, 06:38 PM
#22
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 5,150
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Nice!
Our lovely friend was staying in Nice for the summer and invited us to stay with her, so I can’t report on any hotels there. More than any other town we visited in France, Nice was just a traffic nightmare! My advice to you is this: if you’re ever looking for a parking spot in Nice and you find one, take it, never leave it, and go on and live the rest of your life. Because you’re never, EVER going to find another one. That said, we did many fun and interesting things in Nice but we never did get to the beach.
One day we took the harrowing, serpentine drive up to Eze. I was so glad I wasn’t the driver and didn’t have to keep my eyes on the road because the view was magnificent! Eze was charming but I have to say that these beautiful hilltop towns like Eze and Saint Paul de Vence seem like incredible shopping malls to me. Now, I like shopping as much as the next girl but it’s not like ‘real life’. Still, I guess that’s a minor complaint if you can drag yourself away from the shops long enough to have kir royal and lovely canapés sitting in the Hotel Chevre d’Or bar overlooking the Mediterranean, and that’s exactly what we did. Our generous friend picked up the tab and it wasn’t until later that she told us that the drinks were 20E each!
The next day we woke up bright and early and walked from our friend’s place (after coffee and croissants, of course) to the fabulous flower and produce markets. These are definite musts (do stop at the glazed fruit and marzipan stand because it’s just so pretty) and at the end of the market square you’ll see the beautiful gold-painted house where Matisse lived. At that point, we pulled out the good old Rick Steves walking tour and wandered around Old Nice, which was interesting and very lively. We stopped for lunch at stand at the corner of somewhere and somewhere else – I can’t remember the name – but it seems to be quite well-known for its typical Nicean dishes. We shared socca (a sort of pancake made of chickpeas, stuffed and deep-fried courgettes, and a sort of kale quiche called, I think, torte de blette, which I just loved. I understand you can get a version with sugar on it but, um, I don’t think so, thanks.
After lunch, we hopped in the car and drove up the mountain to Saint Paul de Vence. Once again, a beautiful view – this time including the snow-covered Alps -- and a lovely walk with lots of shops and art galleries to visit. We bought a wonderful print – I would have loved one of the large paintings but alas, that will have to wait. We wandered the town and when we were too pooped to walk anymore, we stopped for a long tall drink on the very nice patio of a bar high up over the busy street. After a walk back to the car and a gelato, we drove back to Nice. That night we walked over to the pedestrian mall for dinner at La Maison de Marie (5 rue Massena). We couldn’t get a table in the gorgeous, bougainvillea-covered courtyard (this was June, remember, and the bougainvillea was in full bloom; the courtyard is completed covered by arches and trellises which, themselves, are covered with bougainvillea) so we took a table instead which was quite attractive too. If you have to eat inside, try to get a table at one of the big windows on the courtyard. The place was lovely and the menu interesting but I don’t remember it as being one of my favourite meals in France. Of course, you can’t really go by me. Often my favourite meal will be a baguette sandwich in a courtyard on a sunny day. After dinner we walked on the lively pedestrian mall and watched and listened to the buskers, my favourite of which was a fellow dressed up in Venetian Carnival costume, complete with mask, playing classical guitar. It was a pretty summer night and we enjoyed the entertainment.
That was our last night in Nice. I don’t have as many restaurants to report on there because we shopped and cooked at home a couple of nights, but it was lovely to be able to visit with a friend who knew the town a bit more than we did.
Tomorrow, off to St. Remy. Or so we thought…
Our lovely friend was staying in Nice for the summer and invited us to stay with her, so I can’t report on any hotels there. More than any other town we visited in France, Nice was just a traffic nightmare! My advice to you is this: if you’re ever looking for a parking spot in Nice and you find one, take it, never leave it, and go on and live the rest of your life. Because you’re never, EVER going to find another one. That said, we did many fun and interesting things in Nice but we never did get to the beach.
One day we took the harrowing, serpentine drive up to Eze. I was so glad I wasn’t the driver and didn’t have to keep my eyes on the road because the view was magnificent! Eze was charming but I have to say that these beautiful hilltop towns like Eze and Saint Paul de Vence seem like incredible shopping malls to me. Now, I like shopping as much as the next girl but it’s not like ‘real life’. Still, I guess that’s a minor complaint if you can drag yourself away from the shops long enough to have kir royal and lovely canapés sitting in the Hotel Chevre d’Or bar overlooking the Mediterranean, and that’s exactly what we did. Our generous friend picked up the tab and it wasn’t until later that she told us that the drinks were 20E each!
The next day we woke up bright and early and walked from our friend’s place (after coffee and croissants, of course) to the fabulous flower and produce markets. These are definite musts (do stop at the glazed fruit and marzipan stand because it’s just so pretty) and at the end of the market square you’ll see the beautiful gold-painted house where Matisse lived. At that point, we pulled out the good old Rick Steves walking tour and wandered around Old Nice, which was interesting and very lively. We stopped for lunch at stand at the corner of somewhere and somewhere else – I can’t remember the name – but it seems to be quite well-known for its typical Nicean dishes. We shared socca (a sort of pancake made of chickpeas, stuffed and deep-fried courgettes, and a sort of kale quiche called, I think, torte de blette, which I just loved. I understand you can get a version with sugar on it but, um, I don’t think so, thanks.
After lunch, we hopped in the car and drove up the mountain to Saint Paul de Vence. Once again, a beautiful view – this time including the snow-covered Alps -- and a lovely walk with lots of shops and art galleries to visit. We bought a wonderful print – I would have loved one of the large paintings but alas, that will have to wait. We wandered the town and when we were too pooped to walk anymore, we stopped for a long tall drink on the very nice patio of a bar high up over the busy street. After a walk back to the car and a gelato, we drove back to Nice. That night we walked over to the pedestrian mall for dinner at La Maison de Marie (5 rue Massena). We couldn’t get a table in the gorgeous, bougainvillea-covered courtyard (this was June, remember, and the bougainvillea was in full bloom; the courtyard is completed covered by arches and trellises which, themselves, are covered with bougainvillea) so we took a table instead which was quite attractive too. If you have to eat inside, try to get a table at one of the big windows on the courtyard. The place was lovely and the menu interesting but I don’t remember it as being one of my favourite meals in France. Of course, you can’t really go by me. Often my favourite meal will be a baguette sandwich in a courtyard on a sunny day. After dinner we walked on the lively pedestrian mall and watched and listened to the buskers, my favourite of which was a fellow dressed up in Venetian Carnival costume, complete with mask, playing classical guitar. It was a pretty summer night and we enjoyed the entertainment.
That was our last night in Nice. I don’t have as many restaurants to report on there because we shopped and cooked at home a couple of nights, but it was lovely to be able to visit with a friend who knew the town a bit more than we did.
Tomorrow, off to St. Remy. Or so we thought…
