mstravelgirl

Part of our family trip in June includes 3 nights in Nice. We intend to spend at least an afternoon at the beach. However, being American, with 14 and 10 yr old boys, is there a beach not as topless as others to enjoy? Just thinking ahead. Also, any favorite seaside restaurants in Nice?

kerouac

Beaches are much less topless than they used to be, but you will always see a few examples.

di2315

The only beaches I saw in Nice were covered with large pebble stones, so make sure you take or buy there some beach shoes before you swim.

From my observations, getting into the water was somewhat difficult, but getting out was much more so - the combination of cold feet and a steepish incline out of the water had some swimmers crawling on hands and feet to get out of the water.

This was most entertaining for us non-swimmers to watch, but obviously very painful for them!
I didn't notice any topless swimmers at all btw. The main beach stretch along the promenade has some stretches reserved for use only by guests of a particular hotel, but there were plenty of sections for general usage.

Nice is a beautiful area to visit, Di

sparkchaser

As a former 10 year old (and 14 year old) boy with an uptight mother, I can say that one bare breast would have been enough to captivate me for that day at the beach. Three topless women would have been a sensory overload. Then again, that was before the internet.

traveller1959

Topless ladies have become rare but you will see a few, actually more older ladies than younger ones. And there is no way to avoid that. Maybe you should start a training programme to make your boys' eyes get accustomed to that eerie sight.

BTW, the main beach of Nice consists of large grey pebbles. There are five very beautiful sandy beaches on the posh peninsula Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat close to Nice (I would take a taxi).

There are also nice sandy beaches in Antibes (one of the reasons why many Fodorites recommend to base yourself in Antibes rather than in Nice).

Use Google Earth or a map with aerial view to see the beaches.

StuDudley

>>The main beach stretch along the promenade has some stretches reserved for use only by guests of a particular hotel,<<

Nope - anyone can use these "private" beaches - at least the 4-5 different ones I've visited. Some of them may be free for people staying at certain hotels, but other guests must pay. They are quite decadent. You have a chase lounge & table plus a parasol for a little more money. There are grass mats that you walk on so you don't need to ever walk on the flat polished stones - unless you go into the water. Waiters wander around & take orders for drinks, snacks, etc. All the places I've "sunned" at also have full scale restaurants, showers, dressing rooms, and a full bar.

We were in Nice last year and I spent two days at "Blue Beach" private beach. There were several topless women who were very attractive and fit, and a few others that I wished were not topless. As kerouac pointed out, there are far fewer topless women than there were 25 years ago. St Tropez had some full nude beaches 20 years ago - but I read somewhere that that's not the case now. But still some topless.

Stu Dudley

Christina

I think calling the Nice beach "pebbles" is being very generous. They weren't pebbles by my standards, they were rocks.

PalenQ

Better beaches - sandy at Cannes and west of Antibes - by Biot. And yes topless has almost disappeared from French beaches for some reason - except yes old hags it seems and that would hardly excite any teen hormones.

kerouac

The coastline of France is part of the public domain, so even though Nice and Cannes try to pretend that they have private beaches, nothing is private where the coast touches the sea. Obviously you cannot not use the private deck chairs without paying.

Now I am wondering why the word "naughty" was in the title of this thread.

StuDudley

I have one of the pebbles/rocks sitting in front of me now. I collect weird stuff. It is oval and 3 1/2" X 2 1/2" and 3/4" thick. Polished with no rough spots at all. Unless I have to walk on them, I prefer these pebbles/rocks to sand because there is less dust if it is windy. They don't sneak into my swim suit either - like sand does.

Last year in early June at Blue Beach in Nice, there were several "babes" topless - perhaps 5-7% of the female crowd. There was a topless "old hag" sitting 3 lounges away from me that I tried not to look at.

Stu Dudley

jtpj777

I am currently in Nice. The beach that I go to has a mixture of topless and non-topless females. Of the topless, some are young and some are older.

I find it somewhat amusing to read the comments about, "old hags" as if you should only be allowed to bear your body if you are young and, "fit". That's a very Anglo attitude ( I include the OP in this). The French are much more laid back and natural about these things.

Chill out!

PS I am in agreement with Stu about the beaches - sand looks better but is a nuisance; although swim shoes will make life more comfortable.

jtpj777

PS You might try eating at one of the private beach restaurants, eg Blue Beach as mentioned by Stu; although there are plenty of others along the Promenade des Anglais stretch. You won't get more "seaside" than them (food usually OK but not spectacular).

Alternatively, in Nice, my favourite would be La Reserve, East of the port area.

There are also good restaurants in Villefranche and St Jean Cap Ferrat that are very close to the sea (but not on a beach).

Christina

here are some good photos of Nice beaches including the pebbles or rocks, depending on viewpoint. second to last photo is a pretty good idea of Nice proper

http://www.bugbog.com/european_count..._pictures.html

jtpj777

PPS Sorry, but forgot to say that they are currently constructing a restaurant atop the old diving board ( La Plongeoir) near to La Reserve restaurant.

I have no idea what kind of restaurant it is going to be; however, it's situation alone will make it worth while investigating.

http://www.nicematin.com/nice/a-nice...e.2105058.html


It should be ready for your visit, I suspect.

PalenQ

funny when I first started to spend summers with my young son in France he of course wanted to go to the Piscine - or swimming pool - (I love that name for a swimming pool!) and at that time in the mid-90s most of the women and girls of all ages seemed to be topless - teen-age boys swimming with topless teen-age girls without batting an eyelash or seeing anything out of the orindary - I loved it too and we went to the piscine many times (I could also get a beer from the pscine's bar and sit and watch (my son of course) - well times have changed - you rarely see any younger lady topless anymore.

I wonder why France has become so prudish?

jtpj777

Sorry PalenQ, that's just not true.

jtpj777

Sorry PalenQ, that's just not true; at least not on the beaches at Nice I frequent.

PalenQ

Well I don't know about Nice - maybe foreign ladies who do that but my French in-laws and son - just back after a month on the beach in the Nantes area said practically no women are bare breasted anymore - so it may vary but in France as a whole topless is out - that is what they all say.

and so does this Guardian article - topless is out in France.

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/f...athing-topless

Surfergirl

Please don't worry about your boys. What everyone is saying about people wearing more clothing (including men/boys who are going less with speedos and more with surfer jams)is true. Seriously, all the times I've been on the beach in the south of France, no one seems to take much notice of bare breasts except American men. So totally agree with jtpj, just chill out.

My son's gone with us so many times since he was 13 months old, it seemed very natural to him. I think if we had waited until he was 10 or even 14, it would still seem natural to him, but we're kind of chill people anyway, and go with the flow.

nytraveler

agree the the number of topless women seems to have been going down since I was first there many years ago. (And then the only ones staring were mostly middle aged american men. Can only assume their wives dressed in the closet and never let their husbands see them naked.)

But there will be some and the boys will see naked boobs.

Big deal! I'm sure they've seen them on the internet - if not in real life.

No need to carry this anxiety making fear into another generation.