Last year we went to Nice and the south of France and enjoyed it so much we decided to go back this year. But this time we rented a house in the village of St. Jeanett for a week and spent 4 days in Nice (2 at the beginning and 2 at the end).
In Nice we stayed at the Hotel Grimaldi where we stayed last year. It is a small hotel with a wonderful staff. The rooms are comfortable and the location is excellent for walking to most of the major places of interest in the city. On our first day we went to the old town area and had lunch at Acciardo. It is a family-run place serving traditional Nicoise cuisine. They have a regular menu plus daily specials. That evening we were feeling a bit of the old jet lage so didn't want anything very elaborate for dinner. We just went to one of the many cafes in the pedestrian area and had pizza and salads (we went to Taverne Massena which was fine but nothing great).
One of my favorite things to do when visiting a place is to take an early morning walk. It's wonderful to watch a place waking up. In Nice I would walk from the hotel to the port and back. Our second day in Nice we mainly wandered around old town and had lunch at La Merenda. It is one of the more well-known eating establishments in the city. The chef/owner Dominique LeStanc was once the chef at Chanterelle at the Negressco Hotel but now has this simple, tiny place serving very traditional Nicoise cuisine. They have no phone and do not take credit cards. To make a reservation you have to stop by. However, the staff at Le Grimaldi can make reservations for you. One of my favorite dishes there is the pasta starter--it's a simple pasta with a pesto sauce but it is extremely delicious. After lunch I went to a place called Alziari to buy some of their olive oil--it is my favorite.
That evening we just wanted a light dinner and ate at place called L'Ybane on rue Liberte where you can get salads, small plates or a full meal. They have an outdoor seating area plus a very chic indoor dining room and bar.
The next day we got our rental car to drive to St Jeanett. There is a rental car place very near Le Grimaldi and the hotel staff can make the arrangements for you. St Jeanett is about 35 minutes from Nice near the larger town of Vence. It is one of the "perched villages" meaning it sits on the side of a hill. Four of us rented the house together. We found the village with no problem but had some trouble managing the tiny streets of the village which are no wider than a sidewalk. Our house sat above the main part of the village and you could not drive all the way to the house. There is a parking lot for the houses up there (which is very difficult to get in and out of) but once there you have to walk up a paved path about the equivalent of 2 city blocks to get to the house.
The house is small--the main house consists of an open kitchen-dining room, a living room and a powder room on the first floor and a loft bedroom with full bath. There is a separate cottage containing a bedroom and bath. The entire house was recently renovated so it had all the modern convienences. The owner of the home teaches cooking classes so the kitchen is very nice and well equipped. The most wonderful thing about the place is the view. You look down on the village and then in the distance you can see the Mediterranean Sea.

Hi Sequess, I can't wait to read more. Did you visit the winery in St. Jeanette? I love the artwork on the bottles. If you have a link to your house I'd love to see it--we usually rent a small villa on the outskirts of Vence. (We love the Alziari oil too!)

Contiued:
Before leaving Nice we had gone to the Cours Saleya market to get some food items to take to the house. So after we settled in we had a wonderful lunch on the terrace with all our market treats.
In the afternoon we drove to Vence which is about 10-15 minutes away. Although St Jeanett has a couple of bakeries, and 2 boucheries there is a wider selection of food in Vence. We thought the bread at Sabbia was the best and our favorite pastissery was Palanque.
Our first evening in St Jeanett we had dinner of a purchased roast chicken and some wonderful tomatoes and mozarella and wonderful pates and cheeses. Of course, we also enjoyed a bottle of wine.
Several of the days while we were in St Jeanett we went to Vence and bought food to prepare. It was fun shopping at the farmers market and at the specialty markets and then preparing the food.
One of the days we drove to St Paul de Vence and visited the Fondation Maeght. It is a wonderful museum that any lover of art or architecture must see. That day we had lunch at the wonderful Le St Paul in the village--it is a Relais & Chateau inn and the restaurant is wonderful. The food is outstanding and the presentation is extremely artful.
Another day we drove to Grasse and explored the old town there before going just outside town to the Bastide Saint Antoine for lunch. This is another Relais & Chateau property. It is owned by the well known chef Jacques Chibois and carries 2 Michelin stars. We sat outside on the gorgeous patio and had a spectacular lunch.
Our final night in St Jeanett we had dinner in the village at a place called Cafe St Barbe. It sits on the edge of the hill and has excellent views. We weren't expecting much in the way of cuisine but were pleasantly surprised at the nice meal we had there.
Just when I was beginning to feel like a regular village resident it was time of us to say good bye to St Jeanett and head back to Nice.

Continued:
I forgot to mention the winery in St Jeanett. It is actually a little outside the village and has a tasting room. The winery is owned by the Rasse family and many family members are active in the business. One of the family members is an artist and designs the labels. They also have a little shop space in the main part of of the village where they sell the wine, some artwork by Remi Rasse and produce from the farm. Their Rose wine was quite good and the tomatoes from their farm were our favorites.
We returned to Nice for our final 2 days. One night we had dinner at Jouni which is located near the port. It is a tiny place which just received a Michelin star. Our dinner was outstanding. They are moving to larger quarters in November where they will actually have 2 restaurants one a more casual bistro and also a fine dining restaurant. I really loved the intimacy of the current place but can see why they might want something more.
Our final dinner in Nice was at Safari in Cours Saleya. We just wanted something simple on our last night and it fit the bill very well.

mvur--to view the property you can go to www.tasteofprovence.com and click on vacation rental.