Nice is nice.......

Nice is nice  (I mean Niece is nice or in other words Neese is nice – can’t find my French keyboard).  When Henri and I originally decided another long stay was on the menu for France we thought Nice would be a good base.   There are plenty of rentals, it is a transportation hub and has good amenities.   We had decided that we didn’t want to rent a car and there are lots of surrounding places to visit.  We’ve both been there before and as I said, Nice is nice.  Well as it goes during our fireside chats, we decided to expand our options because we preferred a two bedroom and also decided to rent a car and that’s how we changed our mind to stay in Pierelatte versus Nice.

As with all well laid plans, change was probable. The French Air Traffic Controller’s strike resulted in the cancellation of our flight from Nice to Barcelona where we were supposed to spend our first night in Europe.  After a two hour line up at the EASY (?) Jet desk to rearrange our flights, we found out that due to a backlog we could not get a flight to Barcelona before Saturday.  Because of travel time, wait time and time change we were now down to  an extra day in Nice and virtually 2 days lost in Barcelona.  C’est la vie!

In the morning, refreshed and anxious to renew our French experiences, we caught a bus and headed  downtown.  We wandered through the new and old town and of course took a stroll up the Promenade d”Anglais.  

I looked at the sunbathers with envy (me envy, Henry I’m not sure what was going through his mind).  The day was glorious and warm and Nice shone.  Up for a bit of a jaunt we climbed Castle Hill (Colline du Chateau, although there is no chateau there).  The view is astounding!  There is a large park at the top and a beautiful waterfall.   Boy would that be cooling on a hot day.  Also we were both surprised to see a small but amazing cemetery.  The tombs and mausoleums are huge and ornate.  I’m sure this is the final gathering place of the rich and famous of the Cote d’Azur.   There was one tombstone that I found quite interesting.   The fellow in the picture looks like Clark Gable however with his cigarette hanging out from his mouth made me think of an advertisement the anti-smoking gang would use in one of their ads.   I didn’t get the exact date of his death but I’m thinking the 50’s…….

And by the way, those sardines; they're chocolate.

Waterfall at top of the hill.......so cool!

......  ad for non-smoking campaign?

The hill offers sensational views over Nice, the port , foothills of the Alps and the Mediterranean.  Weather was perfect for a stroll and notwithstanding Henry’s recent medical procedure and my overall weakness in the joints, we are proud to say we made it to the top, yes, on foot.

We decided to walk down the backside of the mountain to get some lunch at one of the seafood places.   Pictured below…… yum, yum, yum….

Dessert..... this was a taste de pommel...

We really were feeling our oats so decided to get back on our yacht and head back to the hotel (oh yeah, I forgot, that was our dreaming fireside chat…)

We did have a little incident with the bus…. It seems that on the way back the bus stops to pick up passengers at the airport (right where our hotel is) BUT, does not let passengers off the bus there!  Instead, after much shouting “ouvrez la port”, “ouvrez la port” which I believe means “open the door”, the driver carried on and let us off about 1 Km away…. Needless to say Henri said, in his loudest and best French, .....sssh….e, if you get my meaning.   We proceeded across the road, paid for another bus (roundtrips on your ticket not allowed) and headed back to the hotel.  

Just another adventure in LaLa land but I must say that both Henry and I had the sensation of arriving home  when we landed at Charles de Gaulle…. I do believe that we are misplaced Frenchmen and a mistake has been made that it turns out we are Canadian…..

Hoping this post finds you all well; will be in touch…… Henri and Joanne,,,,