Eiffel for Paris: Holiday Road, part 2...

Nice.

It was so nice...

Rather than a direct train from Lyon to Nice, (unbeknownst to us!) we ended up taking a regional train so we momentarily visited more cities than I thought we originally would: Avignon, Marseille, Toulon, Cannes, Antibes...oh la la!

We arrived in Nice after sunset but quickly set out to see what we could see before calling it a night. We grabbed a bite to eat on the bustling rue de France and wandered to Place Massena before turning out the light at Hotel Gounod, our ★★★-hotel for 4 nights! (I stayed at this hotel with friends almost 10 years ago to the day! Wow...Time flies!!)

Our first full day was bright, sunny and warm - so lovely! We headed for the boardwalk - la promenade des Anglais - and meandered through vieux Nice on our way up to the Colline du Château, where we visited another cemetery, saw a waterfall and took some wonderful panoramic shots of the city. We also walked around to the other side of the colline and saw the port of Nice. My mother once lived in Nice for 6 weeks years ago, and for the first time in all the times I've visited Nice I was able to find her street, a few blocks behind the port! We headed back to the old part of the city to find the famous Fenocchio gelateria. Finding it requires winding through numerous tiny alleys until you come upon a gorgeous place with a church, bell tower, fountain, and chairs to sit in and relax while you enjoy your gelato. There are gelato stands all over Nice, but this place boast 96 different flavors and always has a line no matter what time of day you decide to treat yourself to 2 or 3 boules...because who are we kidding? Just one scoop is never enough! The beach was calling to us, and by beach, I mean pebbles - millions and millions of pebbles. Not the most comfortable, but, in my opinion, definitely the most charming part of the shoreline in Nice. We scrambled up to the water and shed our socks and shoes and put our toes in the turquoise Mediterranean. I had forgotten about all the beach glass that sparkles in the sunlight and immediately set out to find some colorful pieces to keep as souvenirs! (Now I know why my bags felt so much heavier on the way back - haha!) It was a wonderful first day back in my favorite city on the Côte d'Azur!

We didn't really have our time in Nice completely mapped out, which led to some great spontaneous fun! We hit the boardwalk on Saturday morning on the early side (for us!) and decided to rent bikes (hundreds of vélobleu stalls all over the city) to ride to the far end of the boardwalk because our feet were feeling the effects of 4 days of non-stop walking. These European towns are fairly pedestrian- and bike-friendly so the enormous bike lanes actually continued beyond the boardwalk...so, naturally, we kept going, too! We rode past the Nice airport and through Saint-Laurent-du-Var, Cagnes-sur-Mer, and Villeneuve-Loubet (approximately 13km away). By the time we returned to Nice (it took over an hour), I felt like I was pedaling through molasses! Exercise much? Despite looking completely spent upon our return, I really enjoyed our little adventure! After a well-deserved gelato break and a nap, we grabbed our picnic supplies and headed for the beach just in time to catch a magnificent sunset. The sky was slightly cloudy and the colors rippling throughout were amazing! I think that was my favorite day of our entire trip!

On Sunday morning we walked a short distance to the Eglise Russe (Russian Church) that was commissioned by Tzar Nicolas in 1914. It was gorgeous! Unfortunately, the interior is not in the best condition so visitors can no longer go inside, but the exterior was definitely worth seeing. We headed back towards the old part of the city and walked through both the produce and flower markets that operate every morning, Tuesday through Sunday. So many sights, smells, colors, and textures. I love markets, especially European ones! We had a local niçoise snack called Socca and another gelato, of course, before heading back to the beach to relax, read, write postcards and put our feet back in the water! Our last evening was extremely relaxing and I felt a little sad to be leaving in the morning.

We needed to check out of our hotel room by 12 noon, so we woke up early and had a few more hours in the city without having to worry about our bags. We walked back to the port side of the city and visited an amazing, family-owned candy factory, Florian, where their specialty is candied fruits, crystallized flower petals and chocolates. The smell of sugar was in the air...I was in heaven. We walked the rest of the way around the port, and back again, through the old city for another portion of Socca, and another gelato before checking out of our hotel. One last hour spent on the boardwalk before heading to the train and bidding adieu to Nice...only then did the adventure of getting home really begin! We had open seating on the first regional train to Toulon and then only one ticket with a reserved seat for the 4-hour trip from Toulon to Paris. I got lucky for the first leg of the trip because the train was fairly empty and Susy pointed out some available options; however, everyone and their dog (literally, there were some pooches on this train!) seemed to be traveling from Aix-en-Provence to Paris so I got bumped! I made my way through 5 cars searching for an empty seat to no avail, so I first camped out in the hallway on the stairs and then on a luggage rack for the 3 hours or so between Aix and Paris. I felt like a runaway! Quite an adventure!!

I love the light in the south of France - probably why I took so many photos while in Nice - I hope you enjoy them after the jump!