John and I first became smitten with Nice, France in January 2016 and as with all great relationships it was love at first sight.
If not for homeowners, Katherine and Paul, who offered us a return house and parrot sit after they relocated to Nice from Jacou, we may never have experienced the wonders of this amazing city and certainly not in such depth. This marks our fifth housesit in Nice and we're ever so grateful for the opportunity. Quite simply, neither John nor I can imagine life either without their wonderful friendship or the opportunity to care for Petra and "the girls". And each time we return we savour the incredible splendours of Nice.
I've no doubt posted similar photos of Nice during the past four years, but Nice never gets old in our eyes. Never. Ever!
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| The BEST balcony in the world! |
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| Port Lympia |
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Ta-da! The one and only Petra 🦜
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His sidekicks: "the Girls"
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| Afternoon nap time 😂 |
Before our arrival John and I discussed all sorts of possible and exciting destinations to visit (and revisit) outside of Nice, but once there we found we had zero ambition to leave the city - even for a short day trip. As a result, for most of our two-week stay, we opted to stay put and go for long-ish, daily walks here, there and everywhere within the city proper. It obviously was a great idea because we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and IMHO this was our best visit to date!
Some locales we toured were old haunts as familiar to us as the back of our hands. On more than one occasion we dropped by the Civette Garibaldi for a glass of wine and plate of socca. We made frequent stops at the Boulanger Patissier du Port on Rue Fodéré because in our opinion it sells the best baguettes in all of Nice. One cool, wet Sunday we strolled past the Bioman organic grocery shop on Avenue de la Republique and stopped in just to take a look and ended up buying a few tasty (and unique) items for lunch. And on a very windy, overcast day after strolling westward on the Promenade des Anglais we headed inland and discovered the Fromagerie du Carré d'Or on Rue de France. We'll definitely return on our next visit to Nice to sample their collection of cheese.
Regardless of where we ended up each day, we enjoyed every single moment of the adventure and spent some quality time with Petra and the girls. Who could possibly want for more?!
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Castle Hill
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Castle Hill is one of our favourite destinations and it's literally a hop, skip and a jump across from the port. I love going there, especially on a weekend as that's when locals congregate to enjoy the scenery and wide open spaces. Some bring picnics to share on a blanket on the grass, while others (like us) prefer to stop at the cafe for an espresso, glass of wine and/or snack and sit at one of the many outdoor tables.
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| View of rock cliff and the Med in the distance |
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| The port from Castle Hill |
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| Le Neptune |
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| Old town and Promenade des Anglais |
In the photo above the Promenade des Anglais can be seen hugging the Mediterranean Sea. The Promenade is a lovely place to go for a brisk walk or leisurely stroll while feeling the salty sea breeze on your skin. It's also busy with joggers, runners, bicyclists and Segway riders who FYI seem to travel in packs! There are ample places to stop along the way for photo ops, to people watch, savour a beverage, snack or leisurely meal along its seven kilometre stretch and even in mid-November the beach was busy most days with swimmers and sun worshippers.
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This particular day the sea was too dangerous and
the temperature cool so the beach was deserted |
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| Snow on the mountains (after a rainy night in Nice) visible from the Promenade |
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| Looking back toward Castle Hill |
One day we walked westward along the Promenade, completely unaware of the dark skies behind us. When we turned around to return to the port we feared we'd get caught in a downpour. Thankfully, we remained dry and discovered some new territory along the way.
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| Fromagerie du Carre d'Or (Square of Gold Cheese Shop) |
West of the old town is a long, narrow green space called the Jardin Albert. A serene oasis in the middle of the city it always attracts the locals. Some come to use the free wifi, office workers eat their lunch on one of the many benches, children come to play, teens and seniors come to chat with their friends, and couples stroll the grounds arm in arm.
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| Jardin Albert and modern sculpture |
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| Statue of David along Promenade du Paillon in Jardin Albert |
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| A rainy Sunday at the Port |
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| WHOOSH - John's umbrella flips inside out! |
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| Quiet time with Petra before he goes to bed |
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| Rainbow over the port |
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| Calm evening |
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| Spectacular sunset |
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| Dusk |
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| Full November moon over Castle Hill |
Ah, beautiful, glorious Nice!
Nous t'aimons!
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