Just another day at the office; 4 trains and 6 hours got us to Nice (Niece). It’s great to be back in France, and it’s great to be in the Côte d’Azur, FrenchRiviera. More steep hills to shlep our bags to get to our latest studio, but it is remarkable!
We are staying in a suburb of Nice in Villefranche-sur-Mer (veal-fraunch-soor-mare) for the next 8 days. Lots of public transport nearby; tram, buses, and the Gare Riquier railway station. There are so many day trips that can be done from here and I’ll chronicle them as the days pass, but the most outstanding facet of our stay here is our Airbnb.
It’s a roomy studio apartment underneath our hosts beautiful two-storey house. It has low ceilings and only 2 windows but neither are an impediment (for me, anyways). The bathroom is large, as is the shower, with lots of storage throughout. It has a complete kitchen with all necessary appliances including a great coffee machine, as well as a laundry. The bed is comfy and there are flat surfaces everywhere so we can lay all of our stuff out for easy access.
The truly amazing features are all outside. We have our own private pool with large tanning and seating area, and many sitting options to catch the sun or to avoid it. We have a private terrace outside the kitchen with fascinating views; one of the perks of being up so high.
The hosts are great, Alain and his elderly mother, Suzanne. Alain works during the day (he owns a nightclub) but Suzanne is out in their yard tending to flowers and shrubs that grow so easily in this climate. I had a hoot communicating with her yesterday as she knows no English and she was smiling as I tried to get a few extra ice cubes (glaçons) for my drink by the pool with my broken french and of course, hand gestures.
We decided to walk downtown to the information center (45 minutes) instead of taking the bus. It gave us time to check out the grocery stores and boulangeries along the way and choose some items for our picnic on the beach. Afterwards on our way to the old town we ran into a couple of 50ish women who were retired teachers from Ontario. Dawn retired to Nice for the lifestyle and the weather and to swim in the Mediterranean in May. Sandra (with the canuck hat) moved to St. John’s, Nfld. to watch icebergs float past in June. Folks, we have a winner!
Dawn had recently been pickpocketed by a group of women (usually Roma). In a narrow area two of the women had created a pinch point with a pair of baby carriages (called prams here) and when she went past a third woman bumped her and undid 2 zippers on the top of her purse and picked her keys and driver’s license, totally unbeknownst to her. Luckily another woman had seen it happen and after the thieves determined it was of no value to them they tossed them in a garbage can. The good Samaritan was able to recover the 2 items and reunited them with Dawn thankfully. Happy ending and lesson learned all around.
It brought to mind a few days earlier when we were in La Spezia. We were on a bus and a young woman came on board with a very expensive pram of a type that we had seen earlier that day advertised in a shop window for €800 ($1200). They are as deluxe as a carriage can be with black lacquered finish and gold accents, cushioned grips, silk sun shade, spoked wheels with gold center caps. I think for €50 more you could probably get a mower attachment. We wondered at the time how someone who obviously didn’t have the means could afford such a luxury. But they use them as distractions and they’re very effective.
Even with the buses reasonably close by there’s still a punishing uphill trek back to our place and with a couple days worth of food, some wine, and the heat, it had my sweat glands working overtime. My calves are as hard as a carbon nanotube. My stomach is as squishy as the mousse cups with whipped cream that I can’t stay away from.
Well back to the old homestead. Hmm… I wonder if Suzanne will have that onion tart with olives and anchovies ready for us when we’re lounging by the pool this evening? Motherlode, I tell ya, motherlode.
Blue Delivery 
Nice is very nice. We stayed in a 4th floor walkup in a spacious 2 bedroom condo that was just off Garibaldi Square – that guy got way too much credit in Europe in my opinion – right beside the Old Town. The owner was a lifetime sailor who was retired and just worked June to September on a yacht off the coast of Montenegro somewhere for an English businessman and was very interesting to talk to. We hardly saw him because he would leave to swim in the Mediterranean every morning for 2 hours so we had the place to ourselves. We frequented the very old, very small Irish Pub in the Old Town virtually every day sitting sometimes in the cobble stone lane or inside at the bar – we got so friendly Veronica started buying treats for the barmaid. Happy Hour had Guinness pints for 5 Euro (Where do you find Euro on the keyboard – I find Chinese Yuan and English pounds but no Euro). We also found a hole in the wall pizza place (3M x 15M) that made great pizza for 9 Euros but, much like with Dennis in La Specia, was a challenge to get there when he was actually open. He also had the best pizza in the world – go figure! I finally found my elegant leather computer bag there in a tiny shop in the Old Town from a young lady who was the third generation making their leather bags by hand. She was closing the shop in the next few months to take a lucrative job in computer cybersecurity somewhere in Paris – there goes one more job to Türkiye or China. We would go back to Nice / Antibes area in a heartbeat. Have Fun!
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Nice is very nice in every way. We stayed a small walk from the old town in Garibaldi Square – this guy got way too much credit around Europe – with a sailor that worked June to September on a private yacht owned by some rich Englishman anchored somewhere near Montenegro and went swimming for an hour every morning in the Mediterranean so we almost never saw him although whenever we did he couldn’t be nicer. We went almost every day to the Irish Pub down in the old town for their Happy Hour that went to maybe 5PM – true pint of Guinness for 5 Euro (where is Euro on the keyboard – I have found every other type of country’s money but that). We also found an excellent hole in the wall pizza place just off the square (probably about 3 meters wide by 15 meters deep) where we could get a whole pizza for 8 or 9 Euros – but he only worked limited hours so it gave us a challenge – much like Dennis and Carol had in La Specia. It also had the best pizza in the world. Go figure!
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I’m so glad you have a resort type place to stay. Sounds wonderful.
Enjoy all the day tours.
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Better than any resort. It’s awesome!
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Yes, we will be in Marseille actually but we didn’t want to be amongst big crowds. I thought you disposed of those already on StubHub? It is a long weekend at that time and there were no trains available to Paris so we cut Marseille to 2 nights and we’ll be in Dijon for one night before Paris. It’s all good.
Good to hear from you.
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Hellloooo
If I knew you were in Nice by this time I would gave given you our Bruce Springsteen tickets in Marseilles !!!!
Ted & I Enjoyed the South of France, Have a wonderful time you two💕
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Hellloooo
If I knew you were in Nice by this time I would gave given you our Bruce Springsteen tickets in Marseilles !!!!
Ted & I Enjoyed the South of France, Have a wonderful time you two💕
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