Nice

I stayed in Nice in April with my boyfriend. We really had a wonderful time there! I´m thinking of going there again next year, and by then I want to find better restaurants than we did. It was almost the same everywhere: touristy places servering the same dishes, and we wanted to find good french cooking, where the french hang out for dinner. It doesn´t have to be a Michelin place, but somewhat more edgy than the boring tourist places around cours Saleya. Honestly, you can find better food in Sweden… But maybe the French food is a bit overrated? Like the Italian…

even have priority during the Ironman race! As the first of the competitors were arriving at the finish line for the bike race, I watched the police open the gates to the race path for a old local couple with their dog to allow it access the the grassy median to do its business.
I guess its better than letting it go in the street like everyone else. They had the best view for watching some of the top competitors come in while waiting for the little guy to finish up. Lucky dogs!

Palm trees, yachts, beautiful people and even more beautiful sunsets.

The open air market is a delight!

I was traveling with a girlfriend I barely knew, and we had been together two weeks of near-constant contact.. and had begun to wear a bit.

So, I went off for some alone time.

I found a restaurant with a poster in the front window of what looked like corned beef hash with poached eggs. I was a bit tired of euro-food and this looked like very American to me, so I went in.

I tried, in my best ‘6th grade French’ to order it. Pommes et boeuf et les oeuffs… and the waiter brought me a burger and fries.

I ate it.. but still.. had a hankering for the corned beef and eggs…. so I tried again… pommes et le boef et lez oeuffs sur la top of the corned beef.

The waiter, in a knowing way, said AHHHH …. and brought me another burger and fries.

Oh well. Now I know to point to the poster. The burgers were good. So was the time alone.

I’ve been there before when I was in the military … seven years ago to be exact. I was there during the Summmer for one week; I can remember vividly the sunny days I spent in Nice. The air was crispy, breezy, and had a sweet essence. I remember walking around Jardin-Albert in Place Massena and the people seemed so happy laying on the lawn under the palm trees and other exotic trees. I remember wanting to stay there forever. My friend and I didn’t return to our ship that night … we met two Russian girls and schedule dinner dates with them the first morning we were there; after spending some time at the beach we resolved to stay gone from the ship for the entire duration of our stay in the coast of France. The trouble was well worth it.

Josh and I went looking for a hotel after we finished relaxing at the beach all afternoon. We stayed at the Hotel Plaza right infront of the Arc de Venet; it was gorgeous and right in the hub of everything in beautiful Nice. We then walked to a fancy clothing store nearby to buy new clothes to last us for the next several days. I could hardly contain the giddiness in my soul and I couldn’t wait for dinner with our dates. They looked radiantly attractive and elegant that night when we both showed up at the train station to pick them up for dinner … (to be continued)

That was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.
But you have to know how much this is important.
I live in Brazil and I’ve visited so many amazing beaches and places here! In the other hand, I traveled almost all europe by bus this year, and I’ve been in several beautiful places, too.
And I say: Nice is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.

If you go there, try to go to Monaco, too.
And If you’re going to France, go to the Côte d’azur.
You will never forget.

Checkpoint is nothing special (A little R&B club that plays the same songs again and again)
Promenade des Anglais is cool
Bar Thor is NOT cheap!

...to me, Nice just has the dirt of Marseille with none of its character as well as the pretentiousness of many of the Cote d’Azur resorts. Apart from the Musee Matisse, my only really nice memory of Nice is sitting on a bench on the promenade at dusk.

I went to Nice, France for my fifteenth birthday (12/28/1999) and spent an entire week in culture shock. Everyone said that the French HATE Americans, but everyone in Nice was actually very hospitable and didn’t seem to even notice that I was foreign. My cousin and her husband had been living there for about a year and I stayed with them. We visited the Pope’s Palace and the “French Riviera”. They took me to the little old villages and shops, as well as the seaside walls of the city. It was beautiful and peaceful.

Unlike the States, Europe doesn’t Live To Work & Work To Live – they relax, breathe, and enjoy life.

I’m definitely going back one day. It was a refreshing change to the hectic life back here in the States.

-Ash