… and it has been GLORIOUS!!!

There is no other way to tell you about Lucy’s & my weekend in Nice. From the moment we left the office on Friday afternoon direction Heathrow it has been a sequence of brilliant moments. Being back home, after 2 days on the Cote d’Azur, it all feels a bit surreal now…but let me start from the beginning.

We arrived in sunny Nice on Friday evening and headed to our Hotel, the Beau Rivage on the Promenade d’Anglais. The trip by taxi from the airport, which lasted no more than 15 minutes, was unique enough…splendid weather, gorgeous blue sea, palm trees and a sequence of rather interesting buildings along the promenade. The first french words with our taxi driver were a bit of a mission, but we still managed to understand in which direction the old town was and which part ot avoid, because of construction. Looks like the french lessions did actually help The hotel is very nice indeed, its back faces on to the promenade and the sea, but this is certainly just a pro, otherwise I guess it would get too noisy. Recently refurbished, it has a very modern design and is just 2 minutes from the old town and the market that takes place every morning in the Rue Saleya. And you should seriously look at the flooring in thre bathroom. Still massively impressed by that…. After a brief fresh up we headed to the beach straight away and enjoyed a wonderful sunset….

An hour later we strolled down to the harbour, checked out the “small” yachts that lie there ( how about this: 3 floors and a massive plasma screen with the Chelsea game! Would not mind that at all….), visitited the Monument Aux Morts nearby and returned to Rue Saleya for a really nice dinner, taste some french wine and try out our basic French. It was really nice and warm all evening, and there were lots of people out and about.

The next morning the sun was out and we headed for a little cafe’ for some cafe’ au lait near the market. Everything was so colorful, spices, fresh fruit & vegetables, and flowers were everywhere and we could have spent hours sitting there watching people. But… time was short so we went exploring the old part of town….

These last 2 pictures show Lu and me in Place Rossetti near the Cathedrale Ste-Reparate, where we stopped in another little cafe around lunch time for a glass of Rose and lots of sun ABSOLUTELY GLORIOUS! We even had the honour of some improvised live french chansons, could it be any better? Another long walk later we returned to the Promenade and found a lovely spot in one of the small beach restaurants, called Opera. Here is Lucy, ready to indulge in a speciality from Nice – salade nicoise….obviously accompanied by some chilled rose’.

2 hours later and I was a lobster….could have thought about that earlier, but I would have not imagined the sun to be that strong…. A quick pit-stop at the farmacy for some after sun, and some retail therapy later ( what? that old thing?? Bought it years ago!!! )we decided to explore the promenade towards the Negresco and beyond. The Negresco is the most famous hotel in Nice, and has a very particular style with a pink dome. Not really my cup of tea, but it certainly dominates the beach front impressively.

Walking makes hungry and thirsty, and after seeing the sunset from the hill we picked up some cocktails followed by a really good seafood restaurant. MMMMmmmm….Linguine alle vongole. Not something I would eat every day in London, really! By that point I was looking like a Panda and fell into bed shortly after…not without bathing in after sun and hoping not to look like a total looser the next day. Ha, as if… it was a heart-attack wake up this morning. if Panda’s could be red and white rather than back and white…that would be me

Here we are, at Nice Airport, waiting to board our flight to London Gatewick.

2 days have gone way too quickly, but it certainly has been glorious, in every way! Lu, when are we going away again?????

Panda – Tine