Land of turquoise aquatic hues, effortlessly fit beauties, dogs as-big-as-your-foot and pizza delivered on roller-blades, Nice surprises - with its diversity, more even than with its beauty.
At the famous Promenade des Anglais (the coastal walk that overlooks the city's majestic cut of Cote d' Azur) you're bound to come across a Cartier timepiece as often as a protective elbow pad. Take a plunge in the deep green/blue waters, alternating with visits to the city's stunning museums (I, personally, traded Matisse and Chagall for MAMAC, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, or le Theatre de la Photographie et de l' Image, a hidden Belle Epoque gem). Take your Ferrari (one of the many most of us own..) coast-to-coast to the neighboring Monaco, and gamble your life's sweat at the ultra-deluxe Casino Monte Carlo (this blog gives great advice); or, for just 1 euro, catch the local bus for a budget exploration of the Riviera's most precious treasure coves: Villefranche-sur-Mer (where, at the hotel Welcome, a lost-in-opium Jean Cocteau produced some of his legendary drawings), St Paul de Vence (a gorgeous fortified mountain village populated by a bucketful of contemporary art galleries), cinematic Cannes, serene Beaulieu, timeless Menton.
Get by on disgusting amounts of deli french cheese and baguette, or splash out on tasty nibbles at Cours Saleya's picturesque army of stalls (by day) and restaurants (by night). Bar crawl at the heady Old Town, take pics of the ridiculously posh hotels at the Promenade (unless you can actually afford a room - or even a cocktail at the bar), eat bottomless pots of mussels and fries, borrow some roller-blades and jam with the bros under the hip-hop beats by the sea.
La vie est belle in Nice. It only gets a bit rough around the SNCF train station - but then, I only saw a couple of arrests....
Soundtrack: Les Playboys by Jacques Dutronc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JWDisOm_sA
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| Street-dancing folk jams at the MAMAC |
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| Riviera deluxe |
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| Beaulieu-sur-Mer: Gem d' Azur at 2 euros return |
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| ...and bad chicks go to MAMAC |
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| Good... |
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| A touch of Old Town life |
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| Swim with a view |
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| Old Town shopping |
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| Cemetary on the rocks |
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| Notre Dame de Nice |
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| The Old Town votes organic |
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| All the roads lead to Place Massena |
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| Massena by night |
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| Timeless Promenade des Anglais |
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| Get sporty at the Promenade |
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| This is how we roll at the Quai des Etats-Unis |
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| The Russian Cathedral: Sleeping beauty |
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| La vie est Nice |
At the famous Promenade des Anglais (the coastal walk that overlooks the city's majestic cut of Cote d' Azur) you're bound to come across a Cartier timepiece as often as a protective elbow pad. Take a plunge in the deep green/blue waters, alternating with visits to the city's stunning museums (I, personally, traded Matisse and Chagall for MAMAC, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, or le Theatre de la Photographie et de l' Image, a hidden Belle Epoque gem). Take your Ferrari (one of the many most of us own..) coast-to-coast to the neighboring Monaco, and gamble your life's sweat at the ultra-deluxe Casino Monte Carlo (this blog gives great advice); or, for just 1 euro, catch the local bus for a budget exploration of the Riviera's most precious treasure coves: Villefranche-sur-Mer (where, at the hotel Welcome, a lost-in-opium Jean Cocteau produced some of his legendary drawings), St Paul de Vence (a gorgeous fortified mountain village populated by a bucketful of contemporary art galleries), cinematic Cannes, serene Beaulieu, timeless Menton.
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