Nice, France

I was going to title this "Nice is nice" which it is, but I typed it and even I found that to be a groaner. :) Still, Nice was a lovely town, and I know we'll go back there. In fact, we've talked about renting an apartment for a month at some point in the future. That may be a pipe dream--certainly it won't happen while we're in the middle of our careers, since no one's going to give us a month off--but it's a nice thought.

In an upcoming post, I'll share photos of some of the older parts of town and the flower market, which really is terrific. For now, I want to show you our hotel and a stop we made during our side trip to Monaco. From our little bed & breakfast in Aix (where we met the lovely Espelette, introduced to you a few posts back), we changed gears and checked into a very fancy hotel in Nice.

The main drag in Nice is the Promenade des Anglais, and our hotel was right on the Promenade, facing the beach. It was quite a sight, particularly once the sun went down. Hotels are usually just a place to rest, but this one needs a place in the trip photos:



The hotel building is in the shape of a horseshoe going back from that columned facade. The space between the columns is open, so we had a view from our room right out onto the promenade and the beach...



I understand that there are large shutters that can be lowered between the columns, in case a storm comes up. While we were there, they stayed up, but each room had a powered shutter that dropped down to lock out any noise, so the room became dark and quiet when we wanted to sleep. The rest of the time, we could open the glass doors and go out onto the balcony.

That area down there (in the above photo) contained a pool, as well as an outdoor dining area. It was very nice.

At night, the sidewalks were alive, thanks partly to the casino downstairs...



From Nice, we drove east for a trip to Monaco, driving through the famous city of Monte Carlo. Along the way, we drove along the legendary Grand Corniche. During our drive, we stopped for lunch at a little local restaurant and ate at an outdoor table with a lovely view...



Here's the appetizer...



And the entrée (which isn't the right word in France, as the entrée isn't the main dish there)...



And finally dessert...



Everything was as tasty as it looks! Truly, a wonderful meal in a stunning setting!