Our trip from Paris to Nice was the first of what will be many European train journeys, the roughly six hour adventure took us hurtling across central France on one of the TGV high speed trains at over 200MPH/320KPH. The kids were champs traipsing across Paris during the morning rush hour with their belongings strapped to their backs, such good little travelers the two of them. Paris’ Gare de Lyon train station was like something out of Harry Potter: trains coming and going from three halls full of 20+ train terminals each, so much bustle and commotion. The train ride itself was quite pleasant, everyone caught up on some reading, emails and games after a whirlwind few days exploring Paris. The scenery as we traveled was quite interesting as well, with rolling hills full of everything from grain crops to vineyards dotting the landscape of central France.
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We arrived in Nice and hopped on a quick tram down toward the coast to find our apartment in Nice’s old town. A significant portion of Nice was bombed during World War II, but a small portion of the old city remains at the eastern end of the main beach. The streets were like a maze of narrow alleyways only just wide enough to fit a single small car, but the old town was generally devoid of any motorized vehicles other than those delivering goods during the early morning hours. The old city is dotted with endless bars, brasseries, restaurants, wine stores and patisseries, it was a veritable hive of activity during the evenings (and a complete ghost town in the mornings!). We heard languages from all over with the occasional American twang audible here and there, such a wonderful place to find a cafe and just watch the world go by. Our apartment was in a prime location to explore all that Nice had to offer, only a couple of minutes to walk to the city’s main beach and we had our pick of hundreds of eateries within 10 minutes on foot. At the base of the staircase into our apartment was Chez Thérésa (first photo below), a hole-in-the-wall wood-fired takeout that churned out exquisite local delicacies like pissaladière, socca and tourte de blettes. The portly head baker chatted to me after my morning runs on a couple of occasions, waffling away in French about rugby and Australians, 99% of which I didn’t understand. I was happy to nod with mouthfuls of fresh-baked goods whilst everyone upstairs was still asleep.
More than five million tourists a year visit Nice during the summer months. It’s not hard to see why with the Mediterranean climate, delectable food and beautiful beaches dotting the French Riviera from Menton to Marseille. We spent a significant chunk of our daylight hours at the beaches around Nice, especially Plage des Ponchettes as it was only a stone’s throw from our apartment and a great way to cool off during the heat of the day. The saltiness of the water was incredible, it left our skin feeling so refreshed after each dip and made out bodies so buoyant that we hardly even had to tread water to stay afloat. All of the beaches around Nice are covered in smooth rocks of varying size rather than sand: Plage des Ponchettes – Nice’s main beach – boasts egg-sized pebbles that gave our feet a workout as we got in and out of the water, while some of the others we visited had pebbles so small they verged on sand. Rocks instead of sand was actually quite nice, as there was no need to rinse our feet or get sand out of our beach wear. Plage des Ponchettes was a fantastic spot to watch the sunset over the Mediterranean, we ordered takeout pizzas one night (hot tip: Pizza Pili) and enjoyed them with a bottle of rose on the beach. Such a beautiful spot to enjoy dinner and the kids loved having their third swim for that day after dinner. I think Lilia was the last one of the thousands of bathers in the water along the miles-long main beach!
The kids’ favorite beach along the Riviera was Plage de la Réserve, a roughly 40 minute walk around the city’s main harbor from our apartment. The beach itself was really a smattering of small rocky coves, but there were a ton of spots to jump off the rocks into the ocean and some great snorkeling to be had. Max had the foresight to spend some of his travel money from Grandpa Greg to purchase a mask on our way to Plage de la Réserve and put it to very good use during our few hours there.
Another notable spot we explored was the cape of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, roughly halfway between Nice and the principality of Monaco. The promontory is dotted with exquisite mansions owned by Europe’s wealthiest inhabitants, supercars dotted the streets and superyachts the waters off the coast. Rinat Akhmetov – Ukraine’s richest man – bought a lavish 14 bedroom villa there for $221 million last year. I have a feeling some of the superyachts off the coast in the photos below are likely worth close to that amount. We took the bus over there one day to cool off at Plage Cros Dei Pin, a picturesque sheltered beach on the cape’s eastern flank with crystal clear Mediterranean water and some fun snorkeling for the kids. We had beautiful views of the mountains towards Italy to the east and could see the promontory of Cap Rognoso just west of Monaco as we sat there and lapped up the sun’s rays. The scenery on the beach was exceedingly exceptional as well.
The harbors dotting the French Riviera around Nice demonstrated just how much wealth is concentrated in this part of Europe. Nice’s main harbor was full of superyachts, the Amadea pictured below (second photo) was actually for sale for a cool $325 million. I was on vacation and feeling spendy so considered throwing it on the credit card, but Lisa talked me out of it. It boasts a spa area and sauna, outdoor cinema, two wine cellars, jacuzzi, band stand, multiple powerboats hidden in the hull and of course a helipad. Moonlight II (first photo below) is owned by one of the members of the Abu Dhabi royal family. Just a phenomenal amount of wealth. The 0.0001% of the 1%. Lilia commented as we were walking around the harbor to Plage de la Réserve, “Imagine if we had a boat like that, Dad!” Keep dreamin’, little lady!
On Lisa’s list of things to see in Nice was the morning flower and produce market in the old town. It was a wonderful journey through the herbs, vegetables, fruits, meats and artwork of the region. The quality of the fruits and vegetables was amazing, it’s no wonder all the restaurants produce such good food! The kids were not going to let us leave without sampling some of the candied fruits. Lisa nor I had ever seen candied strawberries but they were absolutely to die for, something we’ll never forget.
Before we left California for Europe I polled a few colleagues and friends who are either from Europe or had lived there at one time. Quite a number of them had Nice as one of their top spots to visit in Europe. The four of us definitely agree! We’ll have to return some day…
Very Nice!!
Yes Jarrid: Nice was nice.
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