NICE: Bike Ride on the Promenade Des Anglais; Colline du Chateau (Castle Hill) and Old City Walk

Bonjour everyone! We started out early this morning. We wanted to get to the Promenade des Anglais to rent bikes. It took us 5 minutes to walk over to the Velo bike station from our apartment. What a great life! Our goal was to be on the bikes and riding along the Promenade before it began to bustle with activity. We rented the bikes at a cost of 1 euro for the day and the first 30 minutes free. So cheap... We love bike riding. But there is something about getting on a bike and knowing that you are riding along a portion of the Cote d'Azur that just makes me smile - it's so exhilarating! We loved it from the moment we started pedaling. Breeze and clouds aside, we did the full 18 km. (All the way to the airport, and back the other way as far as possible). While we have walked along the Promenade several times, it was fantastic to experience it yet again - only on bikes.

When we arrived back, we parked the bikes, went and freshened up, and carried on to Jeanot Boulanderie-Patisserie. The shop is right next to the Opera House. We came here to this patisserie, because their croissants are puffy and flakey and of proper size - which is important. While I ordered the croissants, I was looking at other delicious products:

Each time we have stopped at this Boulangerie, we have been served by the same lovely girl. So friendly and pleasant.

As we were sitting outside at the little table, a ridiculous wind came up and blew all along the Cours Saleya street, (which is where the huge vegetable/fruit/flower marker sets up everyday). We decided the wind was too much, so started walking back to the apartment. We heard a crash. The wind was so strong, some of the cafes started losing their chairs! The wind knocked chairs over and blew them around the pavement. The staff started scurrying everywhere. Feeling sorry for them, we gave them a hand wherever we could. (Why wouldn't you help if you could?) Surprisingly though, a number of people walked on by, commenting on such misfortune. "Oh la la!" they exclaimed, while walking their petite chien...

We decided to spend the afternoon exploring the streets of the old city. We stopped by a small Cathedral called 'Glorious Divo Jacobo Majori Apostolo' in Place du Jesus. We continued on down the colourful, narrow streets. A common sight down the side streets of any of these cities, is the hanging and drying of laundry off balconies. This is what happens when you hang your clothes to dry and the wind comes up. You come home from work - and some of your clothing has blown down the street!

All week we had eyed Castle Hill and wondered if we might like to return. Even though we had done the walk up the hill once before, we couldn't resist making the trip again - because of the amazing panoramic views of the sea and the city. This time though, we took a different route and accidentally came across a very old cemetery. It was full of breathtaking monuments marking the tombs. The cemetery was called 'Ville De Nice - Cimetiere Du Chateau'. We strolled around admiring the sculptures and here is some of what we saw!

We carried on up Castle Hill. Voila! There were the amazing views again. The 90 metre high terrace roof of the "keep" overlooks the sea. On this very site used to stand Nice medieval castle. The castle was built at the time of the Earls of Provence. The castle passed on to the Earl of Savoy in 1388. Partly ruined in the 17th century, it disappeared completely in 1706.

We started our descent after taking several pictures. Since we are leaving early tomorrow morning and flying to Amsterdam, we decided that we should get back to the apartment and start packing. But first we stopped at "Lac Patissier Chocolatier". Look at this amazing dessert! We shared one, and enjoyed a glass of red wine along side of it!

To finish our final evening in Nice we went to a recommended restaurant called 'Restaurant Acchiardo'. It was packed and very noisy. We had heard it was necessary to make a reservtion, so had done so the night before. Obviously it was a favorite! We shared a nicoise salad to start. Then, I tried gnocchi with a gorgonzola sauce, and Ron tried lamb with green beans. Wonderful food and a nice ambiance in the restaurant. I would post a picture of the gnocchi with the sauce, but a picture just doesn't do it justice. (No color to it at all). Here's a picture of our nicoise salad which we shared:

As mentioned earlier, this evening closes our time in Nice. What a wonderful time we've had in this glorious city. We never get tired of the south. If I had a way to describe Nice, I would say it is like a blue diamond, which disperses light and sparkles in all kinds of surprising ways. There is so much to discover... Au Revoir from beautiful Nice, France. Karen