NICE: Old Town City Tour; Classical Guitar Concert; Walk along Promendade Des Anglais again!

Bonjour everyone and Happy Easter Sunday! We stepped outside the apartment and right onto Cours Saleya (the street in front of the apartment) where there was an extensive market of fruits and vegetables taking place. This market also had lots of the typical Provencal souveneirs of soaps, lavender in packages, and the small, colorful dishes. As well there were all kinds of table linens, and aprons.

In the plants and flowers stalls, I found the most beautiful Escheveria I have ever seen. Can't buy these at home!

We stopped at Café Panchettes for coffee. There was the biggest, black dog, I've ever seen sitting near our table with his owners. The dog, was a "Terre Neuve" breed (a Newfoundland Labrador from Canada). Because of his massive size, he was attracting all kinds of friendly attention. Apparently this dog was bred originally as a worker dog. They are also known for their excellent rescue skills, and sweet, calm disposition.

At this café, we had the nicest visit with an older French man, who asked us all about ourselves and gave us some recommendations about what to see in Nice and the surrounding area.

After our visit, we started on our self-guided walking tour of the city of Old Nice. I will show a few pictures, including the market by our apartment. Because we didn't see the sun today, the pictures don't do the streets justice. The tour took us on a nice walk which wound through the old streets of Nice.

We walked by the Nice Opera House and this was one of many glorious lanterns outside the building. You have to zoom in on the lantern to see the detail!

In the afternoon, we attended a classical guitar concert in a spectacular church called Cathedrale Saint-Reparate. The cathedral was started in 1650 and completed in 1699. So not only was the venue amazing, but the music was beautiful.

After the concert, we decided to walk along the 'Promendade Des Anglais' (the English Way) again. I should say something about this celebrated promendade for which Nice is famous. First of all, it is 7 kilometers long. Apparently the English used to like to come to Nice to winter in the early 1800's. They wanted to escape the fog and chilliness. Apparently, someone came up with a brilliant idea, (they thought) and used a large number of beggars to help with the construction. The walkway was built along the sea in the second half of the 18th century, so people could enjoy the panorama of the coast. It really is a fabulous place to walk, and you can rent bikes also. In the days ahead, when the sun is shining brightly, I will post pictures of the Promenade. Today, the sea was beautiful with the thick, heavy clouds hanging above:

There were lots of people, including a number of young people on roller blades doing all kinds of fancy stunts. This girl was absolutely amazing on roller blades. She skated backwards and all the while, wove her feet in an out of the markers!

When you go walking here, this is some of the cool, tropical vegetation:

There were a number of people fishing along the coastline. A few fisherman were lucky, and we saw them fling the fish over their shoulders onto the rocks behind them. The fish flopped around, until the end came.

So walking along, it became obvious looking at the ominous clouds ahead, that we would soon be caught in rain if we continued. We turned back. On the way to the apartment, we stopped at a little booth called Rotisserie du Palais. We purchased a baguette, as well as a delicious soup called 'Pistou' to take back for our supper. The soup was lovely. It had a pesto flavor and contained lots of luscious bean and pasta. Delicious! It was nice to have the hot soup and look out the window, while the rain came down.

So, now it's raining quite steadily out there and there's not too much action on the street below - just many disappointed waiters! Tomorrow is another day, and hopefully the sun will be back! Bonsoir (good evening), Karen