Nice is nice ! My journey to Nice ... and back to Antibes

Since my friend Patricia is in Toulouse visiting relatives, she has been extra generous in allowing me to stay in her bedroom. Ahhhh ... comfort. This is the view when I wake up. pas mal n'est-ce pas ? It's a bit hazy, but if you squint, you can see the mountains in the distance ...

So, since I have a bit of sunburn on my face, I decided to forgo lying in the sun ... and spend the day in Nice.

For those of you who have visited Nice, this will be a familiar sight to you. It's the very recognizable building that faces west and catches the sunlight. It's located in the vieille ville ... the old city. Nice was property of Italy ... and then 150 years ago France acquired Nice. Now, I don't know WHY Italy would give up the largest city in the Cote d'Azur ... but you can bet your bottom euro that I will investigate and find out ... I'm curious to say the least.

In the old section of Nice there are buildings lined with restaurants and cafés ... and the flower market ...

I always love to see the 'tournesols' ... sunflowers. Tournesol translates roughly to turning toward the sun ...

I love to see the quaint shops and windows

Ohhh .... tablecloths ... my weakness ... along with 'herbes d'Provence, garlic dishes, olive oil, lavender, moules-frites, salade Niçoise ... and beautiful French men !!

I actually backtracked a few steps to take this photo. My brother in law's name is Boby ... WHO would have ever thought that I would see his name in the Cote d'Azur ... here's to you Boby ! Maybe I need to call him Monsieur Bobichon from now on ... ha !

Place Massena ... notice the men on the top of the poles ... they light up in different colors at night ... and then slowly change colors. These also were created by Jaume Plensa ... the artist who created 'Le Nomade' in Antibes ... super !

At first I thought these were pigeons on this beautiful man's head ... they're horses ... don't ask me why ... ?

So ... last year I found this wonderful little pedestrian way ... with little cafés and shady trees. I walked and walked today to find it again ... voila !! AND, I sat in the very same spot as I did last year. How's that for variety !

My little table .... for one

Salade Niçoise et du pain avec une verre d'vin rouge ... trés fantastique !!

This is the 'plage' - beach - in Nice. All rocks. Give me my white soft sand in beautiful Antibes and Juan les Pins s'il vous plait ! Of course the dress code is the same though ... bikini bottoms required.

The fabulous Le Negresco Hotel ... or, it might be now considered a 'Palace' I believe.

Funny story, I went there with my friend Isabelle last year ... and in the foyer was a great bust (sculpture) of Louis XVI. So, I said 'hey Isabelle, look at this Louis XVI sculpture' ... and with that the 'le Capitan' ran over and said 'no, No, NO ... c'est Louis Quatorze' '14th' !!'. Well, Louis XIV was not big and fat ... excusez-moi, I mean 'Rubenesque' like Louis XVI ... so I do know le difference ... PLUS, I read and read French history ad nauseum ... so I knew it was NOT Louis XIV ... but in fact WAS Louis XVI ... it even said it on the plaque after closer observation. Plus ... there was a sculpture of Marie Antoinette, his wife, on the table nearby. Maybe what threw le Capitan off was that he still had his head attached. Marie too.

My friend Patrick tells me I'm more French than the French are ... ahhh that's sweet ... Merci beaucoup Patrick !!

So ... after a lovely walking day in Nice, I boarded the 200 bus to Antibes. What beautiful views from the bus ... BUT I was soooo tired .... I almost fell asleep. I thought maybe instead of walking the additional miles to Patricia's apartment, I would catch a second bus. So ... Bus number 9 pulled up and I had only a 20 euro bill. The driver couldn't make change ... and let me ride for free ! I gave him a Mr. Martini post card and took his photo ... he was sweet. BUT, I won't post it just in case the authorities are reading this. I wouldn't want to get a kind soul in trouble. Merci kind sir !!

From Patricia's room ... this is what I see before I go to sleep each night.

Beautiful ... Bon nuit mes Amis ...