It Was All About Beating The Rain - Nice

We arrived in Nice after crossing the border from Italy. It was the first time we had seen police board the train and remove people trying to sneak into another EU country. (Apparently this happens a lot as it is so easy to get into Italy!) We arrived and it was cloudy but fine so it meant we got a little time to explore.

We meet our amazing AirBnB hosts and saw our gorgeous room we were staying in for the next few days. With our hosts recommendations we went to explore the city. We started walking along the board walk by the beach. ..it was unusual for me to see a massive pebble beach...I can't imagine it would as comfortable to lie on as sand. The rain and wind decided to arrive so we ventured into the streets hiding from the elements while exploring the shops and streets of the old town.

We saw the Negresco hotel which is known for if lavishness and modern art. Nice shows Belle Epoque style architecture at every corner. The buildings are all pastel in colour and are in amazing condition. While exploring this picturesque city we discovered our first lot of Christmas decorations. It highlighted how close Christmas is and how close we are to the end of our trip. The three months are going much too fast!
We wandered around the beautiful gardens which include an area where mist covers the full square and a magnificent fountain.

It was getting dark so the Massena square with its people statues began to light up. They were pretty awesome and looked more amazing with the reflections on the pavement. With the weather still against us we opted to head home for the night warm and dry at home.

Our next day we were off again to go up to the old castle ruins on the hill. The area is meant to have panoramic views of the city. .. there weren't really any castle ruins compared to some we have seen on our trip but the view was excellent. We could see all the way along the bay and over most of the city of Nice. You could see the change of water colour from a murky brown to a brilliant blue due to all the storm water entering the sea. The artificial waterfall was roaring from all the rain water. There was no way we were getting close to that while we were there unless we wanted to be saturated.
On our way down we visited the flower market in the old town and I managed to get soca. Soca is a thin chickpea pancake which is similar to a farinata we had in Genova but is crunchier and more peppery than in Genova.

We headed down the main shopping street and onto the train to Monaco. Monaco is full of apartments and is on the side of a hill. We made our way down the zig zagging streets from the train station to the harbour area with the masses of boats. I can imagine how hectic this place gets in summer!

After a quick pasta lunch we were yet again trying to beat the rain and see the famous casino before heading home. The casino and the shops and hotels around it were lavish. The buildings were immaculate in there old local architecture. The pricey cars and extravagant jewellery shops helped add to the glamour of this high rolling destination. Luckily we made it to the train just before the next downpour hit.

When the rain finally stopped we headed out for dinner, more Italian. It was the main cuisine in Nice...needless to say after two weeks in Italy we were hoping for something that wasn't Italian. This time it was a trio of mozzarella salad and buffalo pizza. Both were delicious. We finished it off with a chocolate fondant and caramel ice cream; soft oozy pudding that was rich but not sweet and ice cream with the perfect note of caramel.

Our time in Nice was brief. It was gorgeous location even in the dull weather. The city and area definitely had an importance on image and wanted things to look immaculate. This went from the architecture, to the people, to the food, to the parks! I can imagine that this picturesque image would have been even more stunning if the sun had managed to make an appearance. I can't wait to come back and see it in it's full sunlit glory.