Day 66 Nice

Nice was our goal today and we got there via the A8 along the coast and then the Promenade des Anglais (apparently funded by British people in the late 1800's). We parked at the first available (underground) car park. The spiral ramp down to the lower levels was a killer for its tightness, exacerbated by a low median strip and black paint on the walls. Walking pace was almost too fast. Due to the size of our large C5 we occupied two spots and even then I had to crawl out through the passenger door. It turned out that the car park was under a casino.

The long drive along the bay reminded us of the Qld Gold Coast but a little more elegant. The "beach" was very British - gravel - it made us all laugh. Initially we did a forced march following the recommended walk - some interesting spots on various squares, but a little underwhelming, partly because of the pace. The next forced march was in search of the "market" (later revealed to be the flower market), which took us past the harbour with plenty of expensive boats moored there. A very picturesque area with a rather nice-looking church which we did not have time to enter. I was looking at the huge white gulls with their black-tipped wings gracefully wheeling overhead, while the intended route was clarified.

After not finding the market, we split up, but found ourselves again five minutes later when we both independently stumbled upon the flower market. We had lunch (Linguine avec des Fruits de Mer) along with a half pichet of rosé.

After lunch we ascended the hill behind the old town, heading toward the marked Panoramas. On the way up we spotted H&B ahead of us but let them go. The panorama points proved to give outstanding views of the old town and the coastal strip as far as the built-on-reclaimed-land airport. One such place also looked down on the harbour area and this view really was stunning. By this time J needed a WC but the advertised one was locked - a not uncommon occurrence in this country. There were none on the way done either so the poor dear was in considerable distress. Fortunately she espied one while traversing the old town on our way to the 3pm rendezvous at the casino.

Reunited we let Bruce point us toward a Carrefour hypermarket that B had managed to locate. This place was huge - a larger version of Walmart but with higher-quality food products. We were all rather overwhelmed, but impressed. On the way back Bruce took us via his usual back roads toward Vence. It proved to be a happy choice of route as it took us along the hillside opposite our gite. It was very scenic in places, especially when there was a view of the Var valley.

French driving habits can be exasperating at times. Parking almost anywhere is accepted and perhaps even condoned. This afternoon, navigating through the outer circle of Vence, a woman held up traffic to drop her child just before a corner, and then to add insult to injury, proceeded to park right on the very same corner, providing a further obstructive annoyance to traffic.