Un jour dans Nice

We woke up this morning and the view out our window was amazing! Sky and sea were the bluest blue. We had breakfast in our hotel which consisted of muesli and yogurt with fresh fruit, juice, and a chocolate filled croissant. After finishing we headed to the train which took us the short distance to Nice. Nice is the Riviera's capital it is also France's fifth largest city and we happen to be here right in the middle of Carnival, otherwise known as Mardi Gras. I have to thank Rick Steves' guidebook for our lovely tour, it is a perfect companion. From the train station we walked down Rue Jean Medecin to place Massena which is in the old part of the city. Our first stop was Cours Saleya which is Nice's main market square and has been since the Middle Ages. We caught the tail end of the market and were able to walk through and enjoy the the color, sights and smells. At the end of the market stood a golden building that housed famous artist Henri Matisse for 17 years. Just next to this building was a little cafe named Cafe des Ponchettes where we chose to have lunch. C had a delicious vegetable pizza (the thin crust is so light and airy!) and I had a crepe (one of many!). We sat outside and enjoyed the live jazz band playing in the square. Next to us was an older couple from Couer D' Alene, ID. They travel four months out of every year to different places around the world. So inspiring! After lunch we continued on our tour of the old town. We passed by many an old building, churches, cafes and restaurants. We were tempted by the overabundant gelato stands but were too cold and therefore bypassed them. Surprisingly many of the museums are closed for the season, so we stuck to popping in and out of ornate churches and cathedrals and winding through narrow streets to bustling piazzas. We eventually walked the distance to the Russian Cathedral, Nice's Russian Orthodox church which claims to be the finest outside of Russia. The story goes that there were some five hundred rich Russian families that wintered in Nice during the late 19th century. They couldn't pray in a Catholic church, so the widow of Czar Nicholas I provided the land and Czar Nicholas II gave the church. The church is actually much smaller on the inside than it looks from outside. It is really just one room filled with spiritual icons and candles.
From there we ambled back to the old part where we found some stairs that would take us to the top of Castle Hill. There actually isn't a castle on the hill....but apparently there used to be. The views you get from the top are sensational, especially as you watch the sun set over the Med. We rushed from one side to the other in attempt to capture the sights of Nice, the port, the foothills of the Alps and the Mediterranean before the sun disappeared and we were kicked out for the night. From there we went to Distilleries Ideales, a cafe/bar recommended by Rick Steves'. Here we were able to rest our feet, get warm, and sip on a cappuccino while we marveled at our day. For dinner we stopped at Pasta Basta and had a three hour meal (not atypical here...) of salad, bruschetta and gnocchi. The parade for Carnival began just before we finished so we hurried on down to Promenade des Anglais to watch all the commotion. It was quite a sight to see everyone dressed up in costumes with confetti flying and all the kids running around spraying silly string. Unfortunately we couldn't stay too late because we had to catch our train back to Cannes. I'm hoping we can go back on Saturday night to see the fireworks!