Trip to Nice, France

Last September I took a two week trip to Nice, France. It's a beautiful city along the French Rivera with lots to see and do with great food to boot.

From home here in Portland I flew a Lufthansa flight south to San Francisco. Had a short layover in SFO before boarding an A380 for the long flight over to Frankfurt. It was my first time flying an A380. The plane is just huge, the largest commercial aircraft in service today. Took quite a while to board. I noticed a bit of a difference as the plane seemed to need a longer distance to reach takeoff speed which would be expected with the increased mass and weight. Took roughly 11 hours over to Frankfurt. Unfortunately the wheelchair I requested wasn't at the gate on arrival. Fortunately a Lufthansa employee noticed my situation and asked if I needed a ride. I happily obliged as Frankfurt is a huge airport and often quite confusing. The flight from Frankfurt to Nice is quite short. Approach along the shores of the Mediterranean and the beach in Nice was wonderful. Because the airport in Nice is so close to town it's easiest to take the public transit bus in to wherever you may be staying. Taxis are an option but quite expensive for the short distance.

In Nice I stayed in an AirBnB about a half block from the beach. Had a bit of an issue contacting the owner to get the key on arrival. Finally was able to contact him and he sent someone over to deliver the keys. Because the apartment was not cleaned on arrival as scheduled the owner agreed to pay 30 Euros towards my dinner that evening. I was exhausted after the long trip but tried to stay awake until sunset in order to adjust to the time change and shake off the jet lag. Overall the AirBnB unit was pretty good. Because I booked early and for an extended time (two weeks) I was able to get a discounted rate.

There's a lot to like about Nice and some things you might not like. First what you might not like: often people can be really critical if you make an error or speak less than decent French. I knew very little French so I got a scowl and a lecture a few times. It's different than say Paris where knowing no French is tolerated more often. Public transit seemed to be jammed at all times of day. People don't care if you're disabled (like me). It's "everyone for themselves" in riding the trains and buses. Now on to what you will like: the beach, colors of the water and sunshine are just beautiful. Stunning at times. The food in Nice is just terrific and has a lot of variety. Wonderful open air market near the beach (Cours Saleya) with gorgeous vegetables and socca, a local speciality. Since Nice is so near Italy the food and restaurants often have a French/Italian mixture to it. I highly recommend a tiny place in the Old Town called Pizza Pilli. They have a wonderful selection of pizzas and calzones at reasonable prices.

From Nice it's fairly easy to journey to different spots along the Rivera. I traveled by the local bus to St. Paul de Vance and Eze Village. I highly recommend both. If you just have time to see one visit St. Paul. St. Paul is a beautiful hill town. Very old and surrounded by a city wall. Mostly all stone pathways inside the town, lots of artist shops, some restaurants and a hotel or two. The lighting and the color is something to behold. Eze Village is a bit more touristy than St. Paul. It too has a very old town wall. Eze was difficult for me to get around in because the walkways were quite steep and because most of the city is located on a hilltop. In addition to St. Paul and Eze I also took the time to visit Villefranche and Antibes. Villefranche I could have skipped. Antibes has more character, a large port as well as many old shops and restaurants. I went mainly for the Picasso Museum. It was okay, I guess I was expecting more. It's an easy bus or train ride from Antibes back to Nice.
Helpful Links:
Nice Tourist Office Website
Dennis Callan's Video Look at the French Rivera

A very colorful square in the old town section of Nice

The port

Beautiful view from the top of Castle Hill