Following our visit to the Jardin Exotique yesterday our plan was to have a restful day and visit the medieval backstreets of Vieux Nice. Deb woke up and said she felt pretty remarkably well. Although we’re still dealing with the effects of a persistent back issue, likely from her bout of sciatica earlier this year. So our start was pretty laidback like after 12:30. But prior to that I had a task needing completed, that of picking up a sweater that I took in for repair two days ago. I used the internet to find a “reparation de vetements’ establishment in Nice, who when I took it in said, “ yes they could repair it for 6 euros. Come back in the afternoon two days hence.” It is only about a 20 minute walk from our apartment so while Deb showered and got dressed I walked over to collect the sweater. However when I got there the woman at the counter said, “afternoon means after 2:00pm”. Thwarted! So I headed back to the apartment and picked Deb up and we headed out to find a place for lunch. A few years ago when we stayed here there was a little side street bistro where we had an enjoyable lunch one day. I felt pretty certain I could find it again so we walked back near our old apartment and sure enough between the two of us we found it.
It is not a fancy place, it is very much a working persons establishment. Where one can eat a good meal at a decent price. Again we were pushing the limit of when the lunchtime kitchen would be taking orders, still a hangover from Spain. But we got in and seated without problem. Today was my day to order the duck breast with mashed potatoes while Deb ordered a ‘Jarret du Porc’, pork shank, with mashed potatoes. Service was unhurried and we chatted and tasted a little of our wine and drank some of our water. When our server brought out our plates we were a bit stunned, my duck was a very reasonable breast sliced into several pieces. But Deb’s pork shoulder was exactly that, the whole shoulder not just a few slices from a shoulder. It dominated the plate, the server even laughed as she set it down and remarked that it was a sizable portion. To Deb’s credit she made a goodly dent in the meat but in the end had to request a box to take home the rest of it, over half. But the upside is that we’ll get to eat it for breakfast in the next couple days. It was after 2:00 so we made our way back to the clothes repair place.
To get a real feeling for how the French regard their clothing it would be worth seeing this place. It sits in a courtyard back from the street and upon going in you face a very large room full of racks of clothes and sewing machines which are being used to complete repairs and alterations. It looks to me like they must do repairs for the entire French Riviera community, not just Nice. But Nice is the 5th largest city in all of France so maybe they only serve the Nice community. When it came time to pay I offered my credit card but the counter person said they only accept cash. So I gave her a 10 euro bill and a two euro coin, thinking to be a fiver back with a 1 euro coin. But she didn’t have a euro coin, so she had to get one from a colleague which made us all laugh. They did a wonderful job and it was so inexpensive that I can hardly believe it.
We were determined to walk back through the old part of the city along a path I knew. A way that would allow us to see the wide varieties of little shops that are hidden throughout the quarter. Along the way we passed the 17th city cathedral which has a remodeled interior in a Baroque style. It is very restrained by the standards of Spain and Italy, but still quite ornate. We were able to look into several artist studios, and antiques dealer windows along the way. We made a stop at a store specializing in hand-made products that are locally produced. Wonderful stuff but we’re traveling light and don’t want to be dragging stuff from here to Amsterdam and the back to Paris before returning home.
The weather is forecast to be changing tomorrow and as we walked back to the apartment we watched he clouds racing across the sky. A quiet day in town.
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