Slotting in to Nice Time 11-11-25

Somehow it’s different being in Nice again and right on the Mediterranean. In Sevilla all the sights and activities were basically new but in Nice it’s like wearing an old loved jacket, very comfortable.  Our apartment is 3 blocks from the sea so getting around is very easy.  Last night I took a 30 minute walk to get bread and find some of the restaurants we love.  Happily I found three immediately and I was able to confirm that a 4th which we also loved had in fact closed.  So today we got out and managed to recharge our Nice transportation cards, then we went and made reservations for the first leg of the visit to Amsterdam. I’ve been very frustrated with trying to get tickets linked to our Eurail passes

but I think I have figured out how to do it now.  When we finished at the train station we boarded the tram for a ride down towards Vieux Nice, the old part of the city founded by the Greeks in the 4th century b.c.  Getting off, walked 3 blocks to the seaside and found a couple seaside chairs which allowed us to look out over the beach and water. I was amazed that the beach was littered with people out sunbathing and swimming. Not like a summer here but, in November!  A jarring sight for us dwellers of the high desert. The beaches are basically rocky with fist sized stones that have been rolled and smoothed by the wave action but it will assault your bare feet pretty thoroughly.  I’ve walked on it with shoes on and it’s a struggle even then, the barefoot crowd are prancing around like it might be a minefield.

After we sat for a half-hour or so we made our way over to the focus of our culinary assault, The Frog. Two years ago when we stayed in Nice it was closed for some remodeling and we were never able to have a lunch there. Today we weren’t missing he chance. When we arrived there were only two other tables being occupied so things were quiet. But in general diners in France seem to be much less boisterous than the diners in Spain or Italy so in general restaurants tend to be quieter. For me with hearing aids it’s a very nice thing to have some quiet time in a restaurant.  For our appetizer we shared a generous portion of Fois Gras with a Champagne jelly and toasted bread. A perfect start, paired with a dry white from Fougeres and  followed by a main course of John Dory filet with black rice for Deb and a seafood linguine larded with prawns and mussels for me. The portions were really generous and scrumptious as well but made it impossible to follow it up 

with dessert. It was also quite a bit more expensive than Spain, but that was not unexpected.  We remembered our waiter from our last visit and he sort of remembered us as previous customers as well.  We will make certain that return at least one more time before we leave.

After lunch, we strolled over to the flower market held every day but Monday  in the Cours Saleya where Deb bought a bouquet for the apartment. Then we went back to the seaside to sit and enjoy the parade of people out for a constitutional along the Promenade des Anglais. The world truly does pass before one’s eyes sitting there in the afternoon sun.

Our day ended as it began, we walked back to the apartment and as we entered the building the couple with whom we shared the elevator down in the morning followed us into the building and shared the elevator back up.