A night in Nice
For our last day we explored Nice. It was Sunday morning, so it was really quiet until we wandered into the old section of town. There we found that the fish market and the butcher shop were doing a mean business. Stopped at the boulangerie for some breakfast and then an ice cream stand for dessert. The French, especially those along the Mediterranean coast, take their "glace" (ice cream) very seriously. Ice cream shops are more common than McDonald's back in the US. None of this Baskin Robbins mass-produced junk either - these places make their own ice cream, fresh and all-natural. It will blow you away. I opted for strawberry, Ben went for double chocolate.
We wandered through the old town some more. The layout is like any old European city - winding narrow streets, small shops and cafes, residences upstairs with laundry hanging from the balconies. It's really charming, and again with Nice being on the coast, many of the buildings are brightly colored in pink, peach, blues and greens. The paint scheme was somewhere between New Orleans and Grand Cayman.
We found a sweets shop where they were giving out free samples. Saw some neat old churches, a couple cool clock towers. Then of course we had to find a sports bar so we could watch the F1 race. The guy at the wine shop sent us to "Waynes" which was perfect. American style local sports pub where the wait staff was all British and Aussie, and everyone spoke English. We got a proper pint of Guiness and a healthy portion of fish and chips, and settled in for what turned out to be a great race. Alonso won again, which means Renault (you guys know how I feel about French cars) is even FURTHER in the lead for the manufacturer's championship.
After the race we walked down the beachfront in Nice. At this point it was the same old gorgeous blue-green water, beachfront cafes, streen performers etc., so we got tired of that pretty quickly and then headed back to the hotel. Caught a late dinner along the waterfront and then headed out for the night with some recommendations from the concierge. Ended up at "Thor" and Irish pub with a live band and no cover. The band was OK, but they wouldn't make it in an American bar for very long.
Then things got interesting. A big Danish guy asked if he could sit at the extra chair at our table. Of course we agreed. His name is Henry and he works on one of the private yachts out in the harbor! He's 3rd mate and chief engineer, and they just had Bono on board last week. They're off to Spain next week. He couldn't tell us who owns the boat he works on though. While we were visiting with Henry, Ben made friends with 3 Swedish ladies at a table across the way and then they came to sit with us. They were all married and took a vacation together (and away from their husbands) with the money they made from their investment club. A couple rounds later they were teaching us the Swedish national anthem. It was really brilliant stuff. Then the bar closed and we all had to go home.
We wandered through the old town some more. The layout is like any old European city - winding narrow streets, small shops and cafes, residences upstairs with laundry hanging from the balconies. It's really charming, and again with Nice being on the coast, many of the buildings are brightly colored in pink, peach, blues and greens. The paint scheme was somewhere between New Orleans and Grand Cayman.
We found a sweets shop where they were giving out free samples. Saw some neat old churches, a couple cool clock towers. Then of course we had to find a sports bar so we could watch the F1 race. The guy at the wine shop sent us to "Waynes" which was perfect. American style local sports pub where the wait staff was all British and Aussie, and everyone spoke English. We got a proper pint of Guiness and a healthy portion of fish and chips, and settled in for what turned out to be a great race. Alonso won again, which means Renault (you guys know how I feel about French cars) is even FURTHER in the lead for the manufacturer's championship.
After the race we walked down the beachfront in Nice. At this point it was the same old gorgeous blue-green water, beachfront cafes, streen performers etc., so we got tired of that pretty quickly and then headed back to the hotel. Caught a late dinner along the waterfront and then headed out for the night with some recommendations from the concierge. Ended up at "Thor" and Irish pub with a live band and no cover. The band was OK, but they wouldn't make it in an American bar for very long.
Then things got interesting. A big Danish guy asked if he could sit at the extra chair at our table. Of course we agreed. His name is Henry and he works on one of the private yachts out in the harbor! He's 3rd mate and chief engineer, and they just had Bono on board last week. They're off to Spain next week. He couldn't tell us who owns the boat he works on though. While we were visiting with Henry, Ben made friends with 3 Swedish ladies at a table across the way and then they came to sit with us. They were all married and took a vacation together (and away from their husbands) with the money they made from their investment club. A couple rounds later they were teaching us the Swedish national anthem. It was really brilliant stuff. Then the bar closed and we all had to go home.
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