Nice - The Name Says It All

While I’m stuck in Montpellier, I might as well accomplish something, huh? Yeah, I agree. I’ll write more later about being trapped here in southern France, but first I’ll do this entry about my one full day in Nice.

Actually, I stayed for three nights in Nice, but only really spent one full day there. The first day was a mix of travel and exploring the neighborhood and the final full day was spent in Monte Carlo, so Nice didn’t get my full attention.

When I think of Nice, I always think of the beach. So, I picked up a map at my hotel and got myself oriented with respect to which direction I needed to go to see some water. I could tell from the map that if I headed south, I could pick up the Promenade d’Anglais and the Promenade des Etats-Unis and could walk along the beach from there. Also, the promenades led to Nice’s Old Town, so I figured that if I was diligent, I could get much of my Nice sightseeing done at once.

I headed towards the Mediterranean and the walk was very nice. Nice is a very clean city. It only took me around fifteen minutes to get from midtown to the shore. On the way, there were numerous fountains and hotels and restaurants. There was no question that I was in a big tourist town, slightly off-season.

I got down to the shore and looked at the beach. Unlike Monte Carlo and Cannes, which I saw at other points, the beaches of Nice aren’t the most picturesque. Rather than being sand beaches, they would be better described as rock beaches. I don’t think a beach towel would have been enough to make one feel comfortable. At a minimum, a chair would be necessary. And forget about sand castles. Real castles, maybe. Sand castles, no.

Even though there was a little nip in the air, some people were out in the water. I suppose it is difficult to go to the Cote d’Azur and not get into the water, though I managed. Perhaps if it was a little warmer and I was at a sandier beach. But anyway.

I walked along the Promenade des Etas-Unis and it led me to the harbor. Here, the harbor was full of sailboats and huge yachts. It was cool to see, but not very interesting, so I moved on to Old Town. What’s in Old Town, you ask? Old buildings and stuff. There really wasn’t anything too interesting, as far as I could see. I know that there are some nice art museums in Nice, but I wasn’t in the right area for that. I took some pictures and moved on.

One of the nicer landmarks in Nice probably was Cathedral of Notre Dame. No, not that one. A different one. I say probably, though, because I couldn’t see it because it was covered for renovations. The most prominent landmarks, however, appeared to be the nice, expensive, and older hotels along the beach on the Promenade d’Anglais. At least they featured prominently on a lot of the souvenirs that were sold here and there.

I was a little confused about how to find landmarks in Nice. In Old Town, I kept seeing signs pointing to the Acropolis. Since this was old town, I figured maybe there were some old buildings or at least something of interest. Nope. It was a modern sports complex or convention center or something like that. Similarly, I followed signs downtown pointing to a building that ended up being a shopping mall. Well, fine. I guess I needed socks.

That’s really all I have for Nice. It’s an expensive (though not as expensive) spot on the Cote d’Azur between Monte Carlo and Cannes that has some of the charm and some of the fame as its neighbors, but really is the least attractive of the sibling cities. I spent most of the next day in Monte Carlo and I’ll write about that visit next.