One of my favorite trips over the summer was our trip to Nice in the south of France. I had been looking forward to this trip for MONTHS and I was stoked to see my folks! We had been planning the trip for months and I could barely contain my excitement on the day we left. Our apartment was located near Old Town Nice and right across the street from the 'Tete Caree' (square head) near the art museums.
We were a bit concerned about the toilet situation in the apartment - 1 toilet shared between the 6 of us - but it was in a great location and decorated really cute. The apartment also had a great balcony that overlooked the park and museums and we had breakfast on the terrace every morning.
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| Breakfast on the terrace |
One of the first excursions we did was a bike tour through Nice so we cofuld get a feel of the city. It was the perfect way to explore a new place because we covered a lot of ground and saw lots of the main landmarks and different sections of the city. We started in the old town and it was a bit nerve-wracking riding through the cramped alleys, and it
was fun ringing our bells to tell people to watch out!
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| Life-sized tree pots! |
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| Mom & Jamie |
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| One of the gorgeous stops on the bike tour |
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| The square at sundown |
One of our favorite spots on the trip was an old cemetery at the top of the hill. It was picturesque and beautiful and we enjoyed stomping around and taking pictures.
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| This was the grave of the man who wrote the book Phantom of the Opera! |
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| View looking into the French Alps |
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| Ocean on the left, river on the right |
One interesting Nice fact that we learned on the bike tour was that Nice actually has a river running through it that joins with the ocean. We were surprised and didn't see a river anywhere but this is because the french didn't think it was a very pretty river so they built a park on top of it. So the river unceremoniously meets with the ocean at a spot along the Promenade. It really shows the blue-ness of the sea!
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| Great pic Mom took from the roof of the museum |
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| Nice Harbor |
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| Looking out over Villefranche harbor |
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On the Promenade
One of the days in Nice we decided to take a 3-mile walk
to the next town over, Villafranche-sur-Mer, It was a bit of a hike but the views were stunning! When we were almost to Villefranche we passed the Grace Kelly memorial, the spot on the windy cliff road where she crashed her car in 1982.
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| Villefranche harbor |
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| Nice Harbor |
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| Nice had a distinctly Italian feel with the brightly colored buildings. A city nestled at the bottom of the French alps, Nice afforded beautiful views of both the mountains and the sea. |
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| Pretty monument near the harbor |
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| Overlooking the Nice Promenade |
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| Looking out over the main beach near the promenade |
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| Nice's beautiful, clear water |
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| Walking through the narrow streets of Nice |
We had an incredible seafood meal one night, check out this delicious seafood tower!!
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| Better view of Tete Caree and the park |
The beach off of the Nice Promenade was a pebble beach and Jamie got some good shots of the smooth pebbles.
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| Mom & Barry swimming in the sea...it was freezing!! |
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| Beaver Huddle |
One of my favorite days in Nice was spent on a private wine tour. Our guide, Raphael, was a native of Nice but his mother was British so he had a lovely French accent and spoke perfect English. He picked us up in Nice and drove us up into the hills at the base of the French Alps, to sample the wines of the Cote d'Azure. The Nice region is known for it's rose's and we were lucky to have a warm day to sample some of their beautiful wines. We went to four wineries during the day and saw a lot of the region on our way.
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| The 1st winery |
We stopped for lunch in ChateauDouble, an old village nestled in the hillside. We had a decadent, home-cooked meal on a shaded patio overlooking a beautiful valley, and it was truly an incredible afternoon. a
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| C'est magnifique! |
Pretty colored shutters in ChateauDouble
Beautiful countryside!
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| Close up view of a cork tree |
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| Beautiful vineyard, love the way the knarley vines look |
We had an amazing 4 days in Nice, it was great reconnecting with my family and just relaxing together. The Cote d'Azure is definitely somewhere I'd like to visit again!
After we left Nice we headed straight for London, where my folks had rented an apartment two streets down from Lloyd's & my place. The 'Coach House on Altenburg gardens was a perfect, quiet apartment situated in between the Common and some cute shops & restaurants on Battersea Rise.
The Globe Theatre is right across from St. Paul's cathedral so we had some great views right across the Thames. 
When we neared the White Cross Pub we realised we were there in time for high tide! Luckily we could walk around the water so we weren't deterred from our drink spot. 
