Life in the South of France - La Belle Nice

La Belle Nice is where we spent our first day exploring in the south of France.  Nice isn't small - Wikipedia tells me it's the fifth largest city in France, but it has a compact old town that is close to the beach and some nice sights to fill up a day or two.  The size also helps it absorb the gads of tourists that flock there every year.  After a rainy final day in Paris, we walked into weather that was about 28 degrees but felt like 35 degrees with the humidity.  It was actually a nice, if somewhat sticky, change.

One of the big squares, as viewed through my Mom's new sunglasses.

There's a nice little flower market that runs daily and also sells all kinds of fruits, veggies, and touristy treats.

The old town is a really lovely place to wander around, people watch, and take pictures.

You can also climb up to the top of a hill where there was once a castle to get some spectacular views along the coast.  My Mom is going to be mountaineering with my brother if she keeps this up - she was game for the hike up despite the heat.

She lost a few bravery points, however, as she went to dip her toes into the Mediterranean for this shot.  Nice is notorious for its very rocky beaches that are steep at the edge and hard on the feet, and let's just say there was some complaining about foot pain... Right, Mom?

We finished the day lounging on the beach as the sun started to go down, eating a delicious Italian dinner, and wandering back through the big square, which has Buddha-looking guys lit up in different colours at night.  Lovely!

Yes, Nice is Nice

It's one of the oldest jokes in the book, but Nice is a nice little town. We made it down here on the TGV on Monday afternoon and have filled our days with shopping, exploring the old town, climbing to the top of various hills for the views, and promenading with the other tourists. We also did day trips to Monaco and Cannes to see how the other half lives.

The one thing Nice doesn't have is a wireless connection friendly to my laptop so I can upload some of our many photos; those will have to wait until I'm home on Saturday. It's hard to believe that our first two and a half months are over tomorrow! It's been an amazing time but Chad and I are looking forward to a summer exploring vistas closer to home before heading for South America in the fall. That's all from France - see many of you soon!