Nice, France

Nice, France. This is not a postcard, just a really good shot that DA took.

After we left Athens, we traveled to Nice, France. B says, "the 'i' is pronounced "ee". For those readers who are unfamiliar, Nice rhymes with Greece. Nice is located on the southern coast of France on the French Riviera. OOOOHHH. Fancy, huh? Well, it is fancy, but I'm telling you, it isn't because of the beaches. The beaches are rocks! The water is beautiful, the scenery is beautiful, the town is quaint, the boats and cars are cool, but the beach is made of thousands of rocks, no sand.
Notice the rocks.

To one little girl who walked all over the ruins in Athens with a good attitude because of the carrot dangled in front of her that she would spend a couple days lounging on the beach---- well rocks are NOT a welcome sight. She wanted sand. And to add insult to injury, the water was cold and the wind was blowing. 62 degrees is almost too cold to be laying out on the beach.


However, as shown here, she did have fun playing on the beach.


They don't even have lounge chairs and umbrellas on the beach that you rent, except for one little private beach area. Folks just lay their towels out on the rocks and lay down. So uncomfortable. I swear if those folks ever went to Destin, Florida, they would never go back to the French Riviera again.





However, I must say again that the water was really pretty. Very turquoise blue. The French food was good. Cant beat a fresh baguette and President butter. The buildings in the "old town" were so picturesque. Looks just like every French painting you've ever seen.

Flower boxes, laundry, shutters and terra cotta colored buildings - must be the south of France!

We got a kick out of all the French people who must wear their swimsuits under their clothes to work. They would come out to the beach at lunch time (noon to 3:00), remove their work clothes, and lay on the rocks for a little sun, then put their work clothes back on, pick up their briefcase and head back to work. Too funny. (yes, most women were topless, but at least they weren't changing their clothes out in the open as we have seen before).

Cracks me up to see him wearing his "fixin' to...the state verb of Texas" t-shirt on the Riviera! Looks just like the Beverly Hillbillies.


One of the most highly recommended outings is to go to the Matisse Museum. We talked to the hotel desk clerk before we headed out to confirm the best way to travel there. We talked to our taxi driver about it as we drove there and we looked on in amazement as we stared at the front door to the museum as it was locked. "Closed on Tuesdays" the sign said. Why hadn't anyone told us? That was definitely a bummer. We did not make it back either. Taxi ride was too expensive and we didn't want to repeat that cost again.

The French Riviera has a reputation of being for the rich and famous. One morning we walked through the antique stores which are located all along one street. L found a pair of paintings of a little white dog that looks like our family pet - canvas only, no frames. He told me he would buy one of them it with his own money if it cost about 20 Euro. I told him to ask the price. In heavily accented English, the owner said, "1,800". DA asked again. She clarified, "one thousand eight hundred euro for 1 picture"! We all choked, walked out and decided that we wouldn't be buying any French antiques on this trip.


L getting blasted by the freezing cold waves!