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As the name would suggest, Nice is quite a nice place to start a trip
to Provence. Set along the “Bay of Angels” on the Mediterranean French
Riviera (the French call it the Côte d’Azur), you can
rest up from the debilitating effects of jet lag before picking up a
rental car and heading out on the road to Provence. Nice is also a
good base for exploring the rest of the Riviera if you’re so inclined,
since accommodations are less expensive and more plentiful than in the
glitzy beach resorts.
Nice was first founded in the 4th century BCE by the same Greek
merchants who founded Marseille. They called it Nikaia. The
Romans didn’t seem to have much interest in the beaches of Nice,
preferring their colony of Cemenelum up in the hills (it’s now
the ritzy neighborhood of Cimiez). Eventually, the area around Nice
became part of Italy, where it remained until the local citizens voted
to join France in 1860.
The main street that runs along the beach front is the Promenade
des Anglais. It’s named for all the upper-crust English who
arrived in the 18th century, found Nice a suitable escape from the fog
and drizzle back home, and developed the area. The shore is divided
into numerous named beaches, some public and others private. Some
private beaches are reserved for guests at a fancy hotel across the
Promenade. Others will let anyone who pays the fee use the chairs and
umbrellas. Public beaches are free, but you have to lie on the pebbles
as you tan. If you want a sandy beach in France, you need to go to
Cannes or St-Tropez.
Besides the Promenade des Anglais, Nice has a very appealing
“Old Town” section. You can stroll among the colorful old buildings
and squares of Vieux Nice (“old Nice”), and sample the local
version of pizza (there’s the Italian influence). Or try the
Niçois specialty, socca, a thin pancake made from
chickpea flour and olive oil, served piping hot and liberally
sprinkled with pepper.
Cours Saleya in Vieux Nice is the site of a daily flower market.
The whole street is filled with booths, tents, and open-air vendors of
not only flowers but interesting foods. One specialty is colorful
marzipan “fruits” and “vegetables” made of sweetened almond paste.
There is also a cornucopia of more natural produce, including purple
garlic cloves.
If you walk around any city in Provence on a nice day, you’re quite
likely to encounter some kind of performance artists. This pair
impersonate statues, moving slowly between poses to ethereal music
from a boom box and directing viewers’ attention to the hat or box
to which they can contribute coins in appreciation.
I’ll end this “virtual tour” with a touch of glamour. Just down the
Mediterranean coast from Nice, Cannes is one of those places you just
have to visit, if only to be able to tell your envious friends
you’ve been there. Thanks to the world-famous Film Festival, Cannes is
where the world’s wealthy can see and be seen at luxurious waterfront
hotels, trendy restaurants, and astronomically-priced shops. But it
doesn’t cost anything to visit the attractive Old Marina, where quaint
buildings and a genuine castle are a backdrop for the Yachts of the
Rich and Famous.
Although I visited Cannes a week after the Film Festival, the pervasive
atmosphere of international celebrity can still be dizzying.
But even amidst the glitz, there are opportunities for reflection about
all the things you’ve seen, done, and experienced.
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