Stories from a trip to Nice
This year, my husband and I rested on the Cote d'Azur of France from September 11-25. We are a married couple for 40 years. We flew from Rostov-on-Don to Frankfurt am Main, and then straight to Nice. We lived in a chic 3-star hotel, which was called Novatel. But he pulls at least 4 stars. Great hot breakfasts, spacious rooms, a large lobby and even a pool on the top floor. The hotel is located in the center of Nice, but far enough to the sea, 20-25 minutes walk. Since we are experienced travelers, we have been traveling for a long time and a lot, we bought a guidebook back in Rostov, printed reviews of experienced tourists from the Internet with various tips and recommendations, and therefore we went everywhere ourselves, did not take excursions. Although we almost do not speak the language, we know English very tensely, but there were no problems explaining ourselves. We arrived in Nice quite late, in the morning, waking up and having breakfast, took a map of the city and set off to explore the surroundings. Let's go to the sea. The sea was not close, the beach was found quickly enough. The sea is calm, the water is warm, but the depth is growing rapidly, three steps from the shore and already three meters at once. There are paid beaches - they have sun loungers and umbrellas, this pleasure costs 15 euros, but people mostly live on free pebble beaches. There are large pebbles everywhere in Nice, so it is better to go into the sea in rubber slippers.
After wandering around the city, we realized that our hotel is located near the railway station.
The next day we took the train to Monaco. The Principality of Nice is located very close, 25 minutes drive. Monaco impressed us with its luxury and magnificence. You should definitely see the Monte Carlo casino, wander around the park near it, visit the oceanographic museum (experts say that this is the best aquarium in Europe), where Yves Jean Cousteau was the director for a long time. We took a ride on a train, having completely traveled around the entire principality, listening to an excursion in Russian. Then we visited the Royal Palace, accidentally saw Prince Albert approaching his residence. It is worth taking a stroll through the old town, which gives off the Middle Ages, with its streets paved with old cobblestones, narrow and long. You can walk through Monaco without getting tired at all and, of course, see luxury yachts from all over the world on the pier, walk along the Formula 1 road.
The next day we went to Cannes. We also went by train, only in the other direction, very close to Nice - 30 minutes. First we decided to swim in the sea. The beaches here are completely different - sandy and the sea is smaller. After walking along the promenade and visiting the old town with a fortress, we decided to go to the island of St. Margaret (15 minutes by boat). A very interesting small island with a fortress offering a magnificent view of Cannes. But the city itself seemed to us less interesting and attractive than Nice.
We devoted the next two days to visiting museums in Nice itself. The city has an interesting area called Semez, where at the end of the 19th century Russian aristocrats and not only Russians lived, many European magnates and industrialists bought real estate here and stayed for the winter. An area with rich mansions and beautiful houses. So we went up to the museum of Mattis, Chagall, the Franciscan monastery and the church are located nearby, which are still operating. There is also an old cemetery. We definitely recommend visiting this area of Nice. It was the same in the old city. It is quite large with narrow medieval streets, old chapels, still operating, numerous shops and shops, with a huge number of cafes. From the old town, you can easily climb the Chateau hill, where the ruins of the old fortress remain, and a magnificent view of the sea and Nice opens up, even the airport is visible 8 km from here. You can see the most beautiful yachts, the sea in different colors, the long Promenade des Anglais. Very beautiful!! ! Then we walked along the Promenade des Anglais and came to the most famous Negresco hotel. You can walk along it and see all the luxury of the situation. We also visited the Museum of Fine Arts, where sculptures and canvases of European painting of the 16th-20th centuries are exhibited. I also really liked it! And when it gets dark, all the people go out for a walk to Place Massena and the Promenade des Anglais. You get very nice pictures with your camera.
After walking for several days in the beautiful Nice, we went to Atib. There I was impressed by a very beautiful fortress, on which we walked with a guide and listened to a tour in English. Then we took a swim. Such cool beaches in Antibes, the sea is calm and warm, it was a pleasure to swim. The old town did not disappoint us either. Smaller than in Nice, but just as interesting and amazing with old chapels and monuments. In Antibes, we got some of the most beautiful pictures of the sea like in a fairy tale and the views from the fortress are simply amazing.
The next day we visited Menton. This is a small town almost on the border with Italy. We got very beautiful shots from above against the backdrop of the sea and the old city. And there is also a lighthouse and it also makes very beautiful pictures.
We also went to Italy to the city of San Remo. But he did not make a special impression on us, because. and the embankment is more modest and the Old Town is smaller and the food is not as tasty as in France, but the prices are lower. And there is nothing special to see, except for the Palais des Festivals.
We also managed to visit the city of San Rafael, where the Church of the Templars struck with its beauty, we also visited Grasse, famous for its perfume factories. Here we were impressed by the Cathedral in the Old Town of the 12th century. Moreover, it is really old, rebuilt later, but giving away its antiquity, where you can see three paintings by Rubens in the original. The cathedral is really amazing, and very unusual.
We also went very close to Nice, literally the next stop on the train, to the bay of Villefranche, where the Russian fleet was once located. The bay is not artificially built, but natural, huge and there are a lot of ships, sailboats, yachts in it. It is covered from the winds and eyes of the enemy. And how great it was to swim in it!
We had such a rich vacation this year. Moreover, it's great that we were able to combine sightseeing trips, traveling by train and swimming in the sea at the same time. We took swimsuits with us and went in the morning for the whole day to one of the above places. There, we dined, walked, saw the sights, swam, and in the evening we returned, tired, but satisfied, to the hotel. So 14 days passed by. True, by the end it was already getting colder, it started to rain, and we realized that we still had to go at least a week earlier in order to catch warm days.
But anyway, the rest was a success, we were very satisfied. French cuisine also made a good impression. We tried many interesting dishes - live shells and oysters, various seafood, grilled meat with cheese sauces, etc.
We tasted a lot of different wines, we were especially impressed by dry red ones, and not at all expensive ones. In our store in Rostov, they cost some crazy money, but here it is 2-2.5 times less. And so many varieties of cheese - with mold, and with nuts, and with various additives, we have never seen anywhere else. We brought so many interesting souvenirs and gifts. But the prices for everything are quite high, the resort is not cheap. We are middle class people, but many things are still more expensive for us.
Therefore, in conclusion, I would like to say that everything was just great - the sea, and our trips, and the hotel and French cuisine, and the city of Nice itself, I really liked it, but you can’t help but like it! In general, I would like to return here, but there are still so many unseen places on earth - beautiful and amazing, so I will strive for new trips. But we will remember the meeting with the Cote d'Azur with a sense of gratitude and happiness. On cold winter evenings, we will look at the pictures and say: we were here. This is real happiness.