Nice in Nice

 I've stayed in Nice before, but only for the first night in transit after the flight from Auckland, and the hotel was in an area that was industrial, close to the airport, one of those places that you don't really bother going out of the room except to sleep by the pool. The good old algorithm kept throwing me pictures of the older part of Nice, narrow streets, beautiful corners blah blah, so I thought it would be an opportunity to explore Vieux Nice on the way to Corsica - and a place to consolidate after the craziness of the Canal du Midi.

The blurb said that Hotel Cresp was near the beach but I hadn't imagined how close (and how lovely) it would be.  I've been doing my Rings Beach thing and heading to the beach at 7 am for a swim, although definitely not the first person doing the same thing. It is a grey pebble beach, and you are over your head within 3 metres, a steep beach. The beach is delineated by a fence - deck chairs v no deck chairs.

This is the terrace to Hotel Cresp, and the view below. So cool. To get to the hotel, there are three different keys, and either a walk up marble stairs with tiled landings, or a ride in an ancient ascensor (lift). The floors in the room are beautiful old tiles, hard enough to break my perfume bottle (*sigh*). The floors would freak out a drunk person, nothing is level, but there are shutters!

The  main entrance to the hotel is on one of the strips filled with cafes, linen shops and other tourist stuff. It is about 5 minutes walk wending my way through stalls and lines of people to get to the old town. I originally booked a hotel in the old town but it would have been dire dragging my suitcase through the narrow streets.

The colours are stunning, I'm opposite a church (I'm on the third floor looking straight out onto it) and the church bells are a treat booming around the buildings. It's a great place for people watching. There are police walking, police on bikes, motor bikes and horses. There are a lot of people sleeping rough with the gang of dogs.

The food has stopped being particularly French and moved into more Italian cuisine, given that we are pretty close to the Italian border, although you can find Thai and Indian everywhere too. 

I'm hearing a lot of Italians, French, Indians, Germans, English, Irish - and was on a bus yesterday with a Croatian family. Young women in floaty dresses, or very short dresses with cowboy boots or crazy high shoes. I have a feeling that a lot of these young women are influencers showing that they are living the life style that they are busy monetising. I admit that I take a front row table so that I can people watch.

I can also see that there is a lot of money here. And with the NZ $ you need a lot of money! Everything is about the same as NZ (or slightly higher) but that is in Euros - so double it. Cocktails are 12-14 euro, coffee is 3-4 euro. 

Trams are the cheapest thing in town because no one seems to pay. I see a few diligent people buying a card and validating it, but most just jump on and off without paying. I do find it hard continually being asked for money at the tram stops though. I watched to see what the locals do and very few give any money. I'm not sure what happens in Nice but in Toulouse there are large community groups which provide food for those without. Reckon I could open an Everybody Eats here.

These bowls of dried loveliness are for making tisane - a few spoons in a teapot, hot water and let it steep - the most refreshing after dinner drink! This one is apple and ginger.