Sunday 20-07 - Into France

We got up and went to catch the train to Nice. Except that the there were 2 train stations, Port Nuovo and Port Susa. The reception desk told us the train left from Port Susa, so we caught the bus there. When we got there we were told that the only train left from Port Nuovo at 11-30 and arrived just 4pm. Annoying, because it melt we only had one day in Nice.

We walked down to the other station and soon after caught the train. We ate more of the cakes we took from breakfast that morning. First we trained to Cuneo, then changed to Ventimiglia. That whole leg of the journey took about 4 hours.





We transferred onto the regional line to Nice,via Monaco. The train was packed packed full of people, even the standing room was scarse. Just under an hour on that train got us to Nice. We found the tourist info office at the station. We were pleased to find our hostel a block away and easy to find.

We forgot to book the overnight for the next evening when we left the station. Although I don't know how much of a difference a few hours would have made to the booking. Its quite annoying that you can only book the trains when you get to the station, because very very few have any internet booking systems. So we thought we would book the next morning first thing.

The hostel was decent. When we got there they told us they only had a booking for one person and that we had made a mistake when booking. I think not. We had booked 1 person for a night and 2 people for the next night with a booking number. We has booked the second people for the first night with a separate number for a different room. We had to cancel the second night. We told them second night only, but they must have cancelled the entire booking number. Their fault.

Luckily they had a bed in a mixed dorm room down the hall, so we took that. We freshened up and left to explore. We wanted to make the utmost use of the time we had in Nice. We were opposite the Nice Notre Dame, which is a nice old church. We walked down the warm summer holiday town streets. Being a Sunday evening there wasn´t much open in the way of shops, but many of cafes.

They all have small tables in rows spilling out of the shop. All the chairs face outwards toward the street. Good for people watching. We sat at a café for drinks and a nutella crepe. Our first crepe of France and tasty. We sat and enjoyed the relaxing Nice atmosphere.





Further down was the most delightful open area. The white and black zig zagging tiles floored the whole area. Large white figures knelt on metal poles and high as buildings. The poles lines the street. This strange modern art lead the passer by to the central fountain.





There were five separate scenes depicted in the fountain´s statues. Odd scenes. A woman and a bull fighting for a baby. We had a great time with the photos there.







We walked down to the beaches, which were packed with people despite being overcast. We walked along foot path and took in the atmosphere. The sun was peaking through the clouds. Infront of us was a hill covered with trees, with rocky cliffs stretching into the ocean. There were some built up structures speckled between the trees.



A waterfall could be seen in the distance.



I really enjoyed the hill climb in Torino so was looking forward to this panoramic view. This time there were stairs. It was steep and very humid, which didn't help in the heat. Every few flights there was a rest / observation area. Some had old brick ruins.



One large round deck held a small bell tower in its centre. The bell tower was topped with vibrant orange, yellow and blue tiles. It reminded me of Paros and the amazing buildings there. The view got better with every deck.





Higher and higher we climbed. We reached a park with a road that lead to some old archways. These were the remains of castle Lou. It wasn´t sectioned off at all, so we climbed about the structures. Every archway basked in the soft light of the slowly setting sun. They posed for us, showing us how dignified they could be. They pointed us towards the next attraction.



A waterfall of top of a forest above a beach was a tad out of place to me. Maybe that was the appeal. We had found a secret place, above the tanners and surfers and shoppers. A place for people who wanted to watch the sun set. A place for people who wanted to take a minute to absorb the world around them. It was covered in green vines and really did waterfalls justice.



Past the water the steps lead back to the park, which I then realised was enormous. It had a Kings Park feel to it on top of the hill. Different areas created separate spaces to chill. One playground area was obsessed with Ulyces and mapped out his journey with floor mosaics.



The sun had set and we were hungry. So down the steps we climbed and around the corner into Vieoux Nice. Cramped streets filled with restaurants and pubs, pubs, pubs. Lots of bars. We looked for a place in the Lonely Planet that had traditional Nicoise cuisine. We couldn't find it so we looked around the streets. We found this place that had a take away counter and benched tables on the street. There were long lines behind each counter, including locals. Seemed like a good place to go.

Nice has some of the best food ever. We had this stuff called succa, which is chickpea flour and oil fried up like a large savoury crepe. Awesome stuff. We also had Pissaladiere, a thick pizza base topped with cooked onions, anchovies and olives. So many other things we didn't get to try, like these eggplants and capsicums stuffed with a mix of beef and cheeses with herbs. We sat at a long table and chowed down.



Once we turned to the LP guide, this time for after dinner entertainment. There were so many bars and every single bar door advertised live music. Every door. We went with Chez Wayne, a nearby pub that the guide described as being popular with locals and tourists alike.

We got there and were served beer by an Aussie. We passed British paraphernalia and sat amongst brits, Americans and Aussies. I couldn't here a single person speaking French. LP had lied to us. This wasn´t a local bar, it was a tourist bar! Made to feel like a British pub.





That was a bit off putting. But we hung around anyway. It got busy later and soon the cover band began to play. Thy were ok. They played a few staples like Brown Eyed Girl, but there was no room anywhere to dance. We just had to sit there and I wasn´t feeling it. We listened to part of their set and left to work our way back to the hostel.