Travel France Nice
From LoveToKnow Travel
Travel France and you’ll inevitably add that jewel on the Riviera – Nice – to your itinerary. Nice, named after the Greek work for victory, Nike, is a sparkling city, located along the Cote d’Azur (the azure coast), right on the Mediterranean Sea. The area has been home Romans and Italians as well as the artists, Henri Matisse, Jean Cocteau, and Raoul Dufy, among others. The culture, architecture, cuisine, and even language in this area are uniquely its own.
The Old Town (Vieux Carre) at Nice
The center of Nice is its old town. Here, narrow lanes, terra cotta tiles, and Italianate facades entice visitors to explore the area. The neighborhood is usually teeming with activity, much like a North African bazaar. Five days a week there is a bustling food market here, accompanied by the wonderful sights, smells, and tastes of the Provencal countryside. On Mondays, the area becomes a vibrant and sensuous flower market, filled with lavender, sun-flowers, and roses.
Many of the streets in this quarter are reserved for pedestrian traffic only, and inexpensive, ethnic eateries as well as eclectic shops and boutiques abound here. Try a slice of pissaladiere, the Nicoise pizza with black olives, sliced tomatoes, and anchovies, or browse through the many bookshops, clothing stores, and food shops located here.
The Promenade des Anglais
This palm-tree lined promenade, adored by tourists and locals alike, stretches for several miles along the Mediterranean shoreline in the center of Nice. Named for a 19th century English visitor, Lewis Way, who financed the two-mile walkway, the Promenade des Anglais is an elegant, yet friendly, mixture of roller-bladers, tourists, Nicoise matrons, mothers with babies, and those just out for a stroll.
Along the route is the Art Deco Hotel Negresco, still one of the city’s most exclusive hostelries and the Musee Massena, a neo-classical mansion filled with furniture, tableware, ceramics, and jewelry, representing the Nice-Piedmont region of the 19th century. The Promenade is also lined with street vendors and small cafes, selling the specialties of the region, such as a Salade Nicoise, a fresh green salad with tuna, egg, capers, onion, and beets, pissaladiere, and pan bagna, a sort of Nicoise salad on a bun.
The Matisse Museum
Henry Matisse spent most of his life along the sun-filled coast of southern France. Nice, in particular, attracted his attention, and the colorful landscape and the sparkling blue sea are repeated again and again in the painter’s works. Matisse lived in the upper-class neighborhood of Cimiez, in the hills above Nice. The Matisse Museum, located near where Matisse lived between 1918 and his death in 1954, is a comprehensive collection that includes paintings, sculptures, etchings, and cut-outs by the artist as well as some of his household items and works by his many artist friends.
The Port at Nice
Nice may be a resort town, but it is also a bustling commercial center. The picturesque port here is home to fishermen and maritime merchants who travel France by sea for their livelihood. This is France’s second largest Mediterranean port, behind Marseilles, and is filled with delicious seafood restaurants, trendy European dance clubs, and sweeping sea views. During the day, sip a glass of Provencal rose wine at a sidewalk café and watch as the workers unload and load the ships. For a day-trip, take the 45-minute hydrofoil from the port to St. Tropez, a charming seaside village and a playground of the international yachting set.
A Day-trip to Monaco
No matter where you travel, France, and particularly the south of France, has a magnetic draw. The Cote d’Azur’s sunny climate, delicious food, rich art history, and friendly people are sure to bring you back time and again.
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