THE FRENCH RIVIERA-NICE

The 15th of December, a Monday and we were departing for Nice.  I mention the day and date because when Sharon and I went to purchase our train tickets on Friday, the 12th and informed the ticket agent that we wanted tickets to Nice for Monday and she said - tomorrow? and we said "no Monday the 15", and she said ,"Tomorrow".  Thinking there was a language problem I took out my phone and wanted to show her the dates on the calendar.  Such a handy device - cell phones!  Well,  I looked at the phone and looked at Sharon and it was Sunday, not Friday.  Somewhere we had lost 2 days.  The sad thing is we had big plans for Friday nigiht - an art show at the Hotel Europia and plans to enjoy a glass of wine with live music at the hotel. But alas it was Sunday and we now needed to get home and pack.  How can two people lose two days?  We have laughed about this over and over again.  I'm not even sure I should be letting the world in on this but then it is really funny and just in case on our return you note  our minds are slipping you can say you know when it first began.  Well maybe there's been a few other incidents along the way. Its just funny that both of us had lost track of the day and date.  Obviously, we don't check our calender often.

So on Monday we headed to Nice on the train, via Marseilles.  We were advised to take the slow scenic train to Marseilles.  The trip is two hours versus 1 but well worth it we were told.  Well, there were a few beautiful spots and  maybe in the summer there might have been a few more but I'm not sure its worth it unless of course you have extra days on your calender :-)!  We did meet a very nice woman who grew up in France and has taught French and German in England for the past twenty years.  She gave us some great info on places to visit around Avignon.  

We arrived in Marseille and had plenty of time to get a bite to eat and catch our train to Nice.  We arrived in Nice around 3:00 and headed to the hotel via taxi - about a 11 euro ride, return trip was a 20 euro drive.  Decided fares should be established before departing hotel or always ask at the front desk what is an approximate taxi fare to the destination.

Our hotel was situated right in the center of the city -- great location and very friendly staff. 

Hotel Boreal.

We dropped  our stuff and headed out the door.  We had a map in hand and headed first to the main area of Nice and then of course we wanted to see the coast.

We got as far as the Christmas market and of course had to have a look around.  Christmas music was playing and the decorations around the area were beautiful.

I waited and waited but finallty had to move on.  I will just have to catch up with Santa Claus later to let him know he should deliver all my gifts to Avignon.  

We thought it would be good to get to the ocean before dark so we left the market area and headed to the beach.

Past the fountains

We headed back and by this time the city Christmas lights were on. So beautiful!

Each street seemed to have a different theme.

This was my favorite.  These bows were beauitufl even when they weren't lit.

Cute window decorations.

After returning to the hotel we got a recommendation for dinner and again headed out to enjoy our first evening in Nice.  We found a cute wine bar to have a glass of wine served with Nicois olives - very small, very tasty.  We ate the whole thing!  We walked just a few steps and ended up at the recommended restaurant.  

We had a lovely meal.  Sharon had beef cheeks and I had a ravioli with salmon.  I also ordered a side salad.  The side salads are almost always a meal in themselves.  More greens piled on a plate then you could ever imagine.  

Before we left the restaurant I remembered I had my selfie device with me so Sharon and I posed in front of the sign - not a great pictures.  I need to practice.

 First Faceebook and Instagrams posted from our trip.

Retired - reading Savage Harverst  by Carl Hoffman.  An indepth investigation solving a decades old mystery of what happened to Michael Rockefeller when he disappeared in the jungles of New Guinea in 1961.  

 I thought it might be interesting in years to come to remember what I was reading as I was traveling around Europe so I am going to include that info on my blog.  

This is my reading list thus far:

City of Light - Lauren Belfer

Everything I Never Told you - Celeste Ng

Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty

FDR's Funeral Train - Robert Klara

All the Light I Cannot See - Anthony Doerr

US: A Novel - David Nicholls

Century Triology - Ken Follett

     Fall of Giants

     Winter of the World

     Edge of Eternity

A Novel of World War II - Jeff Shaara

     The Rising Tide

     The Steel Wave

     No Less Than Victory

     The Final Storm

Paris:The Novel  - Edward Rutherfurd

Act of War - Brad Thor

The Target - David Baldacci

Queen of the Conqueror: The Life of Matilda, Wife of William the Conqueror - Tracy Joanne Borman

Moon Living Abroad in Italy - John Moretti

The Boys in the Boat - Daniel James Brown