A NICE Weekend

Pardon the pun but we had a nice weekend in NICE, France. At 4 in the afternoon of Friday we loaded the car and picked up Alberto from work. At half past five with the 70’s music (Genesis and Supertramp) blaring we headed for the French Riviera. We arrived in Nice a little after 8 and checked into our Bed and Breakfast. The house was tucked away from the coast and is exactly what I had imagined a French B and B looking like. Our room (me and the boys) had antique furniture and a fireplace. We decided to take a walk along the coast and watch the sunset. My first impression of Nice, was an ugly dirty city but the closer we got the coast I changed my mind. Che Bella! Fantastico!!

On Saturday we had a traditional French breakfast at the B&B. We had coffee and croissants with marmalade (oh don’t forget the butter, French people LOVE butter). After breakfast we headed to the beach. The morning was beautiful for a swim. I laid on the beach to try and tan but eventually cooled off in the Mediterinian. The water was so clear and while I was snorkeling I saw three fish swimming along with me. For lunch we went to a café where I had true French fries and a sirloin steak. Definitely not Texas meat but it was the first steak I’ve had in months. After lunch Alberto took Ruggie to the hotel for a nap and we stayed on the beach. At 6:30 we had an aperitivo before dinner. We talked with a lady who was also staying at the B&B. She was painting a lovely picture of a court gesture. She asked me where I was from and I found out she was from a small town outside Paris. After our wonderful conversation we went to dinner in a small town above Nice. The old city within the walls (since Medieval Times) is still standing, so we walked around but unfortunately everything but restaurants were closed. We ate at a very fancy restaurant in the old city. French cuisine is very elaborate and used many ingredients so I was a little worried about what I ordered. I had some kind of white fish with mixed veggies and for an appetizer I had crab stuffed ravioli that was out of this world. After dinner we walked some more and saw the old castle ruins. After a long day at the beach we all slept very well.

On Sunday we slept in until 9:30 and then had another great breakfast with French cheese. Pat wanted to go back to the beach while the four of us walked the cape. It was absolutely beautiful. The day was cloudy and made for a good day to walk. Which is a good thing cause we walked for two hours. When we stopped for lunch I was so tired I just wanted to take a nap. It started to rain right as we sat down for lunch. We moved to a dryer place to eat and had sandwiches. After lunch we decided to get in the car and head for home because we wanted to beat traffic. We drove through Monaco and stopped just for a minute to look around because Ruggie was asleep. We also drove through Monte Carlo. Beautiful! We took the long way home through the mountains but it was totally worth it. They were the coolest mountains I had ever seen, rough and jagged but beautiful. Four hours we finally returned home. I really enjoyed the time in France but was so happy to be back in Italy. The people are nicer here and I am accustomed to their way of life and language.