We left Pisa at 9am and within less than an hour, on our way to Nice, we again entered the coastal mountains. However, on this transit we elected to take the ancient Roman coastal route and enjoyed spectacular scenery of the snow-covered Alps looking down at the picturesque towns we wound our way through not far above the sea. Flowering trees and spring flowers greeted us all along the route. This was the antithesis of the hair-raising white knuckle driving we experienced going south a month ago on the expressway.
We stopped for lunch in a promising village but chose unwisely. Never mind, a mediocre meal could not take the joy out of the wonderful drive.
We arrived in Nice at 4pm, put the car in a safe underground parking structure and checked into our room in a charming old building, Residence Lamartine. This boutique hotel had wonderful multi-lingual staff and their advice allowed us to enjoy to meals that were in the top of our dining experiences during our “semester abroad’.
We walked out of our hotel into the center of Nice and a short walk to “old town”. This city had an architecture and culture unique from any of our other experiences. We enjoyed it immensely and the warmth of the Mediterranean spring. We walked the Promenade des Anglais, along the beach, originally built by British sun seekers in the 19th century. We visited Eglise Saint Pierre d’Arene and learned it had been the scene of a terrorist attack about 10 years ago. This sad event illustrated the friction of the Moslem world against the European and a medieval mindset against modern humanism.
The next day we walked to the outdoor market, picked up more supplies for our automobile larder, an enjoyable outing, but the highlight was dinner that evening. We dined at Le Tichoute, the donkey, a very intimate restaurant serving the local cuisine centered on seafood. The proprietor, a woman about our age, was warm and clearly skillful in the kitchen. It was not ‘fine dining”, but the best of local neighborhood style food with delicious carafes of local wine and all at economical cost. This meal was another dining highlight of our weeks of travel.
We enjoyed re-entering France and the sunny culture and architecture of the Cote d’ Azure. Heidi was back in full engagement with her French and making friends everywhere we stopped. She was taken for German or English, never American. Her skills allowed us to make connections perhaps not available otherwise. This was a great stop in all ways, now on to Provence.
