April 30 - Nice is nice!

Nice is nice, and so far, the weather here has been exceptional.  Lyle and I are staying at a small hotel near the Acropolis and Place Garibaldi, and only a hop, skip and a jump from Vieux Nice.  The lanes and passageways through Old Town are narrow and are shadowed by buildings on either side.  I haven't been able to see much but I enjoy detecting the various small stalls by scent.  There are flowers, spices, shoes, candy, fish, fruit and vegetables, restaurants, patisseries, and crepes of various flavours.  Of course, we also like tasting some of these goodies - spicy breads, delicious tarts and pastries, and my favourite, chocolate crepes.

Nice seems to buzz with sound.  There are the voices of many nationalities.  French is predominant, but we have also heard German, Italian, Spanish, English in a variety of accents, and other languages we could not identify.  We have heard the clanging of the church bells and the warning bells of the trams as they make their way along the streets.

So far, we have walked the length of the Promenade Des Anglais, a distance of four miles, and taken the elevator to the top of Castle Hill with its great views.  We walked around to the port of Nice and took a cruise out to Villefranche-sur-Mer.  I couldn't see much of the coastline itself, but I enjoyed the commentary.  At one point I was able to see the line in the water between the dark blue of the deeper water and the turquoise closer to the shore.  No wonder they call this the Cote d'Azure.

Tomorrow we are going to explore further afield.  We will make our way to Antibes (which we gather is pronounced Anteeb). I am ell aware that I would not be able to do this kind of travelling without a guide.  I am really grateful to Lyle and glad that we can enjoy these experiences together.