Côte d’Azur is…azure. Nice part 2

First day (after the first evening-part 1) in Nice was about moving to the other hotel (I checked in as early as 10 am and some minutes, the room was ready… not that many tourists during this period), then I continued with the exploring part… the maps are my friends.

I had a vague plan in my head… during the first day I should do the things that I will not manage to do together with my friend during the other two days.

Then, some friends that have visited Nice before recommended me: going on top of a hill that opens a nice panoramic view of Nice and the sea, visiting the small medieval village Eze, and taking the boat from Antibes to a small island.
I knew my friend and I wanted to visit Monaco…and I checked that Eze is on the way to Monaco, therefore I decided that we will do these two together, the next day.
But Antibes is in the opposite direction… Thus, wandering round Nice and maybe hitting the island was the plan for the first day…
The third day was about arts… my friend was coming with some recommendations.

again, palm trees palm trees on the way

But first of all… sitting and walking on the stony beach. I cannot swim and I don’t like to sunbathe, but I love the sea, I love listening to the sound of the sea and staring into the infinity (sky+sea looks like infinity to me :) ).
I think I spent around one hour just contemplating, feeling happy…

and to the right

and to the left

also admiring fathers and their kids walking or throwing stones into the sea… I think men alone that do stuff with their kids are very sexy.

having the big rocks on the beach is an obviously good idea…with the waves hitting them :)

This is the beach just across the street from the old town. The hill with the panoramic view is on the left side as one looks at the sea… I slowly walked towards it… there is a lift that takes you up… but I decided to take the long way, again. I went around the hill, along the coast…

looking back at the sea, I was thinking that Côte d’Azur honestly deserves its name

got to the port, saw some very modern boats…

then started walking up the hill. Its positioning is very smart… like built on purpose, on one side there is the port, on the other – the old town. The hill is a park (Parc du Chateau) with a nice playground, some cafes, a waterfall, place for dogs, beautiful plants, and some castle ruins… all very well arranged.

(i’ll upload a full album on picasa)

I did the descent through the cemetry (two cemetries… jewish and christian) and ended up on the narrow streets of the old town, that reminded me of the old town of Napoli in Italy (a city that I really like).

and people chilling on the terrasses

Wandered a bit and my stomach was saying – it is lunch time! And I didn’t have breakfast, just 2 apples :) I grabbed a sandwich baguette and enjoyed it on the beach… also was surprised to see this man getting out of the sea… yes, it was warm, but only around 15 degrees…

I though that I will do the rest of the Nice exploring with my friend… thus let’s try the island. Got to a tourist info center, there I was told that during winter there is no boat service from Antibes…only from Cannes. Ok, let’s go to Cannes… somehow I thought it is only half an hour away :)

the bus stop is next to the info center (and it comes every 20 min)…got on the bus and we were driving and driving, I managed to fall asleep several times… there were also some Romanians on the bus, it was fun listening to them speaking like no one understands them :)

well, not half an hour, Cannes is a bit over one hour and a half away :)) I missed the last boat to the island… oh, well, another time… the bust stop is near the port

and there is also a hill!with a curch/fortress… I got up there and on the other side I see this beautiful sunset!

I quickly walked down the hill, to the beach… in Cannes the beach is sandy (in Nice – stony). Again contemplating by the sea, taking pictures…
…how smart is nature? Here is sea, there are mountains, the sun rolls down behind the mountains and reflects into the sea…there are the clouds for more contrast…and of course the red colour! and a bird in the sky!

Sunset over and I walked back to the narrow streets of Cannes…which looked like a cheap open air market :) (at least those close to the port). I wanted a nice cafe…but haven’t found one :( ended up drinking a coffee in McDonalds :)) got on the bus and headed back to Nice, to meet my friend that was arriving that evening. 
A remark… bus rides around Côte d’Azur cost 1 euro… Nice to Cannes, 1,5 h, 1 euro… Nice to Monaco also 1 euro etc. Or if you plan to do more hop on hop off, the day ticket is 4 euros. The ride from and to the airport worths a day ticket… that you can then use on other directions, this is good especially if you come earlier during the day or if you leave later.

to be continued

part 3

eze

monaco

day 3

everything Côte d’Azur