Nice to Arles - Thursday 17 August

We had a quiet start to the day, and just packed ready for the long bus transfer to Arles in the afternoon. However, we did make a booking for lunch at Le Sejour, the sister cafe to Mon Petit. This time we sat inside, and again had a wonderful meal - main courses only, sea bass for David and cod for me. The meals were again beautifully presented and the service was very good. We then adjourned back to the hotel for an hour before our pick-up with Robert, as arranged with Ingrid.





He delivered us in 20 minutes to Nice Airport, where the APT people were waiting with two buses, ready to leave for Arles at 3pm. On the way we passed the Côte d'Azur hippodrome where they hold race meetings.

The journey, with a total of around 44 APT clients between the two buses, took around 3.5 hours (along excellent motorways), including a brief toilet stop. This is when we stepped outside the bus and got hit by wall of heat - it was now 34C.

We got into Arles at 6:20pm, and it was a quick visit and unload to cabins, before everyone was asked to meet in the lounge for drinks and nibbles, and introductions and information from the Captain, Tour Director, and other staff. It was great to catch up with the Todds who had arrived from Barcelona at around 3pm. They were naturally a bit shaken by the realisation that they had narrowly avoided the terror attack that afternoon, near their hotel in Barcelona...

Then it was all hands to the restaurant for dinner, a wonderful menu with allergies listed so not too much asking required by me. Mind you, my listed as GF 'mushroom cappuccino' soup arrived with a small choux pastry floating in it and had to be taken away. The fresh one that came was divine!

Nice - Wednesday 16 August

We had agreed today that each couple would do their own thing. The Barrows were keen to visit the important art galleries and museums, and we would play it by ear. After a slow start to the day, we headed off at 10:15am and caught the (packed) tram to the Cathedral stop, from where we made our way into the old town for a more comprehensive and casual-paced wander around than the other day. It was very pleasant, although the crowds of tourists gradually built as time went on. We went as far as Place Garibaldi, then turned back and enjoyed a brief, quiet stop at the Fenocchio ice cream stand in Place Rossetti (a Rick Steve's recommendation) - salted caramel for me, pistachio for David. Wandering through the narrow streets amongst the people, we would occasionally see a patrol of soldiers, carrying what I guess were rifles or even machine guns.







We worked our way over to the market area, and David ordered a crusty filled roll (he's loving the bread here), and I ordered a slice of socca. It was way better than the one I had yesterday - crisper and about three times the quantity. Mind you, I had applied what we had all learnt from Ingrid - always be generous with a friendly "bonjour", and you will get much better service. We then had quenched our thirst in the Waka Bar, a Kiwi-owned bar, but no sign of other Kiwis there today.





Next we finished walking along the market area, across Place Masséna, and further along the lovely promenade, all the way to the Garden of Albert I. This was the pick-up point for the 'Noddy'/Tourist train. I was generously ushered into the disabled section (I hadn't said a word, the walking stick was apparently evidence enough) the journey was just over an hour and took us though some other streets in the old town, and then a different route up to the top of the 'castle' rock for a slightly higher viewpoint than we had enjoyed the other day. Certainly the history of this rock outcrop is long and interesting, with Louis IV eventually having the castle destroyed.



Back down on the promenade after the tour, we headed to the bar we had a drink at last night, where David enjoyed a beer, and I had a glass of rosé. Back at the hotel, I reformatted and updated some blog posts on the hotel iMac in the foyer (it's proving to be very frustrating on the iPad), and the Barrows wandered in slightly after us. On Jan's suggestion, we adjourned to the sundeck on the hotel's rooftop. It was very pleasant, with a gentle breeze on this supposedly 27C day (David saw it showing 32C on a sign earlier).

The hotel kindly phoned to make a 7:30pm dinner reservation for us at Mon Petit Cafe, just along the road, and then we headed out to our favourite bar, Le Liber'tea. The waiters there love us Kiwis and we have lots of banter. The service is excellent. I have been enjoying their piña coladas!

In complete and utter contrast to our previous dinner at Restaurant Davia, our meals and experience at Mon Petit (next door to the former) were a world apart. Alison, Ross and Liz would have loved this gourmet meal - the service was outstanding, and the meals were superb. David enjoyed a sea bass with black rice (with a curry flavour), and I enjoyed three gluten-free courses (with little treasures in between. I'll leave the photos to tell the story...). There may be a delay in posting those on the blog, but they're on Facebook already. All in all, a very enjoyable and memorable evening.

Nice - Tuesday 15 August

Today was a public holiday, celebrating the Ascension of Mary. We enjoyed our second day of touring with Ingrid. This time we headed along the coast west of Nice, and also further inland.



Our first stop was in Antibes, an ancient walled town founded by Greek traders in the 5th century BC, and very picturesque. We strolled right through and around the town (stopping briefly beside, but not going into the Picasso Museum), noting details such as hands on doors (that would have once announced that a daughter was available for marriage), and the ancient community laundry area. We walked through the town square and then stopped for a coffee next to the interesting town market. Ingrid also purchased a bag of socca crisps for me to try later (made out of chickpea flour and naturally gluten free). Then Ingrid stopped us at some of the stalls for some tasting. First was the Socca pizza shape, of which we shared a slice. Next came some tasting of some wonderful chutneys (on bread for the others, and a teaspoon for me). And then the stall owner pushed on Steve and David what he called an aphrodisiac.... they were to swallow this in one gulp. Little did they suspect... It was terrible, and I thought David was going to throw up, and in fact he didn't feel great for a few hours afterwards. The aphrodisiac consisted of a big dollop of horseradish sauce and ginger on a wee slice of bread, and it was excruciatingly hot and a hell of a shock to the system. The photo shows David about to gulp it down, unknowingly...



Our next stop was 45 minutes later, after travelling inland and upwards following the Loup River, through a gorge to another hilltop town - Gourdon, where we enjoyed another lovely, relaxing lunch (prosciutto and melon for me). I'm also quite fond of rosé now!






After a toilet stop (I've been trying to avoid these as they don't have seats to sit on...), we headed down the hill for a lovely stop in the much quieter town of Tourettes-sur-Loup. This was a lovely, picturesque town, famous for it violet products - soaps, perfumes etc. in fact we sat down to enjoy some violet icecream - very nice! It was lovely, in all these towns, stopping to sample the products and taking the time to soak up some of the local atmosphere.



We drove down through some lovely bush areas beside a river, busy with people making the most of today's holiday. Bypassing the town of Vence, we continued to the awfully busy walled town of St-Paul-de-Vence, where we finished with a brief walk from one end to the other, barely stopping to watch a large number of men playing boules - that was enough for us! It consisted mainly of expensive shops selling art and clothes. Ingrid warned us what it was like, and she was right! Picturesque, but too busy and too commercial.



We then headed back to Nice, checking the details of our pick-up for Thursday, and bidding a fond farewell to Ingrid, who had looked after us so well.

After freshening up, we met the Barrows downstairs and headed out to a couple of outdoor bars for a couple of hours, with me indulging in a piña colada first, and then another Sex on the Beach. We shared some nibbles, and there was no need for dinner after our lovely lunch.

Nice - Monday 14 August

We had a wonderful day today with our tour guide, Ingrid (of Kultours). Ingrid is a Rick Steves recommended guide and is also top-rating on Trip Advisor. I had booked her months ago as our guide for two full days.

Ingrid picked us up at 8:30am in her very comfortable and air conditioned Mercedes 6-seater van, and off we went for a very relaxed-paced, informative day. The focus area of today's tour was in the areas to the east of Nice.

We visited places all along the coast and back into the hills, stopping along the way to see spectacular views and take photos. We started with beautiful views over Nice itself, and then made our way to Eze-Le-Village before the crowds arrived. Ingrid was incredibly considerate of my knee and took the more gradual but also less crowded route up into this 'crow's nest village'. She was greeted with 'bonjour' and a hug by numerous people she knew there along the way. She took us along the more interesting side routes, telling us some of the history of this amazing village, built high on a rocky outcrop to avoid the pirates. There are only 33 residents here now, and some craftsmen, and most of the village now consists of two hotels, with rooms scattered individually around the steep and cobbled lanes, not all connected. A tough job for the person doing room service! She was allowed to take us into one hotel's bar area, and we also came upon a hotel baker who was making pain au chocolat and who gave us each a bit of the chocolate. We stopped for a coffee in another tiny bar and enjoyed relaxing in the shade there. I then waited there while Ingrid escorted the others (apparently steep and difficult steps for me) up into the Jardin d'Eze for spectacular 360 degree views over the sea. They also saw planes flying directly overhead and dipping down into the sea to scoop up water into the plane itself, and then take it back to fight a fire further back in the hills.



We then continued inland along some steep and narrow roads to a spot near Turbie for a spectacular viewpoint looking down across Monaco, then to see the ancient Roman Le Trophee des Alpes (this road was originally built by the Romans).



We then continued along the road, marvelling at the steep rocky outcrops, towards Sainte-Agnes (for lunch at a restaurant with spectacular views down to the coastline below).






After a lovely lunch (including ham, prosciutto and cheeses for me, lovely salmon for David) we walked back to the car past a big concrete bunker area, built as part of the Maginot Line. We then continued down to the coast again; through Menton, across the back of Monaco, and then towards Nice, coming through Beaulieu-sur-Le-Mer. We stopped at for a tour of the amazing Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild and gardens in Villefranche. Ingrid was allowed to park inside the gates of the villa to save a longer walk in the heat. She then escorted us on a tour through the house and around the gardens. It was beautiful and interesting but also very hot (29C) and we were all beginning to wilt and need more water. Finally we were driven back around the port of Nice and onto the promenade area that was heaving with traffic and people on the beach (we've struck a holiday weekend extending to Tuesday).



We all freshened up with showers and then headed out to find an outdoor table at a bar, trying to avoid smokers (almost impossible). We certainly weren't hungry, but appreciated the chance to sit and relax with cool drinks. It had been an excellent day!

Nice - Sunday 13 August

We both had a good sleep last night, of around 8 to 9 hours. We had bought some fruit and milk at the supermarket and had that for breakfast in our room this morning. Unfortunately the yoghurt had been in the fridge with the fridge door left slightly open and the yoghurt had got warm so we threw it out. We had arranged to meet the Barrows at 10 AM and agreed to catch the train around to Place Garibjaldi and then to walk around to the port area and see if we could get a ride on the one hour Tranz Côte d'Azur boat tour that travelled across to Villefranche and then back across the sea to view Nice from the water. Unfortunately the boat was booked out at 11 AM and so we had to book for 3 PM instead.

We had found it easy to catch the train, costing one Euro 50 each for tickets we purchased from a machine. Then we had hopped on for a short ride along Boulevard Jean Jaures, to take us closer to the port. To fill in the time until we could get the boat ride we went up on Castle Rock, David and I taking the elevator and the Barrows walking up the path. The views were magnificent at the top, across the port and across the city of Nice.





It was a glorious day with blue skies and very warm (around 27C but not too hot). A lot of people were out and about. We agreed to meet the Barrows down in the old town (Vieux Nice) around an hour later at a particular place recommended by Rick Steves, to have some lunch and then to wander back to the port for our boat tour. David and I got there first even though we were quite seriously lost and had to ask for directions at one shop. We stopped at the cafe in the square and ordered Nicoise salads each. David enjoyed the bread basket with the salad. The Barrows arrived shortly after and headed away to pick up bread rolls and meet us 20 minutes later for the walk back to the port.

We checked in on the sights recommended by Rick Steve's, as we wandered through the streets of Vieux Nice. There were a couple of lovely churches, and a big market. We eventually stopped on the promenade for drinks and ice cream (best caramel ice cream I've ever had).

We arrived back at the port half an hour early and the queue was just beginning and we had to stand in the heat for 20 minutes before the boat boarded. David and I got good seats at the back and enjoyed the one hour tour on the boat. While we were waiting for the tour to begin, I almost fell asleep with the gentle rocking of the boat. The sea was slightly choppy as we made our way across to Villefranche and had a good look at the scenery there (we couldn't really make out the commentary that wasn't very clear over the speaker) - the views from the sea were excellent. I got splashed by the bow wave a few times but it was fine, the water was refreshing. But I did start to feel a bit seasick - just slightly. The boat also cruised past Nice's promenade, another interesting perspective from the sea.



After the cruise I suggested that we make our way along the promenade following Rick Steves guide with the Barrows going ahead and all the way along to the Hotel Negresco, while David and I were going slower behind and stopping at the Albert I Park. We would meet the Barrows there and then head back towards our hotel, stopping for a refreshing drink on the way. We did that and had a very enjoyable few drinks at a bar nearby. I had a 'Sex on the Beach' cocktail and managed to get very plonked very quickly, to the extent of having the giggles and not being able to stop. It reminded us of what I was like as we arrived by train in Amsterdam, after a cup couple of those individualised bottles of bubbly on the train. Finally, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before going out for dinner nearby.

Sadly, being Sunday, both of the restaurants with good reviews were closed, but another next door to them was open, so that is where we went.... all I can do now is to post the review that I subsequently wrote for Trip Advisor...

Restaurant Davia:

We visited this restaurant on a Sunday evening. Our table of four ordered: A ravioli, a chicken cordon bleu, a ratatouille and a lamb dish (one of the few suggestions available, with me being gluten free). Our waitress was friendly and helpful, and came back with a bottle of Chablis we had ordered, but forgot the water. Almost an hour later, our main dishes arrived... what a disappointment - indeed one of the worst meals we have ever had - particularly the ravioli and the lamb. The ravioli came in a brown sauce with nothing else; the chicken cordon bleu came with no accompaniments and nothing else on the plate but the chicken; the ratatouille was a very small cold dish (but quite nice) and the lamb was simply three barbecued and fatty chops plonked on a plate and accompanied by a plate of french fries and a simple salad - we had no idea these would be the accompaniments.. What, you may ask, did I pay for these lamb chops, fries and basic green salad? €22 you have to be kidding! The ravioli was not up to an acceptable standard either - the plate was full of brown gravy and the ravioli floated on top - it was awash in the gravy. We had no service after the drinks were delivered. The meals were served almost an hour later and simply left with us. When I asked if there had been a mistake with the price of my lamb meal, I was told no, that was correct. I stated that it was disgusting, but the money was there and I stalked off, the others at my table also expressed their disgust, but the only response given, was that this was Nice! Well, these meals were no comparison to the meals we had in Nice last night at Chez Papa. Avoid Restaurant Davia. Certainly don't order the lamb chops!

Dubai to Nice & Nice - Saturday 12 August

The flight left Dubai on time. David and I had the arranged central row of four seats to ourselves, he at one end and me at the other. Before we took off, the air hostess wanted to know where my oxygen supply was. I said I didn't have one, I wasn't carrying any, only a CPAP machine. Oh, she said, it listed me as having an oxygen supply for goodness sakes... Anyway, that got sorted... Our second breakfast for the day was served shortly afterwards - continental. I was losing interest in food by now, I certainly wasn't hungry!



I struggled to keep my eyes open to watch a boring movie called 'Lost in Florence' (helps you get to sleep?) and then half draped myself across the seat next to me with the arm rest up - a bit tricky though, as we were told to keep our seat belts on because of air turbulence. Without using my CPAP I napped on and off for the next hour or two, quite uncomfortable, but did feel somewhat refreshed afterwards. David told me he'd had a bit of a sleep too, at the opposite end of the row, but had been disturbed by the poor chap opposite him on the aisle vomiting profusely into a duty free bag. Apparently his doctor had prescribed something to stop this - it obviously wasn't working as he continued to vomit throughout the flight! This left us both hoping that, if the guy has a bug, it doesn't spread around the plane...

Dinner for me consisted of the fish with tomato paste again. I couldn't eat it all. The little cake was nice, and I couldn't face the lovely looking bread roll that felt dry to the touch.



We were picked up by the arranged driver, Kevin, and dropped efficiently at out hotel, although we nearly ended up at the Grimaldi (a few doors down and more fancy), rather than the Mercure Grimaldi! Our room wasn't ready so I hesitantly accepted another one. The wifi signal in here looks a bit weak though... The Barrows arrived in Nice by train shortly afterwards. It was supposedly a bit cooler here today, at 23C with beautiful clear blue skies.

A trip to the little supermarket next to our hotel was interesting, it had a very strange layout, and the service certainly wasn't up to NZ standards. It took a while to find the few bits and pieces needed for breakfast in our room. But it was fascinating to see all the different products. There were no plastic bags allowed at the checkout either - they're banned, but we made good use of a bag from the fruit and vege, so there's a bit of a gap in the law on that.

Our first dinner out in Nice last night was at Chez Papa. It was lovely sitting outside to eat, and we managed to largely avoid the smokers prevalent here - cigarette butts everywhere)! The waiter was very entertaining, and very helpful with the menu. Needing gluten free restricted me quite a bit, but I still enjoyed a steak with truffle mashed potatoes, and David loved his Tuna Tataki (basically almost raw tuna, lightly seared on the edges). Everyone's plates were clean by the time we finished. The wine (a Chablis) was good and although we didn't want any desserts, the waiter insisted on pouring us some liqueurs - a lemoncello or a myrte (black currant). I was a bit plonked by then and could just about have fallen asleep at the table! All in all a very entertaining evening and great to enjoy it with the Barrows.