Nicely nice

After the excitement of the tennis matches the day before, we decided to take it easy the next day and woke up on a lazy Saturday to visit the famous markets of Nice. There are quite a few markets and I actually can’t remember which ones we visited, suffice to say they were full of character and it was quite fun wandering around looking at the various produce. Nice is one of those places in Europe which is blessed with a lovely Mediterranean climate, thus very suitable for growing all kinds of lovely flowers, fruits and vegetables.

Spices and fruits

We managed to wander down to the beach, which was seriously not that difficult, and find a place that wasn’t yet over-run by the locals in search of brunch on a Saturday. The beach looked lovely and though the sun was out, I thought the sea breeze made it a little too chilly for sunbathing though the locals certainly didn’t think so. And in case you are wondering, yes there were people who went topless. The beach didn’t look that crowded though, probably because it was still April and not peak season yet.

Soaking in the sun
(what may seem like a full cafe usually has empty seats inside)

Spot the topless lady

We ended up whiling the day away just wandering the streets and up a hill to Parc du Chateau. Its a public garden 92m up with panoramic views of the city. We also managed to locate the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, which is supposed to be an architectural sight to behold. It was a little difficult to find and was kind of hidden from view amongst the various residential houses around, only when you are actually right in front of it do you realize that its there. There was a service when we were there so we could only take a little peek at the interiors. It was seriously quite beautiful and since we didn’t want to interrupt or be rude, we only took a short peek and left. The grounds were huge and there were some Russian families with their kids just hanging out and playing. As the cathedral is kind of isolated from the rest of the area due to the huge grounds, it can feel a little like you are actually in Russia itself. Pretty lovely to just sit on one of the benches and take in the architecture. Apparently there is some ownership dispute going on over the property, you can read all about it here and here. I think the French are just taking it in their very French way which is probably the best way of managing it.

Cétait bien!

We finished the day walking down the Promenade des Anglais and thought that Nice was c'était bien!