Travel Log: Nice, France

I hope your week is going well so far!  Have you entered my alice + olivia/Starbucks birthday giveaway yet?  Definitely check it out if you haven't yet - I'm giving away a special holiday tumbler and a $20 Starbucks gift card!  Don't wait too long - the giveaway closes end of day next Sunday 11/ 24.  I hope you aren't yet tired of my French vacation photos, because I have just two more installments to share.  Today the focus is Nice, which we chose as our home base for our week in the French Riviera.  Nice is the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast (Marsailles is the largest), and contains both the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport and the Nice-ville train station that make it an easily accessible location for a vacation home base.  We stayed right on the Promenade des Anglais, which is the main road through Nice along the Mediterranean Sea, so it was easy to get in and out of the city with our rental car from this main road.

Let's start with the flower market, since Nice is known for its flowers.  The Cours Saleya Flower Market is open every day except Monday, when an antique market is present in the same location.  In addition to beautiful flower arrangements, you can also purchase lavender, soaps, meats, pastries, and more!  It is a true farmer's market, best enjoyed early in the morning when the best selection is available.

Where the market is best in the morning, the Place Masséna is prettiest at night.  Place Masséna is Nice's main city square and is used for concerts, parades, and other public events.  We crossed through it several times during our trip as we walked along the Rue Masséna to choose restaurants for dinner.

Rue Masséna is a pedestrian street lined with restaurants and shops, and we had dinner at several different restaurants along this street.  The weather was so pleasant that we would sit outside with a carafe of local wine and dishes for an unhurried, relaxed meal.

Since Nice is so close to Italy and Spain, there was a variety of great dishes to choose from like the seafood pasta and moules marinières (mussels steamed in white wine and butter) below.  Other foods this area is known for are Nicoise salads, Bouillabaisse (particularly in Marsaille), socca (a type of pancake made from chickpea flour), and of course pastis, the anise flavored liquor that contains at least 40% alcohol and is diluted with water.

View of the Rue Massena, which bustles at night with locals and tourists out for dinner.  I love sitting outside at cafes like this, enjoying a long meal and people watching.  It's the best!

A Nicoise plate that I enjoyed at Massena Tavern.  There is a Nicoise salad in the middle, stuffed tomato on the left, fried veggies and a delicious onion and olive tart in the front.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée, with a perfect location on the Promenade des Anglais.  There is a terrace with a swimming pool and restaurant where you can sit and eat with the amazing view of the Sea!  If you are so inclined, there is also a casino in the building.

A view of the famous Hotel Negresco, where the rich and famous stay when they visit Nice!  I meant to go inside and look around, but never got around to it.  The exterior is beautiful and it is also located on the Promenade just down the street from our hotel.

Nice's location right on the Mediterranean makes it a perfect location for a relaxing vacation.  In the summer, these chairs are full of sunbathers!  Because we traveled in October, we enjoyed 75 degree temperatures and few other tourists.  Some people were in the water during the day, but I thought it was a little chilly for swimming and preferred walking along the promenade to enjoy the view.  =)

Last but not least, I leave you with this view from our hotel's terrace, overlooking the water on one of many gorgeous afternoons.

I hope you enjoyed these photos of Nice, France!  If you visit the French Riviera, you would most likely fly into Nice and I definitely recommend exploring the city for at least a day.  Nice is the fifth largest city in France by population, and there are plenty of hotels, restaurants, and shopping to keep people busy.

Don't forget to enter my alice + olivia/Starbucks birthday giveaway and thanks so much for reading!