Monsoon in Nice

We thought we had bad weather in Genoa; however, Nice turned out to be worse.  We arrived in sun, but the gusts were so strong that outside shop displays were being blown off the shelves and sailor-type men were fighting with canvas awnings.  Then we had two days of rain, then we had two more days of wind and rain, punctuated by thunder, culminating in hail.  This young Dutch couple we spoke to declared -- Rotterdam had better weather! 

Nevertheless there are a lot of visitors trudging around town with foul weather equipment.  The city is working hard at keep them coming, evidenced by recent and ongoing improvement projects all over the place.  The one thing I would say is that this place is not called Cote d'Azur (Blue Coast) for nothing.  As gray as the sky was, the sea remained blue, a very beautiful shade too.

Because of weather, we drastically slashed our normally ambitious programs, even foregoing all museums by declaring them either overpriced or second rate.  My 50th birthday was overshadowed by the shock of such inclement weather.  We stayed at home obsessing over weather radar, catching up and planning, and finally purchasing our 5/22 return tickets to the US; and practicing at turning into alcoholics.

We rode a FLiXBUS (our first time with FLiX) from Torino (Turin) to the Nice Airport. Good value. No problems. And we happened to be behind another FLiXBUS as we hit the last toll booth Italy before entering France. Although there is no official "border check", our bus was inspected at the both the last tollbooth in Italy and the first tollbooth in France. The French made quite a show; at one point there were 6 armed black-uniformed inspectors on the bus. They politely checked our passports, looked into the baggage compartments and quickly finished....Note the Lamborghini passing our bus on the right. ;-)


Getting started in Nice: We made several attempts to enjoy the seaside promenade Promenade des Anglais, following a self-guided walking tour in the rain.


The Monday Antiques Market.




Beautiful views of the market from above.




Old City lane near our apartment which is located in the former Jewish Ghetto.


These white columns remain from the synagogue.


Boys enjoying the "random action" fountain.


We try the walking tour in the evening and rain has mostly subsided buts it's still gloomy; however, the water is blue!


Hotel with IMO both art Nouveau and Art Deco stylings.


We walk up to Castle Hill for some views. This one of the sea, beach?, and promenades.








On the far side of the headland there views to the Nice Port. That's one huge yacht.




View down towards the Cathedral and our nearby apartment.


A couple of shots to record Sun-Ling on her 50th birthday.




Back down near the Cathedral.


Sun-Ling makes Salad Nicoise. When in Nice.....


One day during an afternoon downpour, we took a bus over to Cap Ferrat hoping the rain would stop, which it did, so we could do the famous walk around the Cap. Bonus! As we were admiring the port some search-and-rescue seaplanes were practicing takeoffs and landings. [More details than you may want to know: We arrived at the Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat bus stop and it was raining. So we walked to the TI, shook out our umbrellas and got a map of the trails. Still raining, we walked back to the bus stop. We gave the weather 50 minutes to improve or we would take the one-after-the-next bus back to Nice. And voila, after chatting with the young Dutch couple, and watching the next bus leave, the rain stopped.]






I test the waters.


A most beautiful walk around Cap Ferrat.












More rain the next day but the post office delivery folks are prepared.


We head out for an evening walk, but it's raining, windy, and cold. We are back home after 30 minutes.


No takers for these prime bench seats.


Not to mention the hail storm.


Stay tuned. The weather did improve.