Trip Report

Hi All

Me, my wife (in our forties) and 16 year old son had a great week in Nice 15-22 July here is our trip report.

Wednesday. Arrived at Nice at approx 1.15 pm after an Easy jet flight from Newcastle got the 98 bus to Gare Routiere, and walked to our rented apartment on Rue Dr Jacques Guidoni just off Rue Gioffredo arrived at about 2.30 to be met by an agent, was a bit disappointed by the apartment however it did have an outside terrace big enough for us to have our breakfast outside which was a bonus. Only had 1 key for main door and stair, as our son is 16 I asked for another key for him as sometimes he likes to go and do his own thing, was told he only had 2 set’s and if we locked our 2 sets inside nobody could get in but he would try to get another set to me, never seen or heard from him again, how much does it cost to cut 2 keys? Unpacked and then took a walk to a supermarket to get some provisions.

At night ate at Chez Davia, one main dish each a bottle of wine and a juice, €53, meal was ok, location was ok, didn’t help with the bin lorry emptying the bins next to us as we were having our meal. I thought the meal would have been a lot nicer after all the good report’s on TA but as we later discovered we had a better meal’s in nicer location’s later in the week all of them in the old town, ok they were more expensive but you get what you pay for.

Thursday. Had a lovely Boulangerie 1 mins walk from apartment which we used everyday for fresh croissants, baguettes and cakes. Went to beach for a bit sunbathing, very uncomfortable lying on the big pebbles, could only lie there for couple of hours max at a time. Had a walk around Nice trying to get our bearings. Ate at Bar Des Oiseaux Euro 63 for 3 with bottle of wine and a juice, I had the duck, we all agreed our meal was lovely, far superior to the previous night.

Friday . Weather a little bit cloudy this morning, had a walk through the old town to the markets at Cours Saleya from there we walked up to La Chateau, by this time weather started to clear up, headed back down to the prom where we decided to get the little tourist train 5 euro each. Ate at Au Pizzaiolo I had steak au poivre Euro 80 for 1 starter to share, 3 mains, bottle of wine and a juice, again meal was excellent.

Saturday. Decided to catch the train to Cannes and Antibes, 12 euro each for all day ticket, both lovely places, well worth a visit, had a lovely lunch in Cannes 16 euro for set 3 course menu. At night ate at L’estrilha 2 starters + 2 mains from set menu plus 1 Paella, bottle of wine and a juice Euro 80, meal was ok this time, had a long wait on it.

Sunday. Got the bus to Eze, had a walk round the medieval village, again lovely, then decided to walk down to the beach, seen a sign near the church for a path down to the beach saying it was a 45 min walk, took us about an hour and 10 mins, we had sandals on , not recommended. Ate at Ville De Sienna starter plus main for 3 plus, (yes you’ve guessed) bottle of wine and a juice Euro 77 excellent meal.

Monday. Got bus 100 to Monaco and Monte Carlo, great day out. At night we ate at L’escalinada cost for 3 Euro 82, the menu here, as in a few place’s had no English so had to try and work out what we were ordering with our limited French, I ordered raw beef with parmesan shavings (didn’t know this at the time), was quite nice but would have preferred a starter size rather than the main dish. Paid for all our meal’s using a debit card, this was the only place that wouldn’t take any cards, just as well I had enough cash on me.

Tuesday. Last full day so we decided to have a lazy day on the beach so headed to Villefranche on the bus to lie on their beach, could’nt lie on the beach in Nice all day. What we seen of Villefranche it was beautiful, as was all the other town,s we visited .At night ate at L’Ecurie 3 course set menu for 2 plus 1 main dish wine and juice Euro 82, excellent meal.

Wednesday. Flight to Newcastle then a drive home to a very wet Edinburgh.

Had a great week, the French people are really friendly, the local bus and train service were frequent. The food was great at a fair price, drinks were a bit expensive, compared to here in Scotland. It’s a lovely stretch of coastline and we may well return at some point, but we like to try different places.

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Glad you had a great holiday

Keycutting can be really expensive depending on the type of lock - some keys are a whopping price 100euros plus. also there may be restriction on the number of keys in circulation for a particular building

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Hi selkieNice

It was just an ordinary yale key, it%26#39;s annoying when somebody say%26#39;s they are going to do something for you and they dont.

However that did%26#39;nt stop us having a fantastic holiday.

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Raw beef with parmesan shavings is called %26#39;Carpaccio de boeuf%26#39; (just in case somebody else sees it on the menu and wonders what it is). Glad you had a good time in Nice!

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Thanks theluma,

Yes i looked it up on the internet when i got home, i knew it was beef with parmesan shavings at the time, did%26#39;nt know it was%26#39;nt cooked, it%26#39;s not something i would have picked if i knew but having said that it turned out to be ok, think i would have preffered it as a little starter tho%26#39;.

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Hi Selkienice,

tried to pm you a few times but does%26#39;nt let me for some strange reason.

Thanks for the message , yes we did have a great trip, it,s a beautiful area.

Chez Davia was ok, nothing better it’s just that there are so many better restaurants in nicer settings.

You were lucky you went home to Nice when you did , Edinburgh had non-stop rain the week we were in Nice.

Tattie

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Maybe TA is having some sort of technical glitch.

I had 3 fabulous blue sky days and 3 days of torrential rain when i was back home but luckily my camera survived despite it getting a bit fogged.

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Thanks for posting the excellent trip report. I%26#39;m heading there next month for 2 weeks and will post a detailed trip report after the trip. I%26#39;m also staying in an apartment but we might stay in a hotel in a few cities as well. We%26#39;re renting a car for our entire stay and will be moving around. I%26#39;m looking forward to returning back to the French Riviera as it%26#39;s been a few years since I was there.