October 1, 2022 to October 6, 2022
Nice
So nice to be in Nice.
Nice.
So nice to be in Nice.
October 1 Saturday.
Bike box day. Feeling better as one always does on a fine morning, we breakfast in our outdoor kitchen/dining room and plan our route to Bouticycle. I somehow keep wanting to call it bootylicious cycles- no matter. It’s an easy find - just a little further on from our activity of the last 24 hours.
They have two boxes - one looks suitable, the other a little large, but we take both, with thanks, and destaple them, fold them, and use bungy cords to attach them to the carrier of my bike. We’re a bit of a walk from the hotel we’re moving to but it’s pretty much in a straight line, so off we go, choosing the waterfront option for the ambience.
At the hotel they are happy to hold them for us in the luggage locker, which is where I stash them. We use our tram ticket to get back to our Airbnb at Vallon Barla, only a couple of stops back. The airport tramline, Linea Deux, is very convenient, paralleling the shoreline and Promenade des Anglais. It has pretty much all we need along the part of the route near us, including radiography and pharmacies!
In the afternoon we enjoy the peace of the garden for lunch and a break, then head to the beach for a swim. Ann has to sit this one out unfortunately. The water is beautifully clear, temperature moderate and looking up the coast to the city, the view is astonishing- the city, the hills and the Piedmonte beyond.
October 2 Sunday
Today’s our final move - the Ibis Aeroport. This is the same place we used in 2016 and it worked pretty well for us then. In fact I wheeled the bike boxes to the airport from there. We’re very grateful to our host Monique, and tell her we’d love to come back.
The challenge this morning will be walking our bikes as Ann is one handed. I’m worried she won’t be able to manage her fully loaded stead. In fact it works with no problems and we check in to the hotel, leaving our bikes in their luggage locker.
Later we make use of our 10 ride tram ticket for two and head into the city.
The nice thing about Sundays is that they seem the same the world over and it’s enjoyable relaxing with family groups and couples, viewing a Paris Match photograph exhibition of France’s stars; Belmondo, Bardot,
Chagal among many.
We walk around the harbour of private yachts. Some look similar to what we’ve seen in Auckland’s viaduct.
October 3, 4, 5, 6 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
Good news on the X-ray front showing Ann has only suffered a minor fracture. No plaster required. For formalities sake we return and relay the information to the hospital- how different our mood this time! Swimming might be a possibility after all.
And so it proves to be and we spend time from mid afternoon most days enjoying the deep blue of Nice. It’s a while since we’ve walked hand in hand into the water, (in the interests of stability this time) and I’m sure some witnesses see it as a sign that true romance is no longer dead- it isn’t of course! Walking over the Nice beach alluvial stones takes timing and balance, but brought down over centuries by Nice’s rivers, those smooth rounded stones are really something special, as well as providing pleasant warmth to lie on. It’s strange to have a beach culture so different from what we’re used to it in the Southern Hemisphere. Here, we love the mix of sea, salt water, the old and new of the city and the wonderful mix of people along the length of the stony shoreline.
Packing the bikes away proves to be reasonably straightforward, although we have to ditch the too big box to recycling and return to Bootylicious, where outside they just happen to have a box the right size for Ann’s Giant Liv. As happened last time, we’re allowed use of a conference room at the hotel to pack - easy. Let’s hope they fit in the lift!
A final day of shops, lunch and swims passes fairly blissfully. A few signs to art galleries and museums momentarily attract but it’s so pleasant outside, especially eating a fish and gnocchi ensemble in one of the squares, that we resist the temptation- this time.
We walk back along a sunlit and hot Promenade des Anglais and then catch the tram, for the last time hearing those magic words ‘linea deux’ which sometimes sounds to me like ‘lean ya dude’.
Thursday’s exit has a few hiccoughs, but we make it. Using trolleys to cart our bike boxes in 2016 was a wizard idea, but not noticing that we were this time leaving from a new, terminal 2, complicates the issue. Suffice to say, it’s easy enough to walk between the two terminals, but pushing a trolley with two bike boxes, is, to say the least, a challenge, since one is sandwiched between the tram line and an extremely narrow footpath. The route is also made additionally challenging by the strange series of swivelling gates along the way. These necessitate the removal of the boxes each time. This, in addition to high curbs, makes our arrival at the doors of terminal 2 akin to surmounting the summit of Everest. Of course there is a shuttle……..
Even at the check in desk, after a 30 minute queue wait, the words ‘Have you completed your NZ Travel Declaration?’ Have us thinking we are indeed foiled despite all our efforts. Leaving the line to complete this bureaucratic hurdle race on small phones, adds to the stress of the moment. But at last we are through and not even the lengthy and antiquated immigration departure process can defeat us. As our flight goes through pre departure procedures, I select ‘Topgun Maverick’ for some stress relief.
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