Arles to Nice

 

After a good breakfast we packed up and met in the lobby at 8:30 am.  It was a long walk to the bus.  Argh!! My legs are sore from all those stairs yesterday. Also I guess that I got a bunch of mosquito bites around my ankles.  Double Argh!!

Walking down to the bus.

We had a rest stop and then got in to Nice around noon.  We could not get our rooms until 3 pm.  Steve led us in an orientation walk.  Nice is where he lives. 

Our hotel. It is very fancy.

Mural painted windows.  I don't know what the people who live there do.  No windows I guess.

Ahh the beach.

Apparently there is a "thing" about the blue chairs.  

After the walkabout we left the group and headed off to find lunch.  It was nearly 2 pm by then. 

We ate at Boulangerie Jeannot 

I had a small sandwich, cantaloupe, and wine.  We were all pretty tired by then.  

The bird is happy. This was someone else's meal. He had to eat fast before the waiter came to clean up.

Time for dessert.  I had mango ice cream.  

Olive tree sculpture

We headed back to the hotel. 

Finally, time to check in.   Jeanne and I are in 432, Sharon is in 401, and Kris is in 304.

We had time to get checked in and to get settled.  

That door looking thing actually slides to cover the window.  Certainly a different kind of a window shade.

The view from our window.

We met in Sharon's room and then checked out each other's rooms.  They are each a little different.  

Then we headed out.  The goal was to walk to the Ascenseur du Chateau.  It was an elevator that would take us to the top of Castel Hill, for the view and to see the fountain. We got there and found that it was not open.  We got there right after it closed for the night, 10 am to 5:25 pm.  

See all of those stairs.

A sundial.  

I guess the only thing to do is to get a cocktail and watch the sunset.

Then it was time for dinner. We went to Bistrot d'Antoine

Some kind of fishy stuff to spread on bread.  It came without us ordering it.

A bridge in Paris.  Interesting that this picture was right by our table.

Jeanne ordered this appetizer: zucchini flowers stuffed with creamy mashed potatoes, crab and cocktail sauce.   Kris and Sharon ordered one to share.

Sharon and I each ordered the braised pork cheeks casserole and creamy polenta.  It was quite good.  Very tender meat.  It was an unusual way of serving it. Kris ordered the sea bass with rigatoni.

For dessert we shared the butternut panna cotta, chestnut cream, gingerbread, pickled pear and grapefruit pieces.

What a fun restaurant. The only downside was that because we did not have a reservation they put us upstairs and it was warm up there.  

It was very close to our hotel.  We were ready to call it a night.