2016.10.10 (Madrid – Nice[France])
We had a lazy morning enjoying a late breakfast as our flight to Nice was only scheduled for late afternoon. After our hotel check-out, we walked 50m to the subway station where we needed to plot our subway connection that would bring us to the airport. All the nifty mobile applications for Madrid’s subway did not help to account for the line 1 closure. Nonetheless, it was an easy commute to the airport’s terminal 4. Just when you think that an airplane’s seat couldn’t get any smaller, you discover that an airline has managed to do it. Thankfully, the flight to Nice was only two hours or so. Upon our arrival in Nice, we realized that the warm weather was now behind us. We managed to take a city bus to the downtown area of Nice but as I had forgotten to download the Nice map on my Maps.Me application, we needed to seek some directions from the friendly locals. We checked-in into our last hotel of this trip for the next four nights. Our room was graciously upgraded for the duration of our stay. We struggled a bit to find a reasonably priced restaurant nearby for supper but we finally opted for some pizza. We returned at our hotel under some light rain.
2016.10.11 (Nice)
Clearly the weather in Nice was now calling for long pants. The hotel’s included breakfast was well appreciated. We set out to explore some of the key tourist sites – along our walk on the Promenade des Anglais we encountered a large and touching memorial to the victims of July 14th’s attack in Nice. We wandered also into the old city center and the nearby hills offering beautiful views of the city. We got initiated to the tram on our way back to the hotel. We ended up having some Chinese fast food for supper after some unsuccessful restaurant visits.
2016.10.12 (Nice)
After breakfast, we headed out on a day trip to Eze, a very picturesque medieval town, which was an hour away by city bus. The village of Eze lied half way between the sea and the top of the coastal mountain range. After our visit of Eze, I managed to convince Jenny to head down the Nietzsche path to Eze-sur-mer – 50 minutes step downward walk. After arriving in Eze-sur-mer, we waited 15 minutes for a city bus to bring us to Monaco – some 30 minutes further along the coast. We wandered along the streets and stopped at a McDonald for a late lunch which offered a great view of the Mediterranean sea. Short on time, we did not visit any of the tourist attractions. Therefore, we headed back to Nice on a long bus ride. We picked up a few snacks at a grocery store to wrap up our evening.
2016.10.13 (Nice)
Today, we took another day trip – this time in the opposite direction of Monaco – towards Cannes – the host city of the famous film festival. As the weather forecast had intended, the rain would fall all day, hence we did not mind the one and half hour city bus ride to Cannes. Upon our arrival in Cannes, the rain hampered our interest to walk around. We seeked refuge at a McDonald’s for a coffee – just enough time to find a cinema showing an English movie. What better place than in Cannes to see a movie! Great timing – we located a cinema nearby with a showing in 10 minutes. After the movie, we took the city bus back to Nice. Our visit to Cannes was quite brief due to inclement weather but we could certainly appreciate how chaotic this city could be during its film festival. Back in Nice, we had supper at a Greek restaurant on our way to our hotel. We prepared our luggages for a very early departure tomorrow morning.
2016.10.14 (Nice)
By 4:00am, Jenny and I were already awake. We left our hotel and walked a few blocks to catch the 5am city bus which promptly brought us to the airport. Upon our arrival at the airport, we met a couple from Montreal who were wrapping their first cycling trip in Europe where they cycled from Rome to Nice over their two-week holiday. After flying on Iberia between Madrid and Nice, we both felt like Air Transat seats were so spacious! Upon our arrival in Montreal, we were confronted with even cooler weather. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the autumn colors along our drive back home!
Another good series of memories to file away!