Five Days On The French Riviera
My First Trip to The Cote d’Azur
On the heels of a very leisurely week of cruising down the Canal du Midi (details found HERE), we proceeded to make our new home of Nice, our base for five days of exploring the famous French Riviera.
Our Itinerary:
Day 1 - Arrive by train from Aix-en-Provence, check into our Airbnb, and a very rushed visit to the brocante market at the Cours Saleya Market before it closed at 3 PM (phew!).
Day 2 - Explore the Old Town with a local photographer for some couple's photos (we try to do this at least once on every trip), and do some shopping.
Day 3 - Relax! We chose to spend the majority of this day at the beach.
Day 4 - Spend a half-day in the village of Eze and then visited Monte-Carlo, Monaco, followed by a sunset dinner at Le Plongeoir back in Nice.
Day 5 - A Full-day visit to the town of Grasse, where we did a little exploration, took a Fragonard factory tour, and then a perfume workshop.
Day 6 - We had a morning departure flight from the Nice Airport.
Day 1 - Arrival
Travel days are usually stressful, from the dozen checks to make sure you didn’t leave a charger or your favorite face cream in the bathroom at the hotel you’re leaving, the anxiety of getting settled on to whatever form of transport you’re taking, and finally, getting checked-in and settled at your new and unfamiliar home, there are a lot of things that can go wrong on travel days.
With that in mind, even when everything runs smoothly, the potential of things going wrong can often distract you from the fact that you’re on vacation and should be having fun, but maybe that’s just me?
We had made a pit stop of one night in Aix-en-Provence after completing our barge cruise in Beziers and before arriving in Nice. I’ll write a post about that experience later on but since it was just a single night that happened to also be a Sunday, there’s not a ton of information to add, so I’m skipping ahead to our time on the Riviera).
Having taken a morning train from Aix-en-Provence, we arrived at the Nice Ville train station at around 11:30 am, followed by a brisk 15-20 minute walk (luggage in tow) to our Airbnb. After arriving and getting checked in, we once again hit the pavement in search of the Cours Saleya Market at around a little after 1 pm (much to the chagrin of my now hangry husband). Unfortunately, (despite having readily available and accurate information from Google Maps) the distance and time it took for us to traverse this distance were more than expected (30-40 minutes). So, after a nearly sprinting speed walk, we arrived sweaty, nearly out of breath, and with short fuses. To ensure that my husband didn’t combust on me, I elected that he should go get a nice lunch at one of the cafes that encircle the market and that I would dash around the market and check back in with him at the cafe, frequently (I don’t pay for phone service when we travel) to see if he was finished and ready to join me, but that I would try to make the most of the market before it closed (many vendors had already begun to close by the time we arrived).
Day 2 - Exploring Nice
Feeling more ourselves after a night of rest, we rose early to get coffee before our morning photo shoot. I believe that of the reasons to travel to Europe, morning coffee at the many cafes is among the biggest. Fully caffeinated, we met our photographer, who skillfully guided us through Old Town to all the best places, while giving us great ideas for places to return to after we were finished.
Following the conclusion of our self-imposed paparazzi session, we visited several boutiques in search of items on my wish list, which I was ultimately delighted to have found.
Later in the afternoon, after returning to our Airbnb for a little refresher, we made our way to the iconic (and nearby), hotel Negresco, where a couple of our friends were staying. Once there, a member of the hotel staff graciously guided our small group on a tour of the hotel and the extraordinary pieces of art and history that it contains. When the tour concluded in one of the two beautifully appointed bars, we treated ourselves to espresso martinis (the unintentional cocktail of the trip), and then we collectively made our way back to Old Town for an intimate but likely dinner at a Northern Indian restaurant.
Day 3 - Taking A Day Off
It may sound silly to want to take a day off from vacation, but there is real value in not making any plans for at least one day to allow yourself the unnecessary permission to be spontaneous. I have talked at length about this phenomenon in other posts, but being the planner that I am, I need to be reminded of it regularly.
To that end, we slept late on our third day, and after a quick Google search (using our Airbnb wi-fi) of the best brunch spots in Nice still serving food between 11am-noon, we found the jackpot! It so happened to be that one of the top 10 brunch recommendations for Nice, was located between our Airbnb and a private beach where we could rent loungers, so we had solved the question of how we would be spending the rest of our day. This brunch recommendation was named La Femme du Boulanger.
We arrived a short time later at the restaurant and sat down at a charming, but not overly elaborate, patio table at La Femme du Boulanger. We were greeted immediately by our server who gave us water, menus and asked us if we wanted to get started with anything before consulting the menu. We eagerly requested coffee and I (out of habit at this point in the trip) also asked for a pain au chocolate (a chocolate croissant). The waiter, seeming slightly perplexed and perhaps lacking the English vocabulary to respond to my request, assured us that he would be right back and then quickly left our table. Not a minute later, a young woman came to the table (followed closely by a young man in an apron who bolted out onto the street and then down the block), and explained that the restaurant did not have any pain au chocolates but that they sent a boy to the bakery to get one for me, and that our coffee would be ready momentarily. She then exited stage right and was replaced with our primarily French-speaking waiter, coffee in hand.
The story of this pseudo-comical brunch does not end with just ordering a pain au chocolate, however. Shortly after placing our food orders, an elderly gentleman, looking like what one would imagine as an old French country baker (I will refer to him as "bread man"), brought us a basket containing a variety of thick, freshly toasted bread slices, along with a selection of jars filled with different jams and spreads. I want to point out that I am not talking about Wonder Bread slices or store-bought bread rolls from large trays, but rather, honest-to-goodness, country-style loaves of bread. Now, you might be thinking that the significance of this bready detail is not the style of the bread or the variety of the spreads, rather, it is the man who brought it to our table.
After dropping off this perfectly toasted basket of grain goodness, the bread man proceeded to go and visit with other patrons (I assume them to be regulars given his familiarity). Meanwhile, we leisurely sipped our coffees and commented on how appetizing our newly acquired bread basket and spread assortment was, while we patiently waited for the food that we had ordered to arrive which was the wrong thing to do.
After completing his conversations at other tables, the bread man returned to our table and (to his dismay) discovered that we had not yet eaten all of the bread in our basket (he spoke no English, so I wasn’t sure of just how upset he was). He grabbed our basket and hurried inside the restaurant, leaving both my husband and I thoroughly confused by what had just happened. We had no sooner exchanged looks of confusion when we were rejoined by this perplexing Frenchman with a new basket of hot, toasted bread.
“Chaude,” he stated emphatically while placing pieces of the hot bread on each of our plates, making eye contact with each of us as he went, before setting down the new basket and once again leaving the table.
What finally sunk in after reflection and piecing together what french words we knew, were able to understand that he was the owner of the restaurant as well as the bread baker and that he wanted his bread eaten while it was at its best, a.k.a, warm. The bread man returned much later in our meal to make sure that we had eaten more of the bread in the basket, saw that we had, and gave us a big smile and a nod of approval. By the conclusion of this unusual dining experience, we were stuffed full of delicious food (including my pain au chocolate), had smiles on our faces, and even purchased two jars of one of the spreads they had served with the bread.
The rest of our day was spent stretched out on sun-loungers at Ruhl Plage (one of the many private beaches on the promenade des anglais a long the , where we marveled at not just the beautiful azure-colored water, but at how amazingly lucky we were to be there, together, and at that moment, we were full of carbs and truly at peace.
Day 4 - Village Visits & Sunset Dinners
Eze
Rising early, we booked an Uber Van (Uber+ does not exist in France, but they do use vans, which is better for bigger groups anyway) and made our way to the village of Eze. Reachable by car or train, but the train option requires a hike or a cab ride from the train station at the bottom of the hill on which Eze sits, however, we opted for a van so we could be dropped off directly at the village entrance, and therefore save time.
We arrived around 9:30 am before the shops had started to open (which occurs around 11 am), but neither had most of the tourists, providing us (largely) with the place to ourselves.
Contained within this stunningly beautiful medieval village, are two Chateau. Both of these chateaus are beautiful but serve slightly different purposes. The first of these is the Chateau de Eze (popular as a wedding venue), and the second is Chateau de Chevre d'Or (The Golden Goat). The Chateau de Chevre d'Or is a jaw-droppingly beautiful network of hotel rooms within the village walls and has multiple terrace restaurants and cafes (connected to the hotel). Despite being somewhat pricey, it is my opinion, that the cost of grabbing a drink or a meal at one of these cafes justifies the experience. We opted to get coffee and croissants at the cafe which shares the same terrace as the restaurant that serves the hotel guests breakfast.
After the most epic morning coffee ever, it was now after 11 am and the shops had begun to open, as did our wallets. With a wide variety of shops and art galleries, it isn't difficult to find a memorable souvenir at a price point that fits any size budget.
Monte Carlo - Monaco
After a somewhat frustrating series of driver-canceled Uber rides, we eventually made our way from Eze down to Monaco, but unfortunately, I made a major logistical flaw. I had wrongfully assumed that due to the relatively small geographic area of this famously small city-state, everything would be located near each other (which is true), but when our Uber driver asked if we wanted to go to the city center or the upper town, I defaulted to the “city center.” The result of my uninformed decision was us getting dropped off in front of the Monte-Carlo Casino, which is amidst the big brand shops, but not at all close to the cultural center (which is in the upper city).
At the end of the day, if we had more time to explore the area, I might feel differently, but in general, I was "underwhelmed" by Monaco and found it to feel like an expensive shopping mall near the water. The moral of the story (if there is one), is to research exactly where you want to be dropped off in Monaco before you go.
Le Plongeoir
Easily one of the most memorable dining experiences I've ever had occurred at a little restaurant famously perched out over the water, at Le Plongeoir. Unable to make a group reservation for eight adults, we opted to make reservations in groups of two, which worked out perfectly. Afterward, we all agreed that everything from the food and service to the weather and colors of the sunset, was filled with joy, and collectively created an experience that we will all treasure.
Day 5 - Exploring French Perfume in Grasse, France
I’ll write a post with more specifics of this experience, but suffice it to say that this was a highlight of our time on the Riviera. Referencing back to my earlier mention of transportation challenges to some of the inland villages of this region, we again opted to take an Uber van directly to the Fragonard museum (which also happens to be located in the heart of Grasse). Similar to Eze, there is a train that runs from Nice, however, the train station is (as was the case in Eze) located at the bottom of a big hill, which is much easier to walk down, than it is to walk up.
If you choose to visit Grasse and opt to visit a perfumer other than Fragonard, be sure to note the proximity of where they conduct their workshop to that of the old town in Grasse because some of them are closer than others.
In hindsight, I wish we had given ourselves more time just to explore Grasse, which was a warm and charming place with many little shops and cafes I would have loved to have visited, but the length of time it took for us to complete our factory tour and workshop, was longer (by more than an hour) than we had expected. Fortunately, we had enough time to pop into a few of these shops as well as to share the final dinner of the trip, followed by the winding walk down the hill to the train station, where we briefly boarded the wrong train back to Nice. Thankfully, we were corrected by a kindly local we had spoken with on the platform, who, on discovering our error, located us on the train and ushered us back off before the train left the station.
My Top Highlights of The French Riviera
Exploring the various markets held at the Cours Saleya Market in Nice
Breakfast at La Femme du Boulanger in Nice
Our half-day in the village of Eze
Dinner at Le Plongeoir
Our group perfume workshop at Fragonard in Grasse
Did I miss something that you feel should have been added to my “to-do” list during my trip? Add it as a comment below!
