THE Photo Op of the French Riviera
This morning we had a city tour of Nice. A bit of a rocky start as our AMA app had said to be in the lobby at 8:45am, breakfast at 7am. But when we went for breakfast we were the only ones. Apparently overnight they changed the app to read a 9:00am meet time. At 9am there were only four of us in the lobby and we were wondering what was going on. Finally, about 9:20 the guide appeared acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary. We took the six of us - where was everyone else - and stopped at the other hotel to pick up eight more....only fourteen? At the first stop the guide with the other group got together with our guide and explained she had FORTY-ONE guests...maybe they could divide us up more evenly. Problems with organization, hmmmm. Drove around Nice for a bit, then went up into the hills to see some gardens and get a great overlook of Nice. To the one side you could see the French Alps - about an hour drive. To the other side the Mediterranean Sea. Back on the bus and drove to another high elevation for THE photo op of the French Riviera (see above). Having been here before we knew we would in all likelihood be going here so had saved our photo op for here. As we wound our way down to the city square Kim said, "Aren't we walking the old city, it's almost 11:30 when the tour is scheduled to end." Not five minutes later the guide came on the microphone and said the bus would be stopping and if you were doing the old city tour - which would last about an hour - to get off with her here...or take the bus back to the hotel. So we hooked up with the other group and re-divided up the people, we got to join our friends Suzanne and Lynn, as well as John & Rene. Walked around the old city and then at the flower markets the tour ended. It was not an easy walk back to the hotel for many - and especially the less traveled the directions were not simple. Fortunately we knew where we were. We stopped at a restaurant we remembered from six years ago right off Messina Place for lunch then walked the remaining part back to the hotel. Later in the evening we enjoyed dinner with John and Rene. Tomorrow should be a great day with lots of photo ops as we return to the quaint mountain top village of Eze and then continue on to Monte Carlo in a full day excursion, our last of the trip. Also found out today our private car to the airport (about 20 minutes away) will pick us up at 4:15am for our 6:45 flight home!
(note - the guide did NOT point this out, but I knew!)
Nearly all doors had this open-air arch above the door to allow the cool, sea breezes to filter in and cool the home. Hard to see, but the stone work under the arch reads "1597" - this is one of THE oldest homes in Nice
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