nice is actually quite nice! (pun intended)

i was not really looking forward to nice as the attractions stated in the guidebook doesnt really appeal to me.
i guess i was spoilt by those cities which i've previously visited in europe like paris, rome, prague etc which boost much more "popular" sights.
but surprisingly, i did enjoyed my stay in nice! :)

maybe because of the good hospitality we enjoyed at our hotel star.
maybe because ive such a good host in kian neng. yes! the good sport actually drove 2 hours from where he is based in italy to spend time with us!
and he speaks french. and he drove us around. and he knows where are the fun places to be.
though i must say our itinerary is a really hectic one. heh.

1st stop: cours saleya aka the flowers market of nice
smaller than what i thought and not too interesting as i expected. but a very touristy spot no less as its flanked with restaurants on both sides.
"tabao-ed" lunch to be eaten at the bay of angels.
lunch was socca and francis, both local delights of nice. socca is made of chickpea flour and olive oil mainly and tasted mostly like our carrot cake.
francis is like our yong tau fu. lol. with fillings on top of tomato, brinjal etc.

ah long holding socca

this is where we had our lunch. wonderful view and sea breeze.
i really like this part of nice.
and the interesting part is that there is 3 shades of blue at this bay!


can u see the 3 shades?

next stop: russian cathedral
apparantly, russia has some presence in nice due to history and they built this cathedral here for its people.
feel like im in a mini st petersburg! :)

onwards to hotel negresco.

this was never on my itinerary. but this kian neng was gushing so much abt this belle epoque style hotel.

it was mentioned in the guide that the owner is a true art lover and she has collected alot of art pieces ranging from the medieval times to modern art.

all these pieces adorned the lobby of the hotel but its not accessible to the public. aka u cant just walk in and jalan jalan lah. only for the hotel guests to appreciate.

but at minimum 290 euros per night, abit hard for commoners like us leh.

so smartie kian neng suggested us to have a cocktail at its bar and from the bar, entered the lobby to have a good look.

ha cheapo us!

but its really a nice experience. the hotel bar reeks of lavish charm and the cocktail is really delicious!

but the highlight is really the lobby. all the art pieces are really good. cant take photos in there though.

i think this hotel got to be heavily insured for all the priceless pieces inside!

ah long and me

cant remember the name of the cocktail. got ginger taste one.

so its sweet n spicy at the same time

though we stayed in nice for 2 nights, half the day we were out of it.

heh. cos cote d'azur for so many other nice places.

still, we had one of our most interesting meals here.

thanks to kian neng again for bringing us to this restaurant - flo.

its recommended in the michelin guide!

the venue was formally a theatre, how interesting.

so the kitchen is now on the stage where we can see the cooks shuffling around, busy with their work.

the kitchen on the stage

a super tired us at the end of the day. dinner was late at almost 10pm!

french pple really like to take long late dinners. *yawn*

noted something interesting. the french seldom order the desserts at the start.

few times we ordered our desserts choices together with the mains, and the waiters were going,"no, no, you can do that later after your mains." and we were like, "umm, but we are decided already!". ha

and they refused to serve us the desserts until ALL our mains are done with.

really, dinner is a delicate ritual over there. unlike efficient singapore, where desserts can even come before appetiser. heh.

oh! and i got to try escargots! cooked snails to be eaten with some lemony sauce and mayo.

i ate soo much till the husband said no. cos seafood and shell fish may make me asthmatic at times.

the escargots just for me! and kian neng's sexy shoulder in the background.

nice is a good place to base in for one's tour ard the region.

though some areas are a little seedy to me. but lotsa good food outlets and hotels here.