After spending many a long day visiting historic ruins and art galleries it was exciting to be heading for the beach. The day began with breakfast at our hostel and a chat with a fellow middle-aged backpacker from Germany who was feeling a “bit out of it” in our pleasant but ‘young and hip’ hostel. We thought the mixed shared bathrooms were a challenge, but this lady was understandably struggling in a mixed dorm. We enjoyed a great breakfast with a choice of 10 varieties of cereals and warm home cooked bread. We then caught the tram down the hill and made our way to the beach.
By 10am in the morning it was already 30 degrees and we were ready for a swim before the crowds arrived. The water was a gorgeous Mediterranean blue colour because… (yes, we needed to pinch ourselves) we were swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. The water was cool but definitely refreshing. The water seemed to have a higher concentration of salt to our Pacific Ocean and we enjoyed floating, chatting and just enjoying a very memorable swim.
All that said there were a few things that were very different to our beaches at home:
1. There was no sand and the rocky walk from the “beach” to the water was rather painful, as was walking around in the water. No wonder everyone enjoys floating on their backs.
2. As in every other place in Europe many of the people on the beach (and quite a few in the water) were smoking. ‘Quit for Life’ needs to run a campaign or two in Europe!
3. For some unknown reason people (particularly the oldies) got changed on the beach. Some do an amazing modest shuffle with a towel but others don’t bother – it’s all out there!
4. Large areas of the beach are reserved for the hotels or are commercial areas where you can hire your deck chair, umbrella and towel and be provided with a strip of carpet to avoid the rocky walk to the beach. All the umbrellas are arranged in neat rows, which gives a very ordered appearance to the beach area.
5. And of course, the water is absolutely flat with no waves at all.
But all that said we really enjoyed our morning swim at Nice beach.
The rest of the day was filled up with the normal stuff of a lazy day at the beach. A stroll around the headland. A wander through a wonderful French antiques market where Wendy could not resist buying a little old milk jug that probably came out of a café somewhere. Then lunch at a local café in the old town, a look around the quaint little shops and then home about 4pm for a siesta.
All in all, a nice Nice day, which ended in a way we never would have imagined or contemplated before this trip. After we cooked our dinner at our hostel we made a late decision, which culminated in a tram ride to town and a 30-minute train ride to the Principality of Monaco. We walked from the station down to the port area and saw some of the largest private yachts in the world. We climbed the hill and found an outdoor café where we shared a huge berry ice cream sundae and watched the rich and glamorous arrive in their very fancy cars and make their way into the famous Monte Carlo Casino.
To be honest a playground for the rich is not really our scene but it was great fun to go to a different country for dessert.
No comments:
Post a Comment