We have struck gold again, both in location and weather.
Our apartment on the unpronounceable rue de la Barillerie (even the French have a hard time with the name) is all of two blocks to the Mediterranean.
And the weather here so far is nothing but azure skies that match the colors of the Med with temperatures climbing to just about 60 F each of the last two days. Even though it is some 10-15 degrees warmer here than in Paris, most people still wear scarves and heavy coats, including us. The breeze coming off the Med is quite cool; after all, we are in the middle of winter.
On Tuesday, our first full day in Nice, we found the Hop On/Hop Off tour bus and booked it for two days (one day is 22 euros, two days is 25). It sounds hokey and so very touristy, and it is. But the round-about bus tour is the easiest way to quickly learn a new city and choose which attractions are the most interesting to you. And the tour bus will bring you right to our choices without having to resort to local transit.
The Matisse Museum is tops on the list, but it is farthest from where we are, so the tour bus makes even more sense.
On Wednesday, we caught the tour bus, took it to the park in front of Musée Matisse and wandered in for a delightful afternoon of culture, lunch on the grounds in the brilliant sunshine and a visit to the Archeology Museum next door, complete with Roman ruins. We purchased the 20 euro Nice Museum Pass good for seven days, so two museums the first day pay for the pass.
Then back to the seashore for another afternoon beverage and a walk through our neighborhood. Lynn had purchased all the fixings for a French ravioli dinner earlier, so we planned to dine in after two sybaritic evenings of culinary art in the neighborhood.
The night before, on the recommendation of both Silvio our landlord and Georgio our chef downstairs, we made reservations at Bistro D’Antoine. This is rated one of the best restaurants in Nice by Trip Advisor, and it was obvious why. We shared a rabbit terrine that was big enough for a main course. Lynn ordered the duck breast that was served unsliced, a cylinder of perfectly prepared magret accompanied by potatoes and celery root pureé. I enjoyed pork cheeks that came out in their own pot simmering in gravy to be dunked into the polenta on my plate. We went through every last morsel of bread.
Service here is professional and efficient. Don’t expect the staff to fawn all over you. They run a tight restaurant. We were fortunate to get reservations at the last minute, but we had to take the American seating at 7:15 p.m. It was worth it. We splurged a bit on the wine–31 euros for a deliciously rich Rousillon.
Thank goodness the place was right around the corner from our apartment. I’m not sure we could have waddled back much farther.