Now, the reason we came to Nice! The Tour de France! If you haven’t read how we got to this point, go read my previous post on how we FINALLY got to Nice!
The next morning, after spending over an hour on the phone with British Airways “declining” their sad attempt to get us to Nice AFTER the Tour was over and making sure they didn’t cancel our return flights in the process, we went to explore the festivities! We checked out the finishing stretch, bought ALL the merch we could get our hands on (really, I bought 3 Tour de France shirts), visited the fan zone to pick up all the giveaways, and scoped out the perfect location to watch the final stage along the water.
Nice was decked out EVERYWHERE with fun Tour de France things, they were all so excited to host such a momentous event!
That second accidental salad from Paul in Paris came in handy because we knew we needed to get to our preferred spot ASAP, so we scarfed it down and headed out to enjoy the race. The promotional caravan came through with ALL the fun parade floats and tossed giveaways and we even caught that we were hoping for, the coveted King of the Mountains polka dotted hat (for Casey) and shirt (for me, so now that is 4 TdF shirts). The individual time trial course started in Monaco and ended in Nice, and for the first time ever, the final stage of the Tour did not end in a final sprint in Paris.
A time trial stage is the best for seeing specific riders on the course as they go by one by one in a race against the clock (and gives you over 150 chances to perfect your camera technique!). In a road stage, you wait for hours, and the peloton goes by in less than a minute. We found our spot sitting on a concrete sidewalk barrier and made a friend that had a USA flag, Colin. He was invaluable with his iPad to check on the time splits and the next riders coming down the course, even though the cycling-mad kids beside us knew who they were before we could even see their names on the front of their cars.
After Tadej Pogacar, the yellow jersey, sped by and won the race, we made our way towards the finish line to see if we could spot the ceremonies from afar. I even got to meet one of my favorite riders, Geraint Thomas from INEOS while we were making our way to try to see the celebrations.
We were VERY unsuccessful in our endeavors to see the ceremonies, with the security barriers and grandstands in the way, we had to resort to streaming France itv again, only this time it was just yards away from the proceedings.
Done with the excitement of the Tour de France, we started just enjoying Nice for what it is. I had zeroed in on le Safari for its picturesque setting and its reputation for amazing food from the region.
We tried Nicoise cuisine, like the daube nicoise, which is a mixture of French and Italian food with ravioli covered in beef stew.
We had to top off the evening with some ice cream, and while many people flock to Finnocchio, many “purists” doubt their ability to handmake so many flavors with the correct techniques and ingredients, and they now say that Gelateria Azzurro is the best in town, and I believe it. I ended up going three times in two days to try all their delicious ice cream!
We took a stroll back to our apartment through the still bustling streets and off to bed after an amazing day.
Monday morning, without the Tour to distract us, we picked up our normal Eastern European bakery goods (from Zielinska in the bottom floor of our building) and went off to explore.
We visited the Musee Massena, a turn of the century villa that houses history and art from the Riviera and the end of the Belle Epoque in France with a fully restored bottom floor to represent what it would have looked like back then.
With a bit of time before our lunch reservation, so we took a pleasant stroll through the shopping district which was still decorated for the Tour de France!
A restaurant that I had zeroed in on from my early research was the beach club Le Galet, just steps away from the dazzling blue water, a perfect shady escape on a breezy sunny day.
I indulged in some Italian pizza and a fruity drink by the water and Casey went with the local cuisine and ordered a Salad Nicoise. To extend the relaxing meal, we enjoyed a “La Citron Vodka”, lemon sorbet topped with lemon vodka (I seem to have had the Italian version in Capri with a granita and limoncello!). After trying to study French for a year via my library app, we spoke the entire time in French to our server! I was so excited!
We then used our transit passes to head up to the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Western Europe and experienced the grand architecture and history behind its existence.
We then went to catch the beautiful view from the top of Castle Hill, where there really used to be a castle and formidable fortress centuries ago. Now it’s one of the best views of the city with a gorgeous waterfall emulating the historical spring that used to bring drinkable water to the village inside the walls.
One last evening stroll through the old town and we realized we could not leave Nice without tasting the most famous dish, a chickpea pancake, called socca! We stopped by Lou Pilha Leva which is famous for their Nicoise specialties and had a selection of typical dishes of the region.
One more stop on the way home for ice cream and time to pack up for our morning train!
A visit to the bakery and one last wander through the Cours Saleya market to purchase some wonderful soap and we grabbed our luggage and said goodbye to Nice, but not without a sandwich from Paul to accompany us to Paris!
Stay tuned for our arrival in Paris!
Katherine's Next Trip! 
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