old family blog

A Burger With No Bun?

After the Chagall museum we decided to head back the hill to do a little shopping. Further up into the hills was a museum for Matisse. Unfortunately I am not a big enough admirer to keep climbing up the hill. Neither were Clem’s parents. So we were off, walking down staircases and roads into some interesting areas of Nice.

Along the way we came across a bacci ball, then another one and another. They were so small to the one’s we’ve seen back home or even in Paris. What was cute was how they were nestled along the walkway and the homes sitting above them. I did get a few shots of courts.

As made our further down to the coast of Nice we came across a huge construction area. The city is putting in a light rail system that runs from the water all the way up into the hills. Unfortunately for pedestrians right now they have to deal with the unorganized construction. We veered off coarse as to avoid the craziness. We did happen to run into two interesting things.

The first being the largest vending machine I have ever seen. The machine took up an entire large storefront. Of coarse we used to it to get a bottle of Evian. It was pretty cool, even Clem was impressed. The second was a bit of a surprise. As we walked down one street we could hear bells chiming and as we came close to the corner. To the left we could see the tower of a Masque.

Then as we came around the corner, we jumped…….almost 100 men were kneeling on the sidewalk, an entire city block. Now we jumped because we didn’t expect to see them there. It was a rather amazing site to see that many people together. Of coarse all the women were across the street, but there were only half a dozen praying.

We ate lunch at a pub on a main street. It had a very American menu which was a great relief for Clem’s parents. They seemed to have overdone the whole Italian cuisine thing. Unfortunately in Nice, the cuisine is very Italian and very little French. Now, his mom ordered a simple salad and I ordered a Hamburger. The meal comes, and no BUN! Yup, a hamburger in Europe is just the patty no Bun. What was worse was how salty the patty was, and coming from me that must be really salty! The only thing I could think of was they used meat tenderizer on the meat. At that point I just bit my tongue and ate it.

After Lunch we finally hit the old town of Nice. We had finally found where everyone was hanging out and partying. Even at 2 in the afternoon! There were so many cute shops in the area and delicious foods. Clem and his Dad got some gelato, which they both liked. While I hit the chocolate shop. The shop had all these amazing candied fruits and jellies. I was in heaven. I also bought some 76% Cocoa Chocolate. We eventually cracked it open on the flight home to SF. It was so good!

What was amazing about the old town area was all the architecture. It was a stark contrast to all the French architecture in the newer areas of nice. Meaning in the last 150 years. This area is most certainly 200-250 years old. It had that medieval charm but with striking Mediterranean colors (which is new). I really fell in love with this area because of its charm. Plus there were a lot of young people in the area as well, which is interesting.

The day was winding down and we had to head back to the hotel and meet up with Nancy cousins who were arriving in Nice. Jim and Paulette were in Tuscany with Clem’s parents and more cousins’. They were coming to Nice to see the town and give Nancy and David a ride to Milan where they were flying to home.

posted by turlie @ 9:57 AM