Arrival in Nice
February 21, 2018 Nice
Flights to Paris were uneventful;
Delta was just fine. Facial recognition
has come to international travel! Our
passports had been scanned by Delta in Rochester. In Atlanta, boarding the flight to Paris, we
had to stare into a camera, and the computer matched our face to our passport
photo before allowing us on the plane. Big
Brother is looking at you!
Air France Paris-Nice was
two hours delayed, and we arrived at 11:00 AM having slept minimally on the
plane across the Atlantic. Our Uber from
the airport to the hotel couldn’t get there, as the road in front of our hotel
was closed for a Carnival parade. Our
driver was wonderful—he parked about three blocks away, and, pulling Joyce’s
suitcase, walked us to the hotel and then refused a tip! We were able to add a tip online.
The Côte d'Azur is beautiful, even
in mid-winter. The weather is sunny and cold,
temperatures in the 50s in the daytime and 40s at night, but the walk alongside
the water is full of people enjoying the outdoors. There are no hotels in Nice right on the
water—they’re all across the road. Here’s
the view from our hotel window:
We checked in, took a nap,
and then went for a walk and for dinner.
There are a number of large pedestrian malls flanked by restaurants and
shops, and even in mid-winter, the French and the tourists eat outdoors:
We ate indoors. Off to bed early, and we’ll start our visit tomorrow.
Probably makes sense to have the hotels on the other side of the road--keeps them a little far from storm surge, etc. Though I suppose there's that special convenience when you can walk out of a hotel right onto a beach....
ReplyDeleteI love the outdoor dining! Reminds me of some meals in Rome and (at night) in Madrid.