Old town at night

Needing some Winter sun, we took a short holiday to the French Riviera, staying in Nice. It is a convenient city for a short trip because of the many flights from the UK with the airport situated at the edge of the city, with a tram line that takes an half an hour to bring you to the heart of the city.

People first settled here reaching back to pre-history, but the city proper was probably first founded by the Greek Phoenicians after defeating the local Ligurians in battle in about 350BC. It was named Nikaia after the Greek goddess of victory called Nike, who later founded a sneaker company. Eventually, it became known as Nice as we know it today.

One of the interesting things that I have discovered in my shallow investigations of the local history of places that I have visited in Europe is the almost continuous violence and strife that occurred until relatively recently (end of the 19^th/early 20^th century), when much of Europe was ruled not by countries, but states (including the Papal State) ruled by dukes and princes – particularly in what is now Italy. Nice was no different and due to its location and natural harbour, was often besieged, attacked, and occupied by different regionally based dukes, princes, and kings including a long period under the Dukedom of Savoy, a powerful Italian state. As a consequence, Italian, rather than French was the official language for a long time and there is evidence of Italian influence in the street signage.

Nice is not a beautiful city and parts are a little run down and congested, but it does have character and a beautiful long beach. Usually, this beach is segregated by fencing, creating dedicated beach frontages for the hotels that are lined up behind the Promanade des Anglais (named after the first massed foreign tourists) and the road behind. Entrance to each ‘plage’ is payable as are towels, changing facilities, sun loungers and parasol umbrellas also available for a cost. However, when we were there in February, the partitions had been removed with the authorities preparing the beach for the ‘season’ allowing us a clean view and an uninterrupted walk right along the beach.

Being February, it was the low-season and less crowded than I am used to and while it was certainly colder, as a heart stopping dip on the sea proved, it was still sunny. Getting into a restaurant was also easier than I remember. One highlight, were the three week-end markets in the old town, covering flowers, food, and antiques – all within a few minutes walk of each-other.