One day in Nice

Saturday 14th June 2014

Blog post by the mother

It was with a degree of sadness that we left Mas Aurelia this morning and headed towards Nice.  Sad because we have had such a fabulous time in St Remy and also because the end of this particular adventure is drawing closer. 

Anyway, enough of such maudlin sentiment and on with the day!  The trusty Mercedes Viano took us all the way to Nice safely and even Wanda (the navigation lady) was predominantly co-operative.  I had been a little (ok, a lot) concerned about driving on the French Motorway system but I was soon whipping along at 130km/hr with the best of them.  Funnily enough all the slowest cars seemed to have GB stickers on them.  I dread to think how awkward it must be to drive on the right hand side of the road in a right hand drive car.  We stopped only to pay tolls (and there were a few) and for a snack break about half way so we reached Nice Airport by 1.30pm.

We dropped off the rental car and then waited for the hotel shuttle to come and pick us up.  I thought I'd better include at least one or two 'waiting around at the airport' photos just to prove that the trip hasn't been all glamour and trips up the Eiffel Tower!

Our hotel was 10 minutes from the airport but right on the beach and next to the biggest shopping mall in Nice.  We went for a quick walk along the beach when we arrived but the clouds were already beginning to roll in when we went hunting for a late lunch at the mall. By the time we came out the first raindrops were beginning to fall so we scuttled back to the hotel for a bit of homework and down time.  Miss 9 had purchased a new bikini at the mall so was very miffed that the thunderstorms had put paid to her swimming plans.

By 7pm the rain was still falling and the natives were getting hungry and therefore fractious.  As a result of sheer overwhelm and convenience we broke our rule of "McDonalds is only to use the toilets" and we to McDo's (as the French call it) for dinner.  As it turns out, this visit to McDo's was a cultural experience in it's own right.  First were the 'easy order' machines which enable you to order as you walk in the door without having to talk to a real person.  Usually I'm all for talking to real people but, when ordering for 6 people who keep changing their minds about what they want, sometimes a machine who doesn't mind waiting and changing orders multiple times can be quite a relief.

Second interesting thing about McDo's is that once the machine has taken your order you just go and sit down.  I only noticed as we were leaving, but the sign on the front door proudly proclaimed that in addition to free wi-fi and air-con, this McDo's offered table service.  We sat at our table and within 5 minutes a lovely young man arrived with our order and a "Bon Appetit".  Here we are about to tuck in.  Possibly to small to see in this photo but if you look closely at the green can on the left you will see Papa's beer - only in Europe!  Sadly, the food was not a super special French version of McDonalds, but it was predicable and the kids ate it.

Meanwhile outside the rain had finally stopped.  Hurrah!  On our way back to the hotel we went for another meander down to the beach where we all touched the Mediterranean.  Miss 9 was still all for going for a swim but at 9pm this was not to be. 

Back to the hotel we went and, after a final repack, it was off to bed ready for our flight to Italy tomorrow.