Oh Nice

All I knew of what to expect about Nice before we got there was that we would be in the French Riviera, so it was going to be beautiful. Other than that, I had absolute no idea what Nice would be like. I was a little nervous, as I have heard many Americans say that if you’re in France and you don’t speak French, the French people won’t give you the time of day–and that concerned me. I know the main words like “bonjour” and “merci” but that’s about the extent of my French.

We rented a 3 bedroom flat through Airbnb. It was clean and had everything we needed, although it was a bit tight, but we managed. My husband didn’t end up having work that week, so it ended up being a nice vacation-like week for us. We slept in every day and found a wonderful park right across the street from where we were staying perfect for the kids to get their energy out. The weather was just lovely, so we took many walks down to the Mediterranean shore line, spent a lot of time at the park, and just had a wonderful and rest-filled week. We even started an every-other-day family run…much to our children’s dismay. It has actually been really fun to do together–and for me–it’s been especially fun watching other people watch us as we run for 30 seconds and walk for 3o seconds for a half-hour. I’m sure we don’t look normal.

After being in Italy for 3 weeks, we were so sick of Italian food, we were hoping to find something different in Nice. On the second night we were there, we found a restaurant that had Lebanese food. Only my husband had ever had Lebanese food and he liked it, so because that seemed to be our only option other than Italian food that we knew of at the time, we decided to try it. We were not disappointed. This place was so good we went back another night. If you’re ever in Nice, check out Di Yar! Their food is amazing! From kabobs to hummus to falafels–they have it all. The first night we had a waiter that was incredibly helpful in helping us pick out the perfect portions for our family too. I would definitely go back if we end up back in Nice!

Since we were in France, and we love French food, my husband and I wanted to check out a French restaurant on a date-night. We found a place with a lot of good reviews called HANgout. I ordered the Lamb, which was incredible and my husband ordered the salmon, which was pretty dang good too. My favorite was the dessert. In Italy I was introduced to baba and ever since then, I’ve been checking the dessert menus because I have found my new heaven in baba. The first two times we had it we were in Naples. The very first time it was a fluffy white buttery cake filled with some of the most incredible cream I have ever had in my life. I was hooked. The second time we ordered it, it was just the fluffy white buttery cake, but it was still so amazing I wanted more. I hadn’t seen it on any other menu until we got to HANgout and I knew I had to have it. I was not disappointed. It was the white buttery melt-in-your mouth cake, but this time they had you pour rum all over it. Yeah, it was that good.

Probably my favorite part of the whole time in Nice was after that delicious French meal, my husband and I walked down to the water. It had been storming all day and the waves were fairly rough coming into the shore-line. As we sat on the benches over-looking the Mediterranean waters, you could see bolts of lightning streaking across the sky and down into the water. It was incredibly beautiful and awe-inspiring. A wonderful light-show to end our time in Nice.

I hope to go back someday. Next time I’d like to do a little more touristy things, but we needed a restful week, and that’s what we did. As for my pre-suppositions on the French, well, every single person we came into contact with was kind, helpful and so welcoming. Those pre-suppositions have been shattered and I look forward to visiting again! And now we’re off to Lisbon!

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