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Travel - Exploring Nice, France

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After a diverted and delayed flight from London UK due to  thick fog in London's Heathrow Airport, we finally arrived in Nice, France.  On this trip, we visited the French Riviera and Provence.  The largest city in the French Riviera is Nice, France. It is located in the Southeast of France on the Mediterranean Sea. Nice, pronounced "Nis" was named by the Greek settlers from around 350 BC from the Greek God  "Nike" Goddess of Victory and called the city Nikaia.

In the region of the French Riviera, the main airport is located in Nice. Aeroport Nice - Cote D'Azur serves the surrounding cities of Antibes, Cannes and the Principality of Monaco.


Nice Airport located on the Mediterranean Sea.


View of Nice and the Baie des Anges
View of City of Nice, Promenade Des Anglais and the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea in Nice is actually called the "Baie des Anges" (Bay of Angels).

Promenade Des Anglais
The Promenade Des Anglais was built in the 1820 by the English Upper class vacationers in Nice during that time. It is a 5 km highway line with the palm tress along the way and it also has a parallel walkway by the seafront for pedestrians, joggers and has its own bicycle lane.

Promenade Des Anglais Highway and parallel walkway on the seafront.


Promenade Des Anglais at night with the view of the hotel where we stayed at  Le Negresco.

People walking and relaxing along the Promenade Des Anglais overlooking the Baie Des Anges.


View of  Nice Old Town and the Cathedral Ste-Reparate built in the 17th Century Baroque Style.


View of Nice and surrounding district of Carabacel and Cimiez.


Cathedrale Orthodoxe Russe

Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Nice was built by Tsar Nicholas II in 1912 to serve his Royal Family when they vacationed in Nice, France.


Cours Saleya

View of Cours Saleya district with the parallel building and coloured tents below is an area where everyday they have a Flowers market and the buildings are all restaurants and pubs serving mostly Seafood specialties from the Mediterranean Sea.


Saleya Antiques Market on Mondays. Then from Tuesdays to Saturday this becomes a Flower Market.

Saleya Restaurants surrounding the Antiques market.


 One of the seafood restaurants in the Saleya with the fresh catch of the day from the Mediterranean Sea.


Place Massena


Named after Napoleon's grandson, the Grand Marshall Andre Massena who was born and lived in Nice. This Place/ Plaza is the centre of shopping with Galerie Lafayette Department store and High end shops like Hermes, Longchamp and Louis Vuitton on the nearby Avenue De Verdun. Tram passes through the Plaza and always filled with people walking by.

Place Massena at night with the passing tram and people hanging out. The sculptures on top lights up and changes colour through the night.

Cimiez District

Hotel Regina is the place where Queen Victoria stayed while vacationing in Nice, France. It is now converted to condominiums. The Cimiez District is the fashionable are in Nice where the affluent reside in their hilltop Villas overlooking the city and the Mediterranean Sea.

Cimiez Park  with Olive groves and the Musee Matisse in the background.

Cimiez was the Ancient Roman Capital in Nice. Here is one of the ruins in the park. Here is where the summer Nice Jazz Festival is held.

Old Franciscan Monastery and Notre Dame.

Interior of the  Franciscan Monastery Notre Dame in Cimiez.


Acropolis Congress
Acropolis is across from the Musee D' Art Contemporain


Place Garibaldi

Place Garibaldi overlooking the Musee D'Art Contemporain has many restaurants and shops around it. One of the famous restaurants is the Cafe De Turin behind the Monument of Garibaldi which I will feature in a later post.

Museums in Nice

Besides Paris,  the region of the Cote D'Azur is second to Paris as the centre of Art and Design. Many famous artists like Pablo Picasso, who lived in Grimaldi Castle in Antibes, Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall in Nice plus other Impressionist painters like Van Gogh, Pierre Renoir who have been influenced and captivated by the beauty of the Cote D'Azur.


Musee Massena

The 19th Century Villa of Napoleon's grandson, Andre Massena, who was also a General in the French Army. The Museum features mostly Napoleon and his Empress Josephine's paintings, Josephine's gold cloak and Napoleon's death mask. The Museum offers free entrance. It has beautiful interiors.



Interior of the Musee Massena
Empress Josephine Gold Cloak
Statue of Napoleon Bonaparte

Musee D'Art Contemporain

The Musee D'Art Contemporain is a beautiful  modern building showing the avant garde art from French artist in the likes of Yves Klein, Niki De Saint Phalle,  American Artist Andy Warhol among other. Visitors can visit the 7th floor rooftop for wonderful view of Nice, the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea.



Works of Art by by my new favourite Artist Niki De Saint Phalle which I will feature in a separate blog post. We learn and discover new things everyday.

Gown made with plastic water bottles.


Famous French Painter Yves Klein's "Anthropometrie" (1960) in Klein's famous blue. Known as the Klein's Blue.


Musee Matisse

Musee Matisse exhibits all the works of Henri Matisse.


Nu bleu IV, 1952. Nice

Tempete a Nice, 1919 - Hotel de la Mediterranee, Nice

Femme a l ombrelle, 1905

Other Museums worth visiting are Musee Chagall which exhibits works of art by Artist Marc Chagall and the Musee Beaux Arts which was the former Ukrainian Princess Villa showing Impressionists works of art.



I loved exploring Nice. It is a very cultured city with the enjoyment of the beach on the Mediterranean Sea.  One can stay on the Beach in the morning, have lunch in the Plages- seaside restaurant along the Promenade Des Anglais, then spend the afternoon exploring the many Museums or nearby hillside towns.  One can experience both the beautiful, clear, sparkling Mediterranean Sea, see the beautiful Villas overlooking the Sea, enjoy the seaside restaurants and then also enrich yourself in the culture and lifestyle of the Cote D'Azur.






Sources: Eyewitness Travel:Provence and The Cote D'Azur; Musee Matisse Nice;Wikipedia.
Content from this blog, both text, photographs and videos, belong to www.thestyleandtravel-journals.blogspot.com.






















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Pamela lives in Toronto, Canada, currently working in Banking in the field of Credit and Finance. The Chic Delights blog has evolved into an on-line magazine about my experiences and inspirations on style, travel, people, lifestyle and current events. My features are not sponsored posts. The photographs and stories featured here are all from my own resources and experiences. [Pamela RG] (https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-43Wqs-SmwEU/UggtnO60INI/AAAAAAAAQw0/HZa9oGRC8Bc/w200-h200-no/DSCN0550.jpg)