June 8, Avignon and Nice

I was awake so early - 6 am or so - and went out to see both the bridge and the Palais des Papes without crowds. The great square before the palais was empty except for pigeons.  Many residents were out cleaning and sweeping up, and I picked a bit of lavender down by the bridge.  It was good to be out early, in the quiet.  Some birds were singing.  Swifts or swallows darted down by the river.  The river was quiet, a man walked his dog and the dog ran into the water, biting at something.  Little dog, old man.  Pinkish glow in the sky beyond the shadowed bridge with its shallow arches.

Le Pont d'Avignon at dawn.

I think I surprised the night clerk when I returned to the hotel around quarter past seven.   Breakfast was less extensive than at the hotel in Paris:  no yogurt or cheese or cereal.  We packed up and checked out very early thanks to Joe's obsession with being extra early for every kind of transportation event.  So we arrived at the Avignon TGV station [which is not to be confused with the station for non-TGVs] with about an hour to spare.   Thank you, Kathie, for the Sedoku book.

not-shy dragonfly

Avignon TGV station is very new, as is the train and its technology.  Nevertheless it attracted a large dragonfly who kept trying to fly through the station window but bumped against the pane.  I caught it and took it toward the track so it could find fresh windowless air.  And away it went.

In about 2 hours we were in Nice, a city on the Mediterranean I was determined to visit.  The station at Nice is not so big, and it dumps one out without much signage.  Fortunately next door was a tourist information office.  We got directions and a map.  The most direct route to our hotel was straight down a wide boulevard for about 10 to 12 blocks.  Unfortunately Nice was constructing a tramway down the middle of the boulevard and the sidewalks were very narrow, crowded, and bumpy.  So after a walk that took longer than it should have, we arrived at a large park, beyond which Joe spied out our hotel, Hotel Albert 1st.

Our room in Nice - just below the cornice.

The hotel was wonderful.  It sits on a corner facing the park named after King  Albert I of Belgium who visited Nice often and who was a heroic figure during the first world war.  Our room was on the 5th floor and on the corner, with french doors that opened  to the park and to the city and hills beyond.  And well- cooled naturally, as well.  So it was not only beautiful but comfortable as well.

Not surprisingly, Joe did not want to go anywhere.  But I put on a bathing suit and went down the block and across the highway to the famous Promenade des Anglais, and down the stairs to the plage (beach).  Not like any beach I'd ever seen.  No sand.  Just millions of small round stones.  But because of that, the water was not murky but wonderfully clear and transparent,  the beautiful aqua color darkening to blue as the sea floor deepened.  I fell in love with it here.  But cold - - that beautiful water was very cold.  And the stones are hard to walk on.  I wished I'd brought my Sanibel sea slippers.  Still, we came here so I could swim in the Mediterranean Sea, and I did.  Happily.

Here it is, the sea and its white pebble beach.

I walked around this part of the city.  I'd chosen the hotel particularly for its proximity to the plage and the Vielle Nice (the old city).  After walking up and down the plage, I changed clothes and went in search of the Marche aux Fleurs (flower market) in Vielle Nice.  It was a short walk away, down a street full of shops for tourists and a hat store - have to bring Joe here.  I loved the old buildings.   Few buildings exceed 6 stories, most are painted shades of yellow and ochre with occasionally white or pale blue.  And on the street and the square in front of them, all manner of flowers in the market.  I was really enchanted, though, by the buildings.  There's a human scale and a graceful uniformity to them despite the color variations.  On the south-facing buildings, every window has shutters that were mostly closed against the June sun.  But many of the shutters were hinged halfway, with the lower half propped open, for air circulation, I imagine. That made for interesting shadows in the late afternoon.

In the evening, I led Joe back to that Marche aux Fleurs, which had transformed into open restaurants and cafes.  Each establishment had its own color scheme for umbrellas, table cloths, napkins, chairs.  We walked up one side and down the other, checking out each establishment and menu.  Finally, because there was a sudden sprinkle of rain, we settled on Spaghetissimo.  So guess what we dined on.  Afterward we walked to the plage and along the Promenade des Anglais, into the park, past the carousel, and back to the hotel.  As we settled in for the night, the sky beyond across the park was changing from sunset to dusk and the subtle color change was very pretty. 

Dusk beyond Nice, France

I think I slept well . . . must have, if I don't remember.