A Special Adventure in Nice: A Traveller’s Diary

This city is a truly special and magical place. The sunset and the eternal beauty of the sea can enchant anyone. I feel like love is all around me and I’m happy here. I enjoy every moment, and this city always has new surprises in store for me. Even if I ever get bored, I’m sure I’ll always come back to experience this wonder again.

Nice, 2024. 11 June. Tuesday.
I found out Monday night that Nice would be this week’s destination, as I managed to find a bus ticket for ten euros for the two and a half hour journey between Marseille and Nice. I didn’t book a hotel this time either, I’ll sleep in the trees again. I’m going to leave the scooter at Saint Martin de Crau station for two days, chances are it will be stolen, but with all other options it’s a safe three hour walk, so at least if it’s not stolen I can scoot home.
Of course, I’m killing time this morning too; I’ve just caught the eight o’clock train on the scooter; a forty-minute wait at Saint Charles station; at one o’clock at noon I’m sipping my coffee at Nice airport. Meanwhile, I finally figure out the day’s programme: walking and sunbathing. Even museum admissions are not within the budget. Including the train ticket, the cost of the return trip is fifty euros, I don’t spend anything on accommodation, I pay twenty euros for two days’ worth of fruit, salami and baguettes at Lidl supermarket, I have to buy drinks on the way (I don’t want to carry them, so I’ll buy them a bit more expensive), and I’ll spend as much as I like on entertainment and sweets.
I take the tram to the supermarket downtown. I had already noticed that you have to be careful with the tram, because only the ten group ticket is available from the ticket machine, but the app has a one hundred and fifty minute line ticket for seventy euros; it took me twenty-five minutes to get into the city. After Lidl, I take a break on the main pedestrian street of the city.
I have to call my mother. Today is his birthday. His voice is strange, I could say something is wrong with him, but it is true: he has had an operation: now he has a metal piece in his knee, all done without anaesthesia. Perhaps, he sounds strange because he can hardly speak because of the pain? He can hardly walk.
It seems that tram line one is also the main shopping – walking street in the city. My favourite underwear brand is the Italian Yamamay which is not found in other cities (Not for nothing, it’s a former Italian city, so I’ll check it out.
It seems that this beaching is becoming like love for me. Hugging the woman you want every day is nothing new, yet it’s not a question of whether you’re happy.
The big advantage of a pebble beach is that the water is not muddy, so the blues are clear and bright, and the water has no side smell – no stench; ever.
After a swim and a round of book reading, I set my sights on the city again. By the way, it seems that sunscreen is becoming as much of a superstition as an umbrella. If you’re with me, you don’t need it. The last day after the burn I bought – the after-rain coat.
I start my afternoon walk in the old town, where the market is being cleaned up and the bars are preparing for the evening shift. I think the souvenir vendors operate day and night. I admire the Palace of Justice, the route of the February carnival, and then walk up the shopping street to the train station. It’s a ten-minute walk to the Orthodox church, but it’s only open for half an hour, so I don’t leave. I prefer to be a tourist on the Victor Hugo boulevard, then the English promenade. The thing is, I could say that there is nothing interesting in the story, but then I remember how lucky I am when I can’t find any new information in a beautiful Mediterranean city. It is simply wonderful. I can’t look at a house that isn’t worth a postcard. Just the typical: tidy streets, long open windows, palm trees, scattered sunshine, rich colours in romantically narrow streets.
At 7pm, I’m back on the beach again, this time on the English promenade under the casino. Apparently, it’s not just me who thinks it’s a romantic date spot. Couples and groups turn up with a few snacks and a bottle of wine. It is indeed an idyllic scene: the sun slowly setting behind the city, the sea swimming in thousands of blues, the pebbles pleasantly warm. I myself am enjoying a baguette and local sausages. I’ll swim some more in the pleasant sea. Around here, it starts to get dark after half past nine. Only then do I set off to explore bars.
The plan is to have a dance, then go out to the eastern edge of town, to one of the beaches, for a long sleep. While I walk along the English promenade, I continue to enjoy myself. I am always amazed by the power of the sea. How nice it was to swim in the big foam of the shallow shore. (because the waves are stronger in flat water).
I could enjoy this for as long as I want – even after I get bored. In fact, it wasn’t as cold as I first perceived it with a heated sunny body. (It’s partly cloudy, so it’s nice and warm, but no sunscreen.)
Returning, I am surprised to see that the market is still bustling. Earlier I saw a lot of food vendors, this afternoon painters, and now – only a small part of the square is occupied by jewellers and souvenir sellers. Most of the market square, as well as the old town’s coastal side, has been transformed into a huge continuous bar terrace. I’m specifically interested in the ones with the chairs facing directly onto the beach. The dance floor is still empty, so I sit down to write a travelogue of the city over a beer. Although the music here is not bad, I don’t feel like staying long, I’m getting tired.
At one in the morning I set off in the rental car for the easternmost beach. The journey is perhaps twelve kilometres, for me it takes nearly an hour and a half, as I admire the city’s night skyline, the cruise ships, the houses in the quiet.
Plage de Paloma is the chosen place to sleep. It’s such a rocky beach that I don’t have two trees to tie my hammock to. Well, that should be the biggest problem! I sleep on the stones. What bothers me more is that I can’t find any water level and the material of my sleeping bag is slippery – down on the rocks. So I can only manage a few hours, I get up at five, and go out at dawn to look for the sunrise.