Nice is Very Nice!

My Other Blogs

Here are my other vacation/photo blogs I have created in the past. Hope you enjoy them.

Nice is Nice 2011
When in Rome 2012
Nice is Nice Take 2
JJ in Barcelona
JJ in Iceland

NOTE... I rarely check them so please don't expect a reply if you post a comment on my older blogs.

Cheers,

-jj

A Slow Day

Susie, Matt & Erin went to Ventimiglia to shop at the Friday open market. I decided to stay home since I had been there twice and had already made my purchases for the trip (2 hawaiian shirts :-) ) Plus I have to go and buy a bunch of groceries today, we are running pretty low on a lot of things... especially Limoncello and PepsiMax :-)

So I thought I might spend a few minutes giving you my halftime report (yes I know we are way past the halfway point of our trip). So here are a few of my thoughts, observations, rants... :

The weather has been almost perfect! We had a couple days of rain last week and today it is pretty warm. Other than that, everyday has been sunny and in the mid/upper 70's. Here is what the past week looked like... Not too shabby :-)

St Agnes, An Interesting Drive

St Agnes

Today we are off to Sainte Agnes, the highest perched city in the area (elevation 4,000Ft!). We took the train to Menton and waited for about 20 minutes for the bus. Here are a couple of shots from Menton while we wait for the bus :-)

Biot - a very picturesque town!, The Swedish Invasion,

Biot

Today we are off to Biot, a sleepy little town (population ~9,000) about 45 minutes from Nice. First a few facts (Wiki):

Once inhabited by Celts, Biot was conquered by the Roman legion two thousand years ago, which remained there for about five hundred years.
In 1209 it was a village of Knights Templar who were replaced in 1312 by the Knights of Malta.
From 12th to 14th century, remarkable result of original charters from the archives of the Temple, gives us a perfect idea of the "castrum" and the village of Biot. In 1209, the Count Alfonso II of Provence gives to the "Order of the Temple" all his possessions in Biot. The Knights Templar then buy the best land in the country, and founded the castrum, a place that soon will become one of the most important religious institutions of the entire region and a place of pilgrimage due to numerous relics from Jerusalem.
In 1387 the town was destroyed by war. In 1470 Biot was repopulated with 50 families emigrated from western Liguria, which became the majority of the population.
Today Biot is known for their pottery & glassworks, especially "bubble glass".

OK, on to the pics...

When we first got off the bus we noticed this piece of art.

Panoramic Views, A cool Car

An Easy Day

Today we decided to kickback, we have been running around almost everyday - time for break on our vacation :-)

Yesterday on the way to Eze we passed a little snack bar with an incredible view of the sea. So we decided to have a late lunch at the snack bar.

Here is the snack bar.

Eze, Great Views, Awesome Moon

Eze

For today's adventure we headed out to Eze, about 35 minutes by bus. First a few facts about the village:

Eze is a medieval village perched on a narrow rocky peak overlooking the Mediterranean sea (almost 2,000ft above the sea)
The area surrounding Eze was first populated around 2000 BC. The earliest occurrence of the name "Èze" can be found in the maritime books of Antonin as a bay called 'St. Laurent of Èze.' A hoard of ancient Greek silver phialai (drinking vessel), dating from 300 BC, was found, in Èze, in the late nineteenth century
The area was subsequently occupied not only by the Romans, but also the Moors, who held the area for approximately 80 years until they were driven out by William of Provence in 973.
The ancient fortified village still has some of its its 12th-century fortified castle (most of it was torn down in 1706)

Luckily I was able to rent a helicopter to bring you an aerial shot of Eze so you could get a better idea :-)

Fruit Market, The Nice Beach & Crazy Swedes

Fruit Market

Since Matt & Erin arrived late last night, we decided it might be good to walk about the city to get their bearings.

Rocky, Cap d'Ail, Matt & Erin Arrive

Earache My Eye...

So, I woke up in the middle of the night with a mosquito buzzing around my ear. All I could think about was the bugger crawling into my ear, biting me & waking up with an earache. The good news is I didn't wake-up with an earache... the bad news is the little shit bit me on my eyelid and I woke up looking like Rocky Balboa...

Ventimiglia, Mini Rant, Menton, Sand Exists

Ventimiglia - Again

Today is Friday and that means shopping in Ventimiglia, Europe's biggest open street market. You may recall we were in Ventimiglia last Friday. Susie needed to pick-up a few more items so we decided to hit the market quickly and then stop in Menton on the way back.

The great news is the rain/clouds have left and it is a beautiful sunny day!!!!

Here are a couple of shots on the way...

We were in Nice 3 years ago and noticed there was dog poop everywhere... it was a pooh minefield :-) Now, there is very little. Maybe this has helped. A FREE doggie poop bag dispenser with complete instruction. The little doggie looks soooo happy: