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.



As we continued our walk, this appeared about 1 minute later. Note: these pieces are about 6ft tall.
 

For all you art lovers out there, here are few more...






OK, let's get back to some pics from the town...

Here are couple of shots from the "main street"




As previously mentioned, Biot is known for their glassworks. Here is a store selling such glassworks.




You might be able to see the bubble in the glass in the colored pieces on the bottom shelf.


Right next to the store is where they make the glassware.


YES... old-world craftsmanship at its finest. This guys was working hard (plus it was like 150F in the workshop) and he had some French death metal music blasting in the background. Kinda ruined the whole old-world theme :-)


Love the neon sign on the back wall ("Kiss my Glass"  :-)


Here is the town's church... it was quite nice. 
 


A couple of side altars...




Here are few more pics...

This is a nice little restaurant.


One of the natives :-) 


Where were lots of flowers, plants and gardens throughout the town...










OK... time for lunch & the Sandwich Cam :-) 

Not a great view, but the sandwich was great!


Here are a few of their desserts... YUM!


Here is an interesting thingy (the 2 big black boxes on the bottom) and something that is becoming more popular. This is how we paid for lunch, a money machine. I put my 20 euro note into the feeder on the left machine (top) and it spit out the change on the bottom. The clerk never touched the money. 
 
With a full tank of food, it was back to exploring. Here are a few more shots...

Roosters!

There were lots of roosters on display & for sale at many of the shops...






A few more shots before we leave Biot...

Invasion of the Swedes

Sweden plays Belgium tonight and we are noticing lots of Swedes in their traditional yellow shirts. Here is the town square in Biot...


And when we returned to Nice, here is what we saw at the train station... Swedes everywhere! 
GO SWEDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Here is shot from the walk home. 


Have funny caption for this photo? Put your ideas in the comment section.

WOW! Biot was quite picturesque! I took more than 200 pictures today!!!!! 

Hope you enjoyed Biot.

Cheers, 

-jj