Day 4-Wednesday, July 8

 As Charles Dickens said, "It was the best of times it was the worst of times."

Rue Pastorelli

The Opera House

Check out Rick Steves video on Nice to learn about There's and her socca.

We were off to an early start on this day. Our plan was to go to the flower market on the Cours Saleya in Old Nice which is only 1/2 mile from our hotel.  Our vision was to have breakfast at a café as we watched the vendors set up their flower displays. 

Henri Matisse lived in the yellow house at the end of the market.

Looking east toward Antibes on the Promenade des Anglais.

                       Looking west toward Antibes on the Promenade des Anglais

We took a cab in order to save time and energy, and we arrived just opposite the Nice Opera House.  As we made our way to the market both the vendors and the cafés were just setting up, so we walked down to the beach along the Promenade des Anglais and check out the Mediterranean.  There were many joggers and cyclists along the Promenade so you had to be careful to avoid them as you crossed their designated path. The beach was relatively empty with only a few swimmers enjoying the peace and solitude of the early hour.

It was at this moment, as we turned away form the beach and started to the market that I realized I had left my backpack in the taxi, and in my backpack was my passport, my international drivers license, and my laptop!  I could only imagine a major disaster for us.

 Fortunately the driver had given us his business card, so after multiple phones calls and two hours of anxious waiting the driver returned to our hotel with my backpack.  

It was now past 10 AM, so I took the same taxi to the railway station to pick up our rental car. Needless to say, I gave the driver a huge tip, his honesty saved our vacation!

From Nice we drove to the village of Biot where we purchased some bubble wine glasses  to replace some that we'd purchased years ago and had since broken.  Next we drove to the beautiful hilltop village of Saint Paul de Vence for lunch at Le Tilleul (the linden tree).  Our meal was exquisite, and just as good as we remembered from our visit there in 2009.  

Joni's salade Nicoise included 15 different ingredients.

My beef tartare with fries.

Leaving St. Paul de Vence we ventured to the nearby city of Vence in order to visit a chapel whose stained glass windows were designed by Henri Matisse.  His work was a thank you to the nuns that took care of him while he was very ill.  When we visited this chapel years ago, it was closed, so a return to this shrine has been on our bucket list for a long time.

Leaving Matisse's chapel, our final stop for the day was our B&B, Le Mas Perréal, in the village of Saint-Saturnin-lés-Apt, a 3+ hour drive to the northwest.  This will be our home for the next seven nights.

We arrived at our B&B around 7:30 PM,  unloaded our car, and chatted with our hosts Kevin and Elisabeth before heading to our dinner restaurant, l'Éstrade, which is in the village of Saint-Sat.

Dinner was delicious.