Nice: Part 2 - Day 2: Walking tour, dip in Mediterranean Sea

Day 2 (MY BIRTHDAY)

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 2.

26/9 Day 2: Free Nice Walking Tour --> Dip in Mediterranean Sea --> Socca for birthday dinner

Must-Incur Costs
None

Optional Costs

Food

(1) Breakfast set at Les Délices de la République - One pastry, coffee espresso and orange juice EUR5,65

(2) Candied sweets and fruit cake at Henri Auer - EUR16,66

(3) Coffee latte at random coffee shop - EUR4,50

(4) Lunch crepe - Treated by boyfriend because it is my birthday

(5) Evening tea break - Chocolate eclair EUR3,20; Flan EUR3,20; Coffee latte EUR2,50

(6) Dinner at Socca D'or - Socca one part EUR4; croque monsieur socca EUR12; onion pie EUR3,60; apple pie EUR5,50; white wine EUR4 per glass. 

The Story

26092022: IT IS MY BIRTHDAY TODAY! Before I moved to Sweden, I always travel during my birthday month. This is a tradition that I started when I followed a friend for her travels. She travelled in September every year and I was not sure if it was because of the weather or the place but since then, I decided that I would travel every September because I did not want to be at work during my birthday. When I moved to Sweden, I could not travel during my birthday month due to lack of money. So, I am very happy that I could revive this tradition again this year, although it is only for one week. In Sweden, folks usually go on leave in the summer. In Malaysia, there is no summer so one can travel at whichever month. Anyway, I hope I can do this every year. 

For my breakfast, we looked for a coffee shop and found a nice cafe (Les Délices de la République) in town which serves breakfast set. We asked if they sell a breakfast set and they did! So, we got a bun, coffee and a glass freshly squeezed orange juice. Their selection of buns, delicacies, omelettes and pastries were so tempting!

I have booked a free walking tour guide because to me, this is the best way to know a place. As we had ample of time before the tour starts at 10:55am, we walked around old town by ourselves and found ourselves in front of a candied fruit shop which we found out from the walking tour that this is the oldest shop in town, being established in 1820. The shop, Henri Auer, is famous for its pralines but it started as a candied fruit shop. It is very expensive but we bought some and a fruit cake (with its candied fruit) to try. We saw that other bakeries sell candied fruits for a much cheaper price. The candied fruits were very sticky so luckily, we asked the salesperson on how to eat this and she gave us two toothpicks. 

We followed Free Nice Walking Tour and gathered at Fontaine du Soleil on Massena Square at 10.55am. At the end of the tour, one tip the guide. 

Funny story of my coffee in my hand. Before we met the free walking tour group, we decided to have coffee. We asked the staff - What kind of coffee do you have? She said - We have all coffee. So, we asked for brewed coffee. She pointed to a coffee packet that is blue in colour. HAHAHAHA! So, we settled for coffee latte because they do not sell brewed coffee, after explaining to her what brewed coffee is. 

The walk took 3 hours and there were lots of stops and the guide was very informative. I do remember some of his stories. One clear information I had was many shops were not opened on Mondays. We went to Cours Saleya market that supposedly sells flowers and vegetables and did not see that because it was closed on Mondays and it was a Monday that we went for this walking tour. Instead, on Mondays, it was a flea market. 

The walking group walked up Castle Hill and today, we could see very blue skies and the beach had people! From the top of Castle Hill, the guide pointed to us some of the holiday villas that celebrities own. I remembered he mentioned Daniel Craig. True or not, I am not sure. But it is quite easy to see why this place will attract celebrities and lots of tourists. The beach and the clear blue waters. So, it explains now why the food in Nice is expensive. 

After the walking tour ended, we headed down to the beach and took a dip in the Mediterranean Sea. Bucket list that never existed until today is checked! The current was so strong, even at the shore. I think I walked not less than 1meter from the shore and I could not bring myself to walk further into the sea as the waves were strong and pushed me back onto the shore. So, I sat in the waters so that I do not get pushed around by the waves. I dare not walk further down either, afraid of being wiped into the sea. Plus my feet was hurting from walking on the giant stones. Even my boyfriend who is a good swimmer dare not go down further. We took turns taking a dip into the sea as we needed to take care of our personal items. I read in some websites that it may not be safe to leave items unattended. 

There are private areas on the beach too. They are the ones with the giant umbrellas and lounge chairs under the umbrellas. I like my dress, by the way. I saw it at a flea market. Costs SEK60. It is so affordable!

Blue colour is a theme here. Even the chairs are blue. Well, they call it as azure colour. 

After the walk, we decided to look for food and found crepe. My crepe has ham and egg while his crepe has vegetables and cheese.

We were very tempted to try eclairs and found a cafe. Cravings satisfied! Somehow, it was not easy to find a bakery with eclairs. 

For my birthday dinner, we had socca at Socca D'or which is a restaurant that is near our AirBnb. There were many customers in the restaurant and we managed to get a spot! Socca is a local food in Nice that is a thin pancake made of chickpea flour, water and olive oil. Sounds like a simple recipe. We had a one portion socca and that came with many layers. Check out the third photo after this paragraph. As we were unsure if the portion was sufficient, we had onion pie too. 

Birthday dinner was treated by boyfriend too but I paid first and I said that I will remind him every year about it. Of course, he could not find a cash withdrawal machine to pay me back that night but we found one the next morning and he said that my story is no longer valid. 

My boyfriend had croque monsieur socca which came with salad. A croque monsieur is a hot sandwich made with ham and cheese but I think in this version, it was made with socca. 

We were very happy with our apple pie too.

After dinner, we walked back to Fontaine du Soleil at Massena Square because I wanted to see the 7 statues on the poles. The walking tour guide explained that the statues light up when it is dark and changes colours. The 7 statues represent 7 continents and the changing of lights represent them communicating with one another. 

I am very satisfied with how my birthday was celebrated!