July 14  Happy Bastille Day
We went to the Beaux Arts Museum this afternoon.  Not many buses run on a holiday, and a small crowd of us stood with our mouths open as the long-awaited bus flew past us without stopping!  We went to another bus line and had better luck.  Nice little museum, hardly anyone there.  After living inside the busy town, with all its scooters and people noise, we couldn't believe the quiet up in the hills, wow!
This evening we ate at home.  I sauteed chicken and won't do that again!  Too much clean up.  But the veggies and salad all were so fresh.
At 10:00 pm there were fireworks at the largest avenue, the Promenade d"Anglais.  I think every single person in Nice went to the fireworks show.  But to my surprise, people gave each other space, clapped and sang, and then were extremely orderly, no shoving, pushing, running, etc when we all left.  All side streets leading to the Promenade were closed to traffic, as well as the Promenade.  The fireworks were shot from the water, so all those who were in their boats got a real show as well.  When it came time, all the street lights on the Promenade were turned off for the show.  It was a fun experience.
When we returned to our building, the main large wooden door at the street was closed, as we had been told happens late at night.  Werepeatedly used our code, but couldn't get it to open.  I figured a neighbor had to be at the fireworks and would soon show up, and sure enough here they came.  He said the code never works, just kick the door and it swings open!  Once inside, there is another glass door with another code, which we use all the time, even during the day.

Daytime shot of the Promenade.  The beach, the walkway by the palms and the avenue were filled with people for Bastille Fireworks

July 13
Maybe we are meant to have a little home adventure every day or so.  Today the water was off during the morning, and there was a note at the front door of the building that may or may not say it's off all day.  So I took a picture of the note and the side of the plumber's truck with his telephone number and walked to the leasing office a few blocks down.  She told them you-know-what for not going door to door warning the tenants, and we got our water back.
In wandering around town we went to a bakery with delicious little puffs,  We said "good afternoon", but still had trouble getting waited on, seemed like the girls take turns and both thought the other should wait on us.  It's the only place we've encountered anything but the friendliest service.  Still, the little sweet puffs were dreamy, and we'll be back.
 Tonight we had dinner by the port.  We had planned on outside seating, but it was windy, so here are some photos from the interior after the shots of the how the really rich vacation.

We peons are walking to a restaurant, these people are being served dinner on  their yachts

The sauce man.  He prepares endless sautee pans of sauces, then finishes the dishes brought from the kitchen

Hello--it's a restaurant!!! Odd sculpture, don't you think?

I'd say this is the luckiets Siamese cat you'll ever see--he has a  yacht!

this endless crowd of cars is lined up for the Sardinia 10:00 pm ferry 

The incoming ferry is facing some tough winds.  But look at the two colors of the sea!

We are at the same level as those people you see, and we are getting sea spray on our glasses.

Winds and cooler weather don't prevent picnic parties at 9 pm

June 12
Yesterday's big adventure was actually in the apartment, doing laundry.  The dryer would get extremely hot, but the clothes would remain wet, and the dryer would stop running after 1-2 minutes A light on the control panel would say "vider le reservoir", which I took to mean check the interior.  Finally took an iphone picture of the front of the dryer and walked over to the leasing office.  Turns out that dryers here have a compartment at the top where the water from the clothes eventually ends up, and it needed emptying.  I'm not the only tenant not having this bit of knowledge, as it had about a gallon of water and full to the brim. Must be restricted to the European market.
This morning my daily walk progressed to about 1 1/2 hours, first in search of a restaurant location that no longer exists (and it really sounded good, darn it!), then to the sea, the port, the market and home.  In the afternoon we took an easy bus ride from our corner to the Matisse Museum, a really nice visit. Matisse himself gave some pieces, then his wife and later his heirs continued to give to this museum, so it has some nice works, but mostly from his cut outs phase.
The plan was to then ride the bus around to the port and try to make a dinner reservation in person.  Just when you think you're getting around well, you get it all wrong.  We went up on the #22 and should have returned on the #20, but we returned on the #22, my big error.  Before I knew it we had gone to the entirely opposite end of Nice, though we did pass within a block of our apartment at one point.  We got off, my ever improving French allowed us to get new directions, and we headed back, changing buses halfway to the port.  Spent a few minutes at the port, but no one at the restaurant to take our reservation, so used the same transfer ticket and got a third ride on another bus home.  Oh well, the entire afternoon costs us 2 tickets each for the bus (1 euro each way per person) and free admission to the museum.  Oh, and Jim got to see much of the city where I've been walking in the mornings and some ritzy residential areas up on the hills.

front of Matisse Museum, no interior pictures allowed

Tomorrow I'll have to buy some chicken breasts and be prepared to cook dinner at home on the 14th, as I suspect many places will close for Bastille Day.  I remember reading there's fireworks at the beach, just need to find out where exactly.

July 10:  Oliviera is the best meal to date
A small olive oil shop added 4 tables, then a few more.  Behind the large containers of olive oils from the region (all really do taste differently), is a tiny hallway of a kitchen with the owner's wife and one assistant.  The owner is the front of the house, a most personable man.  The menu of 5-6 starters and 5-6 main dishes is based on what is freshest at the market (she shops where we all shop,the open market).  A man was delivering heirloom tomatoes from his farm during dinner, and they were gorgeous.
This starter was unique:  the zuchinni flower was raw and filled with finely chopped vegetables, served with an awesome array of tomatoes, and of course drizzled with just the right oil.  Everything we had was delicious, but this dish merited a picture. Drinking rose, the region's special wine, which is light and perfect for a summer meal.

July 10
Today was a beautiful day, the type we imagined when we booked this apartment.  W eboarded the bus across the street and went to the Rothchild villa just outside of St-Jean Cap-Ferrat.  It is very opulent,and the gardens are amazing.  We spent over 2 hours there.  There's an audio guide for the interior, with more information than you need, but gives you a lot about this extravagant woman.  Luckily, it wasn't very crowded.  She cleared off a hill to have flat grounds for the gardens, then had all the soil brought in.  It sits at a point where one has views of 2 bays.  There were numerous yachts and I'll post 2 pictures that together show the bay full of yachts.  You really don't rate as a yacht unless you have a water slide from the top to the sea!
We then continued to town and found an outdoor place for a late lunch.  Three young Russians were sitting next to us, I felt they might be crew for one of the yachts, as people who own yachts don't lunch where we lunch. The bus ride is wonderful, as it hugs the coast and you see amazing views.  And to boot, the bus is only 1 euro each way!

Chairs for her pets!  She even had a wedding with hundreds of guests for one of her dog's wedding, with a gold and diamond band on the dog's paw.  These people had too much time and money!

If your yacht doesn't have a slide, you are so deprived!

July 9, Monday
A long walk (over 1 hour)  this morning in areas with lovely apartments with lots of flowers, including huge oleanders and bougainvilleas in full bloom.  Lunch at home from what I bought in the market yesterday.  We then visited the old castle site, which has great views of the Nice coast.
Jim was off to try to swim, but the pool was just too crowded.  Try again another day.
Our starter at dinner was a Nice specialty:  a variety of vegetables filled with ground veal and baked.  Then we had veal scallopini, mine was in a delicious creamy dijon sauce, Jim's was sauteed.

Nice port, with yachts and Corsica ferry

Excavations of early Roman church at Castle Hill, Naples

Nice beaches, view from Castle hill

Jim's kind of vacation:  small events. (After all, I promoted this as a "vacation", not a "trip"). But tomorrow we have an outing that is worth while, two unique mansions and gardens near Beaulieu sur-mer.  Guarantee that I'll have great pictures there!

Nice July 8

Our first full day in Nice, with gorgeous weather.  We have the large windows open in all the rooms and the ceiling fans on, and it's perfect.  I walked for over an hour this morning, then came back to get a shopping bag and head for the Sunday market.  Everything is so fresh looking, and the varieties of tomatoes are incredible.  I bought essentials for a giant salad, some cheese, bread, and roses.
In the afternoon we took a long walk to the hotel Negresco, seeing some very nice residential areas along the way.  The hotel is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and had art deco items from their old decor.  Not a large exhibit, but beautiful pieces.  Then we walked back along the beach.
Dinner on Sundays is a bit problematic, the places on my list all are closed.  But the old Nice area where the market appears in the mornings converts to restaurants in the evenings, so we had a pleasant outdoor dinner of OK Italian food.

Our apartment

View across the street is a little park with larger apts behind it

View from one of our windows towards Old Nice

Interior of Hotel Negresco (reminds me of the Palace Hotel in Madrid

Exterior of the Negresco Hotel

The beach is a rocky beach, but it doesn't bother the sunbathers

It's Jazz Week in Nice, so there's free music in the afternoon, then big name acts in the evenings

During the morning,this is a market street, but at night it turns into restaurants

The beach promenade looking towards Castle Hill