We arrived in Nice, France around mid-day. B had jet lag and I need to rest a little but was surprisingly okay despite only getting 2 hours of sleep. We set out the explore the city. We found different locations where the Tour De France would be stopping or riding along. The whole city has displays, but the cab driver informed us it was not any busier than normal. While walking through Nice, we discovered several quaint alleyway restaurants through the Old town of Nice. Each alley held tiny shops or restaurants tucked into the corner. We stumbled upon one of the cutest alleys with multiple Mediterranean and Italian eats jutting out into the alley. The “old world” architecture with each building having iron balconies with wooden shutters just gives off warm vibes (but to when I asked the hubs to describe it he said “unsafe” bahahaha- he has a fear of tripping along high points)
On our second day we visited the village of Eze. We climbed the innumerable amount of steps at Chataeu de la Cherve. The views were breathtaking, but the exotic was mostly cacti – to each their own on exotic gardens! I was expecting more of a floral garden but it was still beautiful. The majority of sites are along the path up the gardens. There are small shops and restaurants down all along the trek up to the gardens. It was such a charming walk up.
We decide to walk down and eat at L’atres Potes for a quick lunch and a bottle of Rose (of course!) we walked around the rest of the village at the bottom of the Chateau, but to be honest it was a very small village and the majority of the sightseeing was up in the Chateau.
We ubered it back from Eze which half the price of the taxi ride there and watched the end of Stage 19 of the Tour de france at Cafe de Paris. We were pulling for Matteo Jorgenson to win the stage but Pogacar decided for turn it up and beat him.
Then we meandered around Nice for a bit despite the hubs being antsy without a destination in mind. Nice is full of restaurants with terraces and covered patios! We stopped to have Rose at spot near the main shopping area and then continued on. We went back to a square we found the day before and got a drink at La Kelcie. We then walked along the Course Saleya which is a street parallel to the Promenade. It has too many restaurants and bars! We stopped at Le Flore which had a very good selection of gluten free dishes. We ended our night back at Cafe de Paris which is beside our hotel. I got the Limoncello which was fabulous. The staff were very friendly too.
On Saturday we got to experience all the fanfare of the Tour de france. Man did Nice show out. The street lights have hanging metal yellow jerseys. There are poster boards a d banners all over the city. We watched the parade before the race and the crowds down by the port were a little crazy! We ended up back in front of our hotel on the curb which provided perfect seats for the neutral stage of the peloton. I got photos of Matteo Jorgensen, Shaun Quinn and Mark Cavendish. We got a glimpse of yellow jersey, white jersey Remco and Green Binay. It was over in about 30 seconds but we came we saw and we got the photos! We got way too much sun and sweated a bunch so we jumped in the pool and relaxed a bit.
We went back down to the little cafe beside our hotel to watch the race and order a charcuterie board. We met a guy from England and one from Norway and talked with them into the evening. We finally parted ways around 9 to grab dinner. It’s always enjoyable meeting others with similar interests (the Tour). We finished dinner just in time for the TdF fireworks and drone show. Both were very impressive.
We had planned to drive to Deia for a hike and visit the mountain village but upon entering the village we were quickly hit with loads of people and cars without hardly any parking spots to be had. Needless to say we did not stop in Deia and continued onto the Port of Soller for a hike from the lighthouse to the sea. The trail was along the GR 221 which goes all along Mallorca.
Wednesday went to Cava Blava to snorkel based on a locals suggestion. We were not disappointed! The beaches along the coast were rocky coral and a find a spot wherever you can. We got in the chilly Balearic Sea and started to snorkel right off the coast. There were soo many fish around us and they did not care that we were there at all. Then we sat on the rocks and just admired the view of the sea and sailboats. We stopped at a little cafe on the way back and had some salads and Pina Coladas. We returned to the hotel to relax a bit before taking an uber into to Port d’andratx. It is outside of the bigger city Andratx and said to have some of the best seafood with it being a fishing port, but also has lots of ritzy shopping as well restaurants and bars along the water. The town has the sea on one side and the mountains on the other with Mediterranean homes all along the hillsides in the mountains. Just gorgeous! Many people dock their yachts or smaller boats and walk over to eat (just like in the show Below Deck!) We went to one restaurant but as soon as we sat down and I inquired about the gluten free options, the server was not helpful nor did she seem to know if the food had it. We left and found a great place around the corner called La Piazzetta. It had lots of rattan lighting and decor hanging from the ceiling and dining in the ally. They had gluten free pizza and pasta options as well. Upon finishing dinner we strolled along the port. We found a fun bar that played live music from the second story balcony! It had a great English vibe with people dancing in the street and just watching along the road. Very fun vibes. Overall the little town was such an incredible sight and left us wishing we had gotten to explore more of it!
On our last day we headed to the village of Valldemossa (which apparently Michael Douglas celebrated his 80th birthday the night before dancing in the streets of Valldemossa!). Valldemossa is stunning! It is sheltered by mountains and posses all the old Mediterranean architectural vibes one would expect.
Aramena (cream and black cherries) gelato and gato de almendra (almond cake) from the bakery Forn i Pastisseria
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