| Page Views: 5,645 Last Visit to Nice: - | Nice, France - Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur by al_mary - last update: Dec 13, 2005 |
Nice - Niça or Nissa - Nizza
** In November 2005 We Visited The French Riviera **
(our home base hotel was in Nice)
Nice, in Occitan: Nica or Nissa, in Italian: Nizza, is a city in
southern France located on the Mediterranean coast, between
Marseille and Genoa.
The Victorian upper classes and tsarist aristocrats loved
Nice in the 19th century, but it's solidly middle class today,
and far less glamorous and expensive than Cannes, the
least expensive of any resort.
It's also the best excursion center on the Riviera, especially
if you're dependent on public transportation. For example,
you can go to San Remo, "the queen of the Italian Riviera,"
and return to Nice by nightfall. From the Nice airport, the
second largest in France, you can travel by bus along the
entire coast to resorts like Juan-les-Pins and Cannes.
Nice is the capital of the Riviera, the largest city between
Genoa and Marseille. It's also one of the most ancient,
having been founded by the Greeks, who called it "Nike,"
or Victory. Because of its brilliant sunshine and relaxed
living, it has attracted artists and writers. Among them
were Dumas, Nietzsche, Apollinaire, Flaubert, Victor Hugo,
George Sand, Stendhal, Chateaubriand, and Mistral.
Henri Matisse, who made his home in Nice, said, "Though
the light is intense, it's also soft and tender." The city has,
on the average, 300 days of sunshine a year.
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|  | Founded By The Greeks
Nice, Nicaea, was founded in the 5th
century BC by the Greeks of Marseille
and received the name of Νικαία, Nikaia,
in honor of a victory over the neighbouring
Ligurians, Nike being the goddess of victory.
It soon became one of the busiest trading
stations on the Ligurian coast; but as a city
it had an important rival in the Roman town
of Cemenelum, which continued to exist as
a separate city till the time of the Lombard
invasions, and has left its ruins at Cimiez,
which is now a quarter of Nice ......
Nice has a distinct culture due to its unique
history. The local language Nicard is still
spoken by a minority and there are strong
Italian and Corsican influences as well as
Occitan. Nicard is a Occitan dialect but strong
Italian influence makes it less uninteligible
with others non-extinct Provencal dialects that
they are among their.
Click On Photo to Enlarge
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The Food
Local food culture, which includes pissaladiere
a pie with onions and anchovies paste; socca,
a kind of pancake made from chickpea flour;
bouillabaisse and fish soup; "Stockfish", that
is traditionally prounounced as "Stoquefiche",
with farcis, vegetables stuffed with breadcrumbs,
and salade nicoise, a tomato salad with green
peppers of the "Corne" breed, baked eggs, tuna
or anchovies, and olives ......
Click On Photo to Enlarge
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| In A Nutshell: | "Great For People Watching - The Rich People" |
al_mary's Nice Travel Tips
 Comments for al_mary about Nice | | | | |
angiebabe Wed Jan 9, 2008 23:43 UTC
Lovely photos of the place thanks and useful tips.Happy New Year! | sara_b Thu May 10, 2007 12:58 UTC
How much were you short changed, perhaps it was the cover charge for the jazz. Not a lesson for tourist, a lesson for everybody, but it happens. It has happened to me in the States too. | Manara Fri Oct 6, 2006 17:58 UTC
Good informative page, and Boccaccio is one of my two favourite restaurants in Nice! | mimijohns Wed Aug 16, 2006 21:35 UTC
These chips are fabulous! We bought ours at the LeClerc supermaché outside of Cahors. They will be the first thing we look for on our next trip to France. Just another thing the French do so well! |
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