Summer Friday in Nice – a beautiful dream Itinerary
Bonjour! C’est vendredi! This Friday I’m dreaming of the south of France, the Côte d’Azur to be exact. It’s that time of year when almost all of Paris is on their summer vacation, and I wish I was joining them! The next time my husband and I make it to Paris we also want to see the French Riviera. I am grateful to be able to say I got to visit it way back when I was in high school on a French class trip. When we were there we stayed in Juan les Pins. I can still picture it, just beautiful, like a post card. But for hubby and moi, I think the ideal place to stay and experience the real Riviera would be Nice. So here is my summer Friday in Nice – a beautiful dream itinerary.
le matin
The first thing to do is head to the Cours Saleya Market in Old Nice. Wander the stalls, sample the regional food and for a special breakfast, definitely try the Socca (chickpea flour crepe), a Niçoise specialty. Make sure to pick up AOC olive oil to take home. Here’s a nice walk from Watched Walker on YouTube that passes through the market. Since we are in Old Nice, it would be nice to just stroll around the town, admire the architecture and check out the shops (and walk off the goodies from the market!). Make sure not to miss the historic Place Masséna, the city’s main square.
l’après midi
In the afternoon, head straight for the beach. You are in Nice, in the summer on a Friday, on the beautiful Cote d’Azur… how else would you spend your afternoon? For lunch, salade niçoise of course! Le Galet looks perfect for both. You can rent beach chairs there and enjoy a beautiful salad in the restaurant or right there on the beach. Check out the pictures on Trip Advisor. I’m going to take a minute and just dream about it…
le soir
On to the Promenade des Anglais to for a magical sunset walk (there’s a Watched Walker promenade for that too). Ideally, make it to the top of Castle Hill for a spectacular view of the sun setting over the sea. Being a Friday, we would have to go for pizza, Niçoise style mais oui! Where to find the best pissaladière in Nice? Les Amoureux looks too nice to pass up with the heart shaped pizzas, and they look so delicious! The pictures and reviews on Trip Advisor are excellent too. I’m not sure if they serve a pissaladière, being Neapolitan, but maybe we could find one later after cocktails for a midnight snack.
I hope you enjoyed my summer Friday in Nice – a beautiful dream Itinerary. And writing about Socca makes me really want some. I’ve always wanted to try it. There is a Socca recipe in Drinking French by David Lebovitz. And you know it would make a wonderful pizza base! Ok, ok, no more pizza recipes… for now. OH – how about Socca and Saturday salad! This salade niçoise looks beautiful, all I need is a nice French rosé and I’ll have a nice Saturday supper 😋 I can’t wait!
On my first trip to France, touring the Riviera, I enjoyed lots of delicious food. Ill never forget the ice cream I had one evening sitting outside at a cafe by the sea. It was a scoop of pear sorbet and a scoop of pistachio ice cream. I can still taste it, heavenly. Inspired by Goop’s Nice Cream (I’ve made all 3 flavors) and because this is about Nice, I thought I would try to recreate that magical combination. Enjoy, and have a beautiful, Nice 😎, summer weekend.
Pear Pistachio NICE Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup canned coconut milk * use the creamy, solidified top
- 3 ripe bananas, sliced and frozen
- 1 large pear, peeled, sliced and frozen
- ½ cup pistachios, chopped * reserve a few spoonfuls for topping if you want
- ½ tsp almond extract
- dash pink salt
Instructions
- Add coconut milk to food processor and blend until smooth. Add half of banana and half of pear slices and pulse until blended, Add the rest of the banana and pear, pistachios, almond extract and salt and blend until smooth. Add more coconut milk if needed to blend. Pour into loaf pan cover and freeze for 3 hours. Serve, close your eyes and imagine the soft mediteranean breeze blowing against your skin 🌴🍐
Wonderful!
I can’t wait to see if with you mon mari 😘
Sooo..I did not know you had also wandered the Riviera …..Nice! 😉
we really need to have a sit and go thru pictures and more tales of wonder!
also… must make the pistachio nummy asap! hard to find unsalted ’round the weesssttside!
Merci Ivanna – I can still picture every detail and can seriously still taste the ice cream… A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
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