Nice was Italian until 1860 and never quite stopped being so — ochre and red façades, a kitchen of its own, and the wide blue sweep of the Baie des Anges that the winterers came for two centuries ago and have never left. It is the capital of the Riviera, and it wears the role lightly.
I. The Promenade des Anglais
The Promenade des Anglais runs the length of the bay, named for the English who paid for it in the 1820s so they could walk the shore in winter. Today it is joggers, cyclists and the famous blue chairs facing the sea; behind it the grand hotels and the Negresco hold the line of the belle époque.
“An Italian city that woke up French, and kept the best of both kitchens.”
II. Vieux Nice and the Cours Saleya
Behind the promenade, Vieux Nice is a warren of tall ochre houses and narrow lanes opening onto the Cours Saleya, where the market sells flowers and produce every morning but Monday. This is the home of socca, the chickpea pancake eaten hot from the pan, of pissaladière and the true salade niçoise — a city that takes its street food seriously.
III. The hill and the museums
At the old town’s end the Colline du Château — a castle hill with no castle left — gives the great view over the bay and the terracotta roofs. Up in Cimiez, among Roman ruins and olive groves, the Matisse and Chagall museums hold the work of two painters the light here kept for good.
