Margo and Steve's Visit: Nimes and Nice

After a few days "rest" in Clermont, we headed south.  Our first stop was one of our favorite cities to take visitors- Nimes.  Nimes is the perfect place to go if you don't have time to make it all the way to Rome.  There are tons of Roman buildings, that have been amazingly well-maintained.  It takes less than 4 hours to get there from Clermont, and we arrived just in time to eat lunch.  Our favorite place to eat in Nimes is right beside the Roman arena, and has all-you-can-eat Moules Frites (mussels and fries).  Mussels were out for me (although after the food poisoning in Beziers last fall from some mussels, I was quite all right with that!), but the others enjoyed their moules along with a pitcher of sangria.

After lunch, we toured the arena.  Matthew and I had done the head-set guided tour with his family last year, but it was nice to do it again.  I think I retained a lot more of the information this second time around. 

After visiting the arena, we walked over to the Maison Carree (literally 'the square house').  We waited in line for about 10 minutes to get in to watch the 3D movie that depicts the 'heroes of Nimes' throughout history.  Again, Matthew and I had already seen it with his parents last summer, but the room was air conditioned and we were quite happy to sit in a cool place and watch it again!

 After a quick stop for some ice cream, we got back in the car and headed east- to Nice!

We arrived in Nice with just enough time to drop our bags and freshen up, before heading out to find a restaurant for dinner.  We were given some suggestions at the hotel, and with a map in hand we started walking.  The streets were full of people, street performers, artists, and street vendors.  It has been staying light until after 10pm, so Steve and Margo were able to take in the city sights on our way to dinner.  We finally settled on a restaurant on the pedestrian street of Cours Saleya called 'Le Safari'.   The place was packed, but we got the last table outside.  I had the best risotto with scallops that I have ever eaten in my life!

We also had a great time practicing Steve's French...

The next day we decided to experience one of the best things about being in Nice...the beach!  We rented beach chairs from a beach club and camped out for the day- leaving only long enough to grab some lunch and browse through some of the shops.  After such a busy trip, it was great to just relax for a day!

Margo and Steve's first swim in the Mediterranean.

After spending the day on the beach, on our way back to the hotel we stopped at a Mexican restaurant to enjoy their "buy one get one free" Happy Hour.  We each ordered our drinks (virgin pina colada for me) and some guacamole, and were shocked when she brought our drinks.  The "buy one get one free" wasn't exactly what we were thinking...

Instead of ordering 4 drinks and only paying for 2, we ordered 4 drinks and got 8- all at the same time! 

We had another great meal that night, at an Italian restaurant that served their food in gigantic bowls.  When it was time to order desserts, the waiter looked at us like we were crazy when we started to each order one.  He told us that the desserts were meant to share between 2 people.  Even after ordering just 2, we still couldn't finish them, they were that big!

The next morning I opted to stay at the hotel to pack and ice my very, very swollen pregnancy ankles ("cankles" don't even begin to describe the cartoon-ish looking joints I had connecting my legs and feet!).  Matthew, Steve, and Margo took the morning to walk around the old town of Nice and explore as much of Nice as they could in a few hours.  Check-out was at 11:30, and we were headed for the lavender fields of Provence!

Next stop:  Provence and Lyon