Mediterranean Cruise and Nice Wandering

The “Mediterranean Cruise” in the title of this post makes it sound like it was more than it was. It lasted a total of one hour. But “Mediterranean Cruise” is how the company that runs it bills it.

The company, and I think other companies, run other Mediterranean cruises, still less than a day long, out of Nice during the high season. But this is February. It’s not even the shoulder season, but rather the lowest of the low seasons in Nice. That was the only Mediterranean cruise I could find at this time of year.

After the cruise, I wandered around Nice a bit, but first I had to get to the cruise.

I spent considerable time over my amazing lunch, so walking to the port was all I had time for before the cruise, although I took it at a slow pace.

The Walk to the Mediterranean Cruise

When I reserved my ticket online for the Mediterranean cruise, the email I got from the company said I had to arrive half an hour before the 3:00 p.m. scheduled departure time. For some reason, it didn’t offer an option for online payment. Maybe they didn’t want to have to provide refunds if they had to cancel the cruise.

The restaurant I had lunch at was on the beach near one end of the Promenade des Anglais, which runs along the entire Nice beachfront. The port where I had to pay for my ticket and board the boat is in a bay past the other end.

Damn. I can’t keep obfuscating or just outright lying. I intentionally avoided talking about this when I took a walk along the Promenade des Anglais on my first day here and again when I walked along it to get to the Colline du Château. But I can’t hide it any longer, as much as I want to.

Google Maps and a sign on a building make it clear that the promenade that runs beside the Nice beachfront is not called Promenades des Anglais for its entire length. At one point, toward the end that’s closer to the port, it changes its name to Quai des États-Unis.

I read somewhere that it was given that name to thank the United States (les États Unis) for finally getting into the First World War in 1917.

Canada entered WW I with the UK in 1914. I’m just saying. But that’s not my beef.

In my opinion, Nice should temporarily rename Quai des États-Unis to something else. Anything else. Maybe make it Promenade des Anglais for its entire length.

They can name it back again when the current president of the United States, who shall remain witless, is no longer in office. Unless, of course, Americans elect someone else who is essentially him with another name. Then, they should delay reinstating the name until the Americans come to their senses.

But enough about that. I walked along the Promenade des Anglais and the quai that shall remain nameless until I got to the end, rounded a bend, and arrived at the port. It was a beautiful sunny day as I walked along with the sea on one side of me and Nice on the other. That is, until I got past the beach. Then it was the rocks and the sea on one side of me and Nice on the other, until it was the port on one side and Nice on the other. It made for a delightful walk.

Mediterranean Cruise

There isn’t all that much to say about the Mediterranean cruise. As advertised, it lasted only an hour. That included both out and back.

An employee on the boat provided a live commentary over a speaker system. He alternated between speaking in French and then providing a translation in heavily accented English.

As we headed out of the port, he directed our attention to a house high up a hill. It’s one of Elton John’s places. He also pointed out several other buildings of note, but not famous enough for me to remember them.

After we got out of the port, the boat picked up speed and hightailed it to the next bay east of Nice. At the back of the bay and off to one side, it contains the very colourful, pretty seaside town of Villefranche-sur-Mer. I’d already read about Villefranche-sur-Mer in one of my guidebooks. It sounded interesting. I might go there tomorrow morning.

On the other side of the bay is what the narrator said is some of the most expensive real estate in the world. He directed our attention to one house at the top of the hill, overlooking the bay. He said that the last time it was sold was three years ago. It fetched €250 million then.

After we left that bay, the boat turned around and went past the Nice port and along some of the coast so we could look at Nice from the sea. Then, it turned around again and headed back to the port.

It was a short Mediterranean cruise, but a pleasant one with great views.

Other pictures from the Mediterranean cruise:

Monument aux Mort

I noticed Monument aux Mort on the way to the port to catch my Mediterranean cruise, but I was paying more attention to finding the pier than to looking at Monument aux Mort.

It sits on the other side of the road from the port, carved deeply into Colline du Château. It was erected in 1919 and is a memorial to those who died in World War I. It’s quite impressive.

I’m not sure I can describe it well, so you should probably look at the picture. But I’ll try. A large indentation is carved into the hill. The top of it is a half-dome. There is fluting on the back walls. The dome and its side walls are stepped back three times. Inside, there’s a structure made of pillars holding up a cylindrical cap with a domed top. The whole thing is made of light-grey stone.

It looks much more august than I’m describing it.

A Nice Wander

The boat docked at about 4:00 p.m., which left me with a little time to do some wandering.

There is a green space that runs through the centre of Nice for several blocks, interrupted by cross streets. I seem to recall reading that it was at one time a river that got covered over, but I might be misremembering. It’s getting to my bedtime, so I’m too tired to try to look it up.

It’s called Promenade du Paillon. I wanted to walk along its full length. I didn’t entirely succeed. Two or three sections on one end of it were blocked off today, with high opaque fencing, for a ticketed event for Carnaval de Nice. One of the sections closed off was one with some fountains shooting out of shallow reflecting pools. It looks attractive in the pictures I’ve seen.

Beyond the ticketed section, there was another block set up for Carnival de Nice. It was fenced off, and I had to go past a bag check station to get in, but it was free. On that block, there were booths selling food and novelties, a merry-go-round and some other booths I didn’t take much of a look at.

Let me pause here to talk about that bag check. I’ve found security in Nice, particularly close to Promenade des Anglais, to be much tighter than I’ve seen in most places.

The road running beside Promenade des Anglais has been closed off while I’ve been here. The few times I’ve walked down there, a big, heavy city utility truck was parked across the road at one end, and large police vehicles blocked off the other end. A couple of times, I’ve also seen a police officer toting a very big, very mean-looking gun patrolling the promenade. I don’t know if that’s just because Carnaval de Nice is on or if that’s now a permanent feature of Nice.

I assume the tight security is a result of the horrific attack in 2016, when a terrorist drove a heavy truck, weaving it down the then-crowded Promenade des Anglais. He killed 84 people on the day, and two more died of their injuries. There is a monument to the victims at the top of Colline du Château. I read there’s another one elsewhere in Nice as well.

That incident probably caused Nice to tighten its security greatly.

But, enough about that.

The remaining segments of Promenade du Paillon are green space, with paths and benches. It’s quite enjoyable.

Oh, I almost forgot. At one point on the Promenade du Paillon, there’s a bronze replica of Michelangelo’s David. It was made in 1995 and inaugurated in 2015.

After that, I headed back to my hotel. Another day done.