Skeddie Sauce and other Delights

29 May 2022

Nice could be nice - Day 1

So, today is my first full day in Nice. I get up and swing open the mint green painted shuttered windows to admire the view and to check and see if we are going to have rain or sun today. It looks like it could go either way. Fingers crossed. My plan is to hop on the bus, leave Nice and visit Èze. I've been to Èze before. I have a few pix of it, but now I want to see it again. I'm not quite sure if I remember Èze from my photos, my memory or from all the pictures I have looked at on google maps just a month before my departure.

Here's my morning view.

I leave the apartment and as soon as I got out doors, I went against my own plans which was to make a beeline to the bus stop. Instead I decided to sit down at an outdoor café, enjoy the early morning hazy sunshine and have a bite to eat. I wasn't up early but I was for sure up before most of the cafés opened. I found a cute little place just 20 steps from my BnB but the menu didn't seem to have anything other than coffee and lunch items. So I kept walking. I past several places but I walked until something hit me. This place looked really cute and again just a few steps from where I started from.

Well, that was the last time I would do that. A tiny basket of assorted breads with 1 teeny tiny dollop of butter, a cute jar of about 1½ teaspoons of jelly, real fresh squeezed juice and a tiny bowl of coffee. Coffee in a bowel? um.....ok. I guess it's been a long time since I have been out to eat breakfast. The bill gave me quite a scare.

After breakfast I finally made my way to the bus stop. It's Sunday. Should have realized that the buses don't run as often on Sundays. The bus came and gone as I was trying to figure out the ticket machine. I double checked with a guy standing next to me: Excuse me, do you speak English? Yeah, a little - he answered in perfect Australian. Ok, well, he was obviously a tourist here before me and he knew what to do so that helped. But it turned out to be quite a wait for the next bus and I only needed a few stops. I really could have just walked the few stops but I wasn't sure how far the few stops were. The bus driver couldn't speak English and when I showed her my google map printout, she started asking me questions in French. The only reason I was in doubt is because google maps was very unclear and made mention of a possible detour due to something or another. Luckily I had a general idea of where I was going. Actually should have gotten off one stop earlier. Google wanted me to hang around for a while and go a few stops further. While trying to figure out where the next busstop was at, that bus too came and gone. It had just left. I had to wait 40 minutes for the next bus. And when the bus finally came and I got on, I was lucky to be too skinny and not have found a Denny's Grand Slam breakfast deal. I had to suck it in to get on board.

The bus route started at the bottom of the hill and it was zig-zag all the way up the mountain side. It was clear that the bus driver could do that road in his sleep. Everybody standing and sitting were swinging to and fro as we rounded each curve. It was also clear that the sooner we get there, the sooner the bus driver can start his break.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY PIX FROM ÈZE.

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28 May 2022

Nice could be nice - Day 1 - Éze

I finally found the bus stop. I knew it was at this circle intersection. I just had to find it. I wasn't far. And then when it dawned on me that this was the place, I had a big smile. The smile ended rather quickly when I read the bus stop sign that said I would have to wait 40 minutes. The ride itself is only 15 minutes 10K / 6 miles. But I made it.

Here are a few pix I snapped while waiting for the bus.

Can you spot the kitty on the middle balcony on the top floor?

Above: This is the traffic circle I was looking for. I was only about 3 blocks away but I couldn't figure out which way to go.

Now I am arriving at the mediæval village of Èze. The oldest building dates from 1306. The village is 427m / 1,461ft above sea level. One of the signs there said that on a clear day, it is possible to see the island of Corsica. The haze was thick this day so I was just lucky enough to see the sea. Here on wikipedia you can read more about the village. It's a short description.

Here now are pix from the village of Èze.

Above: arrival bus stop.

My goal was to go to the top. It turns out that there is an entrance fee because you are entering a cactus garden. It was only €6 so I paid to see the view. Nice cactus led the way but it was the view I was after.

Below: Now at the top of the medieval village.

This is a bridge that the bus crossed over to get us here.

At the top.

Once I saw the view from the top, I went back down to take the bus back to Nice. But as few buses going to Èze, there were even fewer going back. So I had more than enough time to stop in the below café for a sandwich and a coffee before the next bus would arrive. Still I would have to wait even longer time for the bus that I came with. So the other option was to take a bus going the opposite way back to Nice. It was longer but I would be on the move. I didn't want to risk hordes of tourist going home at the same time and missing the bus completely. It turned out to be a big mistake.

Now I am on the bus that will take 3 times as long to get back - which I was not aware of.

These pix are snapped from the bus.

Shock of all shocks - Bus 83 didn't go back all the way to Nice. It stopped just 2 stations short of the city. How stupid. I had to get out of the bus and switch to the train. When I google bus 83, it shows that it goes all the way to the city. I checked it just now. But I guess it doesn't on Sundays.

I had a day pass that I used to get to Èze and back. But when I got on the train, I didn't see the ticket machine to read my day pass. I walked up the the ticket controller and asked her: Where is the ticket reader? No No No she said. Not this ticket. Now you must pay a fine of €50. I thought she must have been nuts. I said then I will just get out at the next station. No, she said, You can not do that. Well I wasn't going to cause any problems so I just paid the fine. Obviously I wasn't trying to cheat as I walked up to her to ask about where to read my ticket. The normal fare would have been only €1.50

So just a few days ago, I wrote a long letter to the French railroad company asking if they would reconsider since it was an honest mistake. Who would risk a €50 fine for €1.50? Obviously a dumb tourist mistake. Plus anyone would conclude: if you can get from A to B on a day pass, you must certainly be able to get back from B to A on the same day pass. That's how it is here in DK, anyway. Hopefully the train company will have pity for the dumb tourist and send at least some of the money back.