Day 3

This morning in Nice started out with a soft rain as we walked to the outdoor market to purchase our lunch. Fresh tomatoes, olives, cheese and just out of the oven bread. Sun dried tomatoes can be purchased by the kilo instead of the tiny little bottles found in the US supermarkets, the varied selection of everything is astounding. The market is about three blocks long and includes flowers, fish, meats and every variety of vegetables. After the market, we retreated to the apartment since it started to rain a bit heavier. Later, the rain poured out of the sky in buckets, lightning and thunder continued for about one hour then the sky cleared and we had a beautiful afternoon in sun. We discovered some wonderful shopping along the ancient, narrow lanes of the old city. Part of the experience is just taking in the aromas from the different vendors selling spices, fresh fish, olive oil, hand made soaps, coffees, baked goods, sweets, etc. Everything is fresh and not packaged, you buy exactly what you want and in any quantity. We found the wine merchant we discovered on our last trip, this merchant has been in business for a very long time, you can bring your bottles in and they will fill them with a variety of wines from large casks, or you can purchase anything from a 1918 Medoc for several hundred Euros or just plain table wine for a few Euros. We finished our day at a sidewalk cafe watching people after taking a nice stroll along the beach. This was a good day, tomorrow we have the cooking class. We stumbled across the class by just searching the internet but discovered Rosa is regarded as "The best cooking school in Nice",(Frommers),so tomorrow will be great fun! Oh, and we can't forget the gelato from Fennochio, reputed to be the best ice cream in all of France, it was excellent.