Nice, France: Arrival Day

We are excited to make this trip back to France for our French cousins, Laurene and  Benjamin's wedding in Bordeaux on Saturday! Danny and I will visit Nice and Lyon before the wedding and return to Paris after the wedding for our flight home. We arrived at the airport in Jackson to find our flight to Nice delayed by two hours. This would certainly cause a problem with our connecting flight to Nice so Delta got us on the earlier flight that had also been delayed but would now leave at approximately the time our originally scheduled flight would leave. We thought this was wonderful until we showed up in Nice and our suitcases did not. Not only did we not have them, but Air France isn't sure when we will get them! We were somewhat prepared with an extra shirt and underwear in our backpacks, but I had worn a pair of shoes for airport travel that were comfortable but NOT suitable for touring. This is a problem! We took a taxi from the airport for 35 euro and checked into our hotel, Le Meurice. The weather this afternoon is gorgeous and the Mediterranean is the most beautiful shade of blue! Our hotel is located about three blocks from the coast. We left the hotel to wander the old town and find somewhere to eat dinner. We went to Cours Saleya on the advice of the hotel and was assured that it was for tourists and locals alike to find somewhere to eat. There is a HUGE soccer event going on and what we found there were police everywhere and a very touristy environment. Danny got on Tripadvisor and saw that many of the restaurants were poorly rated. We went a block or two over to a side street and found a fabulous restaurant, Le Maquis, that was reasonably priced for a great meal. My Filet of Beef was cooked perfectly with the most delicious tiny courgettes (zucchinis) and potatoes. Danny usually doesn't order fish in France because they like it stinky but we are on the coast so he tried the Cod. It was served in a light lemon broth and was very fresh and flaky. We ended the meal with a wonderful Chocolate Soufflé made with Valhrona chocolate. It was dark and rich and light all at the same time. It was very satisfying. We walked back to the hotel along the coast on a pedestrian walkway. We stepped off briefly to go down to the waters edge and listen to the tinkling of the rock shoreline as the waves came in and out. The sun was setting on the city as we found our way back to the hotel. Tomorrow we will put our traveling clothes back on and explore more of the old town. Thank goodness Air France have us a fresh t-shirt to sleep in! Until tomorrow!