An Elevated Oasis
Colline du Château was an escape from the narrow side walks, dog poop and second hand smoke in Nice, France
Living in Nice for 8 weeks sounded like heaven. We envisioned copious cappuccinos, croissants, and playgrounds with a cool-breeze off the Mediterranean ocean for February and March.
Our initial AirBnb rental was a bust. The owner was presumably attempting to skirt fees by asking me to sign a separate contract and send payment to him directly. An ill-advised way to travel for obvious reasons. Within a few weeks of our scheduled arrival, I found an alternative 2-bedroom apartment just outside of Nice’s Old Town area.
The street outside our second floor apartment was extremely busy. Most of the places in the neighborhood marked as parks on Google maps were just vacant lots filled with benches where people sat to smoke. The shower had no water pressure, one bedroom with a wall of black mold, and upstairs neighbors that seemed to drag a dining room table from one end of the apartment to the other on an hourly basis.
When I talk about our poor experience in Nice, someone will typically say, “but the boardwalk along the beach!” While enjoyable for us, it was frustrating for our toddler being trapped in her stroller. With an abundance of bikes, electric scooters, and dog poop, we couldn’t let her run around until we got down to the beach. I found a wonderful stroller cafe filled with toys and other kids, but they were closed the next three times we tried to go there despite their calendar saying they were open.
And then, four weeks into our stay, I found it. Our oasis. A park at the top of a 230 ft hill with an incredible view. Since the French don’t get out of bed until around 9am, we typically had the park to ourselves for several hours. You can’t hear the city. There are almost no cars that drive to the top. We went to that park almost every morning after. Our daughter became accustomed to her morning croissant for the walk there. She would her put her expactant hand out waiting to fill a croissant shaped hole in her belly. We even got a few times where she said, “Merci, Papa” She was always completely covered in crumbs by the time we get there and we loved it.
Colline du Château
The climb up to the top of this old military citadel.
The “Castle of Nice” had two large play structures, a cafe and many walking paths around the top.
There was much to explore in our oasis.
We did decide to cut our time in Nice from 8 weeks to 6 weeks, extending the time we would stay in Portugal. In a different stage of life and under different circumstances, I would like to give Nice a second chance. If only for the boulangerie, pizza and market days it would be worth it.
