On our last day, we got a fairly early start and hiked up Colline Chateau (Castle Hill) to get a good view of Nice. I had already hiked up once while Charles was at the race festivities, but it was mid-day and overcast. That morning, it was nice and sunny and the morning light was perfect for Charles to get some good pictures.

We didn’t eat breakfast beforehand, as we knew there were some small snack stands on the top of the hill and planned to grab breakfast there and eat it overlooking Nice and the waterfront.  However, since the French don’t seem to prefer eating out for breakfast, nothing was open. Nevertheless, we lingered a bit and enjoyed our time at the top before making our way back down the hill.

By the time we reached the bottom we were pretty hungry and Charles decided he needed a REAL breakfast, so we stopped at a cafe and ordered what the restaurant advertised as an “English Breakfast” – eggs, thin sliced ham/bacon, fruit, orange juice, coffee, and of course… a basket full of bread. It was about 9:00 and the cafe was pretty full – but we were the only ones there eating and certainly the only ones eating eggs. Everyone else just drank their coffee and socialized and I couldn’t help but feel like we got more than a few weird looks from the people around us as we ate a completely non-French breakfast on our last day in France. I’m glad we hadn’t ordered an American breakfast, because I imagine the French take on an American breakfast would have looked like this…

After breakfast, it was time to buy any remaining souvenirs we wanted to bring back, so we walked through the market. We’ve walked through the market several times before during this trip, but it’s interesting how much more time and how much more you notice when you actually have an intent to make purchases. We walked through the market several times taking inventory and making note of what we wanted and what would actually fit in our suitcases. Then we made our purchases and stopped at a booth on our way back to the apartment to buy some Nicoise specialties that we’d not had a chance to try yet: pan bagnat (Nicoise salad stuffed into a baguette) and a savory tart with a swiss chard filling.

We got back to our apartment and it was around lunchtime, but we were both still so full from our English breakfast that neither of us were ready to eat again. So Charles took a nap and I headed to the beach. Just like before, the beach didn’t disappoint. The rocks are a little uncomfortable at first, but once you start to relax with the sun on your (sunblocked) face and the sounds of the waves breaking and then trickling back into the ocean through the rocks, you start to relax around the rocks and really don’t notice them.

I stayed at the beach for several hours with Charles joining me midway through, enjoying the warm sun and cooling off in the near-frigid water. Eventually though we had to face the music and go back to get packed and ready for our early morning departure the next day. I headed back to the apartment while Charles headed down the beach to check out some expo tents we’d noticed earlier.

No sooner than I got to the apartment Charles texted told me to head back to the beach – as they were having a Friends-of-Italy sort of expo along the waterfront in which Italian vendors provided samples and sold Italian-made goods. So we strolled along, sampling olives, bread, tapenades, and beer before finally heading back to the apartment to eat our Nicoise snacks from earlier and pack up.