Nice

Our bus ride from Genoa to Nice along the coast was similar to our crazy journey into Genoa. This time our bus arrived 20 minutes late and set off on the mountainous route at great speed. We were right at the front and could see the speedometer. The driver kept it at 100 kilometres an hour almost all of the time, even while negotiating bends where the speed limit showed 60 and we were right on the edge of huge drop.

It was again a relief after an hour or so to pull into a petrol station for a quick break. Darren looked at the Flixbus app and it now showed that we were now due into Nice bus station 18 minutes early. 

We arrived safely and the sun was out, the promenade was close by and we went out to explore. 

The next day was very wet as the thunderstorms and torrential rain got us in the end. It was still warm though and we didn't want to miss our jog along the beautiful seafront.

Once we had dried off we bought a museum pass and set off again. I wanted to see inside one of the amazing mansions that were built here by the rich tourists who came to stay on the Riviera for the winter.

It was really impressive and I particularly liked the garden room, but all of the explanations were in French only so we just enjoyed the atmosphere.

Then we walked past the Negresco Hotel and could actually understand the notice with prices by the door. The penthouse suite cost 30,000 euros per night.

Another museum, this time the Musée des Beaux -Arts. This had a Belle Epoche exhibition, mainly of Jules Cheret's paintings - again in French only.

I didn't learn much about him, but they were lovely paintings of the rich ladies of the day.

Lastly a strange museum with an incredible staircase, lots of musical instruments and old paintings.

And this morning we had one last jog along the seafront and will be setting off to the airport shortly.