NICE AND THE FRENCH RIVIERA
Antique lift in the foyer
Well, we’ve now been to Nice, Antibes and Cannes but won’t be in a hurry to return. The hotel, Le Negresco, 
was very grand and our room was spacious and quiet with a bed large enough for at least four people. 
Valuable works of art dominate every part of the hotel’s interior
Private beach closed for the night.
Walking back from dinner one night I experimented with the camera and captured this unusual photo of one of the private beaches.
Fishermen on the shore at night
Fishermen on the stony shore made another interesting night time shot.
We took the Nice tourist bus trip on the second day to get a feel for the place. Palm trees are everywhere, but they were introduced from one plant which adapted to the different climate and soil. Propagated from cuttings, they now line the foreshore and grow in the surrounding gardens.
And of course, the bays are crowded with leisure boats.
Privately owned by Russians according to our guide
Our day trip to Antibes (a very expensive lunch and photos of enormous private yachts that I assumed were small cruise ships) and Cannes (beautiful people hoping to be spotted by movie moguls during the Cannes Festival) included a visit to Saint-Paul de Vence.
The steep narrow streets are lined with artist’s galleries,
Saint Paul de Vence
all inviting but very touristy and expensive. No-one, including the tourist office, wanted to bother with English speaking visitors trying to find their way around without a paid tour guide so we gave up quite quickly and returned to our car and driver (who was equally unhelpful).