This was the Nice part of the Nice and Easy Tour! As you know we have already explored the Easy or Eze part of this tour! What will we see here? From the bus it looks nice and flat. And, it’s a beautiful day!

We started exploring Nice, beginning at the Apollo Fountain at the Place Massena. This marble statue created by artist, Alfred Janniot in 1956, has been through many trials and tribulations. It began when the statue, which is four times the size of a normal man, was placed in the center of a very busy and populated plaza. Not only was the statue oversized, his best parts (if you follow my drift) were actually enhanced and embellished, shall we say.  A full blown scandal ensued and the artist was asked to chisel down these parts. Which he did……….    In 1979 after continuous mocking and vandalism (at one point a very large green fig leaf was painted on him) the League of Feminine Virtue succeeded in having the statue removed.  In the 90’s the fountain began to leak and was removed altogether and replaced by a grassy mound and three scrawny palm trees. Fast forward fifteen years, when a reporter did a piece on “Where Are They Now,” and it was revealed the Apollo statue had been in a water treatment storage facility near the airport for many years. In 2011, grassroot support to bring the statue and the fountain back to the center of the square began and here are the results today! Yeah for Apollo!

Walked all around this to get a view of every side! Are those pigeons on his head?

Even his backside was admired from this angle……      Is that a pigeon perched on the pigeons? And now you can see that six naked guys on platforms have been added to the area! Where is the League of Feminine Virtue? Is that still around? This street was very crowded, really the most crowded of any street we were on in Nice. Why, you ask? All the gelato venders were on this street and the temperature was in the high 90’s. We all waited our turn in line…………

The buildings reminded me of those in New Orleans in lovely pastel colors…………..

The architecture was similar too…………

Strolling the promenade along the beachfront there were more ornate buildings on one side………..

and more statues…………Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, is a favorite in Nice too…………..

We had to stroll along the beach!

And watch the paragliders…………..and volleyball bunch………

and look at all the umbrellas on the rock beach…….

I sat in a blue chair and watched the world go by…..

Not this blue chair………….

If you live in France you MUST have a Merry-Go-Round!

Let’s go down this way…….

To another flower market……..

and beyond. We don’t want to miss anything.

I could live in that terra-cotta colored place over the bread shop………..

Oh yeah, I could wake up to this everyday………

Well, we’re hot and it’s time to get back to the ship…….we took selfies first……….

Is he still looking at the beach? Come on!

See you tomorrow in another port!