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Merde, good try kid but wrong beach, should have gone to Biarritz. One of Nice's beaches 2006 with pay area visible to the right and an unusually overcast sky.

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Images of France: France Beach Pictures | Paris Pictures | Cannes | Menton | Biarritz

Nice and Cannes are the somewhat worn clichés of the France's Riviera, that area just west of Cannes [and out of the frequently deranging Mistral wind] that runs as far as Menton on the Italian Border.
Anthony Peregrine of the Sunday Times said Cannes is a 'tawdry patch of urban blight messing up a nice coast.' That's a bit strong Anthony mate, but it's certainly true that the France's Riviera in general - and Cannes and Nice in particular - is no longer a pristine paradise as motor vehicles have a death grip on the place.
However, the Riviera is excellent for dry sunny weather, inexpensive eating, wild partying and hip people watching, while the water temperature of the Mediterranean in the summer is delightful.

Unless you're staying at one of the super luxury resorts or a campsite, Nice, the 'Capital of Riviera' is a good base for travelling around the Côte d'Azur due to its very convenient airport, plenty of reasonable accommodation and good local transport facilities.
There are also some fine museums and great festivals in Nice, especially the mad Carnival.

Nice's beach is very long but pebbly while Cannes' beaches are sandy but Cannes' best spaces - less so in Nice - are taken by hotels or parasol rental people. In both cities the streets around the beaches consist largely of slow-moving traffic jammed bumper to bumper and a concomitant lack of parking spaces. Nice's politics are extremely right-wing and corrupt though this hardly alters the city's joie de vivre and fine collection of glorious turn-of-the-century buildings.

One of Nice's best assets, the huge, lively and mostly inexpensive outdoor eating and market area of Cours Saleya. To the left is the Old Town [Vielle Ville], to the right is the Promenade des Anglais and dead ahead is Castle Hill [Colline du Chateau] the city's best viewpoint.

Guide to Nice's main attractions:
***Promenade des Anglais - long, wide and beautifully lined with palm trees, many elegant buildings, slowly moving cars and giving access to the attractive though stony beach; the promenade is superb for people watching, biking and inline skating.
***The huge Cours Saleya outside dining and market area that is lively, varied and excellent value and adjacent to the Old Town.
***Vieille Ville [Old Town], a medieval ambience that's good for wandering, shopping and wild night moves.
**Terrific shopping in Jean Medecin street, though it'll be a mess till autumn 2007 due to new tram track construction.
**Art Museums including Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain, Musée Chagall, Musée Matisse and Musée Archéologique, plus the nearby Gallo-Roman Ruins.

And back to the downsides...Traffic in summertime towards the end of the Promenade des Anglais; this section is the Quai des Etats-Unis. The beach is immediately on the right, Cours Saleya on the left and Colline du Chateau [Castle Hill] straight ahead.

One of Nice's beaches off the Promenade des Anglais, with an azure Mediterranean Sea. A typical Riviera pay-to-pose area on a slow day. Click on the image for pictures of Nice carnival, Menton, Cannes and other beaches in France.

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Images of France: France Beach Pictures | Paris Pictures | Cannes | Menton | Biarritz

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