Upgrades on Our Way to Nice: The Long Haul After Dinner Plans

We woke up at 2:00am on Sunday, September 13th and got ready quickly for our airport transfer to Air France at CDG. When we arrived just before 4:00am, nothing was open yet. We had to wait over an hour for anyone to even be there to consult.

Everything is automated for Domestic Air France flights. First we had to find the correct counter area. Then, having tried the machines at the other areas and having not found our reservation, we waited for an Air France employee, Igor, who helped us find our reservation.

Then came the choice - do you want to upgrade? Ultimately, upgrading for a small plane on a short domestic flight doesn't win you first class treatment. What it did get us was checked luggage at a euro off each. We also both got window seats and got to be among the first rows of the plane. That set the tone off right for the day.

After a 3 hour wait, we were in the air and on our way.

Arriving in Nice

We arrived in Nice just after 9:00am and made our way to the arrivals terminal, where no one was waiting for us. It was a near immediate decision. We didn't have a number to call, so we hopped in a cab and within a short 15 minute drive, we were at So' Co Hotel by HappyCulture. Unfortunately, our room wouldn't be ready until that afternoon. So we left our bags, asked for advice on getting to the beach, rode bus #8 and took off on our first pebbley ocean expedition.

It was already hot in the morning there. As we were riding the bus, I spotted a palm tree and figured we were close. I said "Let's get off here. The beach is that way." So we both got off and started walking in the direction of the palm tree.

Iron Man Competition

When we got to the beach, the famous Promenade des Anglais, was blocked off for a race. The whole street was occupied and there were manmade construction erected bridges to get over the race and to the beach. We lined up to get over to the other side.

Guards were managing the line like a one way traffic lane. They kept our side stopped for around 10 minutes while traffic from the other side filtered over the bridge, then they finally let our side go. When we got to the other side, we walked down to the pebbly beach.

Dean grazed the beach for rocks and then jumped in the water for a brief swim. I just waited on the shore. I wasn't prepared with a bathing suit.

When we were finished, it was time to go back to the hotel and get ready for our dinner plans. We had a lot of time still, so we went back to where the bus had dropped us off. We found a table at a restaurant and set out to get drinks, but the drinks didn't come fast enough so we left.

Unfortunately, the bus route was altered due to the road closure. Bus $8 no longer went past the beach directly. We figured walking back was the fastest way. Remember, we were already tired from our last day in Paris. With the early morning and already tired feet, this walk was a slog.

Dinner at Le Plongeoir

Three weeks before we left for the trip, I made reservations at Le Plongeoir. The best time I could get for us was 3:30pm. I had seen the restaurant on Instagram. The spot seemed beautiful, like a perfect sunset view. We dressed up nicely and essentially went out for an early birthday dinner. I turned 44 the following day.

We got our hotel to call us a cab, and when our driver arrived, we told him where to go. He commended us on our taste and said it was a good choice of restaurant. We walked down the steps at the entrance to a hostess station and gave them our name for the reservation. They walked us up to the second floor of the restaurant and seated us in the sun, directly at the railing overlooking the Mediterranean ocean.

We ordered drinks, both of us got some fancy cocktail, and then saved champagne for the second round. We both ordered the steak too. It came with sort of fancy tater tots and veggies with fig. The presentation was really quite lovely.

The steak arrived and I was starving. I even tried the puffed potato part of the dish. The sauce was delightful.

Then after we finished our meal, we ordered dessert. We got some kind of cake mango ice cream type dessert, which was delectable and a great finish to our early dinner. We had to leave by 5:00, but in the sun, there really wasn't much reason to stay longer. Dean had noticed a beach right below the restaurant that he wanted to see.

Waiting after the Meal

We went down to the beach which was packed with people, but I'd already had a little too much sun that day so I climbed the stairs, crouched, and waited for Dean to finish his beachcombing. It was probably about 6:00 after we left for our hotel.

I wanted to hang around and get some footage of the restaurant, but that didn't take too long. We left and walked in the direction of our hotel, hoping we could catch a cab a little closer and get the ride to cost less than the ride there had been.

We Couldn't Catch a Taxi to Save Our Lives

We eventually found a taxi stand with a number for taxis on it and called. But we only knew the name of one cross street where we were, and though we were describing it well, it was definitely not well enough for her to send a taxi. Still she pretended that she had sent one.

There we were, just outside Port Lympia, not knowing what the area was called, waiting on a bench for a taxi for over 20 minutes. In that whole time, we didn't see a single taxi, either empty or occupied, pass by.

Maybe Sunday evenings are slow, or more likely taxis just never go there because the tram is right there. But at the time, we were completely ignorant of where we were. We decided to walk a little further in the direction of our hotel.

Then we tried calling the taxi that had dropped us off, but we weren't connected with our original driver. The driver misunderstood where I said I was, and ultimately we realized our chances of getting a cab at all that night had evaporated.

We walked all the way back to our hotel.

Settling in for a Better Day Tomorrow

At our hotel, I crossed the street and went to buy a bottle of wine. I got an affordable, half-decent bottle of Bordeaux. That night, we knew the next day was my birthday and was going to involve a trip to Cannes and Antibes at 1:00pm.

We'd walked over 10km, two days in a row. France is definitely not ideal for accessible travel. As our heads hit the pillow, we slept fast.