A walk in Nice with Selam and Guillaume
Today was a lovely day! I went for a walk with Selam along the Promenade, and then we went to the Cours Saleya and walked through the Old Town before walking back home. The weather was beautiful and sunny.
Almost as soon as we started our
walk, we were greeted by the wonders that nature has to offer in the vast
outdoors. We saw people, and other species as well. Pictured above are horses,
and a majestic eagle soaring overhead, a symbol foreshadowing the heights that
our day was about to reach!
We talked about my painting, we
talked about Selam’s family, we talked about Guillaume being busy with work. We
also noted that the new confinement rules were quite strange, but relatively
convenient. We had our attestations de déplacement dérogatoire, and we
had ticked the box for sports activities, so we were pretty much authorized to
go for a walk within a 10 km radius of where we lived for as long as we wanted.
We talked and we walked and we
made it to the Cours Saleya. Neither of us had been there in ages! It felt to
me like I was transported back in time. Often when I’m with Selam and
Guillaume, I get this feeling of being back in 2016 or 2017. And today, walking
through Cours Saleya and the Old Town, I really did feel like I was on holiday!
It felt like we could have been in Italy, or some town in France, or anywhere
else really.
I guess I could say that it gave me
“generic travel and holiday vibes”.
Walking through the market was
lovely, and I saw so many things that reminded me of past travels. So many
good, delicious things that I haven’t even thought of in the longest time, like
truffles, which reminded me of Alba and truffle butter.
There were many types of jams and
honey. They even have mango jam. And now I have a jar of it too.
I wasn’t planning on spending any money today, but I saw some pink strawberries (pale pink, as opposed to the usual strawberry pink/red), and the seller said that they were delicious, despite their appearance.
She doubled down and said that if I tried them once,
I’d want more.
That sounds like addiction. Sign
me right up! I bought a small box of these pale strawberries. We had them
later, and they were indeed very sweet and tasty.
I also bought a bottle of mango
jam, and no sooner had I bought that, I spotted this:
What?! I would never have
expected to find such a thing in the great outdoors on this fine Saturday. But
today fate has decided that I shall part ways with my money, so I gave it away
to the seller in exchange for this beautiful orange bottle of mango vinegar.
Speaking of beautiful orange
things, today I saw a large vegetable that has no business looking as enticing
as it does.
Pictured above is the said
gorgeous orange vegetable, with its owner in the background wearing the look of
such pride on his face from having raised such a beautiful specimen, proudly
showcased front and centre of his wares.
We’d only started out journey,
but we’d already walked along a beach, I
was already down some euro, and had snapped some beautiful photos. How could I
not feel like I was on holiday.
But then I saw this seller selling selections of Italian pastries, and I felt transported to Italy.
Selam and I got a couple of aragostine; I got one filled with lemon cream, and Selam got one with an almond filling. (I'm just realizing now that I didn't end up giving the aragostine to Selam! 😅 I've accidentally brought it back home with me)
We visited a few wine shops as Selam was looking for champagne. There too, it felt like we could have been anywhere. It could have been a wine shop in Portugal or Italy, and that was nice. There were also wines from Alba.
All these different sights giving
me so many different memories reminded me of the spice and tea shop that Nkay
used to work at. So Selam and I made our way to Girofle et canelle.
On our way there, I saw other reminders of Italy.
Well, it’s just an Italian restaurant, and I suppose that if we really were in Italy, the restaurant wouldn’t be called “Piccola Italia”. But I was in a holiday mood, so spare me.
We made it to Girofle et
Cannelle, and it was open!
Guillaume had decided to join us
and he had left home and was already nearby us. So we headed out to meet him.
On the way, we saw the Statue of Liberty!
I had heard of this statue before, but today is the first time I’m seeing it myself. Of course Selam got a picture of me with it, and I’m looking forward to seeing that. I’m also looking forward to the other photos she took today, because she takes great photos.
Here is a shot of her in action,
photographing this unusual natural rock formation that I had not noticed in
Nice before this. Or perhaps it was manmade. Such are the mysteries of the
great outdoors.
We had met up with Guillaume, and
of course, when he’s around, I feel even younger. Like I said before, it’s
like I’m transported back in time when I’m with these friends. We sat down
along the Promenade for a few moments and ate our things, but then the wind had
gotten so windy that my eyes began to grow teary, and we started heading back.
For our final stop before home,
we stopped by a Greek grocery shop really not too far from my home:
Today I went out for a walk with some friends in Nice, but the great outdoors offered up plenty of surprises, sights, and memories. I saw wildlife, exotic fruit jams, erotic vegetables, Italian pastries, the Statue of Liberty, rock formations, and also took away some Greek octopus salad. What a trip!
You took me this journey with you. I could have been there...so many beautiful memories that reminds us that nothing should be taken for granted. Miss you, Selam, Guillaume and Dani so dearly 💜
ReplyDeleteMiss you too! 💜
DeleteLooking forward to seeing you in Nice some time :)