Nice, France, Part 2

If you're looking for Part 1, it's over here.

We made the most of our last day in Nice before we drove home - the day started early for me again with the sunrise.

There were a few early morning exercisers, a few not-quite-finished-from-the-night-before party people and some giggling old ladies out for a sunrise swim (all with those cute bathing caps).

The seaside restaurants and lounges were all setting up for the day.

The 'beach':

Once the pretty colours had been chased away by the sun I made my way towards the Vielle Ville, enjoying the sites on the way.

Hotel Negresco

Bikes for hire

The gorgeous light fixtures outside L'Opéra de Nice

The streets in the Old City are narrow and colourful with an Italian feel. (The influence of Nice once being a part of the Roman Empire?)

Where we actually ended up eating lunch that day. Much more crowded at midday. 

Even the laundromat looks inviting:

The antique market was setting up on the Cours Saleya as I arrived.

Plenty of trash:

And treasure (which is, of course, all in the eye of the beholder):

These vintage buttons were expensive but gorgeous (I only bought 4, very reserved).

I was too frightened to look inside this book in case it had pictures. Remember my trip to the French gyno?

After my morning wanderings we checked out of our apartment and headed up to the Parc du Château.

This Parc is located on top of a 92m hill right next door to the Old City.

The views from all sides are spectacular, whether it be over the beach:

Or Vieux Nice:

Or the Port (loving the hot pink silos):

There is much we didn't get to see in Nice and we'd love to go back. However, with the number of weekends we have left in France almost down to single digits it's unlikely this will happen. Boo.

But we never say never!

Bonjour and Bienvenue au Travelling Pic Stitch Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Travelling Pic Stitch Blog Hop - organised by the lovely Katy and Laura.


These girls had the idea of getting bloggers around the world to piece together some quilting goodness, the colours of which have to be based on a photo they have taken during their travels.

So, what sort of piecing? Why, English Paper Piecing of course. Is there any other? (No really, I'm serious, is there any other??).

This hand sewing technique is the perfect project to take on the road when travelling. If you would like to see a concise explanation of EPP, just look here at Florence of Flossie Teacakes' most excellent write up.

There are many stops on the Blog Hop (which goes until the end of next month) and anyone can join in by creating their own piece and linking up on 30 Nov.

And yes, there are prizes courtesy of some lovely sponsors:

Paper Pieces (whose code PAPER20 will get you 20% off at checkout)
Fabricworm
Pink Castle Fabrics
Marmalade Fabrics
Fat Quarter Shop
Want It Need It Quilt
Aurifil

Good stuff!

Now, here's what I got up to with my first ever EPP attempt.

My photo came from our recent trip to Nice on the French Riviera.

The colours on the right below were pulled from photo by the Playcrafts Palette Builder. Because I'm very fond of turquoise I decided to go heavy on the blue and add just a pop of orange to represent the terracotta roofs of the Vielle Ville (Old City).

I used Kona Solids Cyan, Lagoon and Tangerine plus an off cut of turquoise curtain voile (with light interfacing on the back).

I tried my hand at few different shapes:

And eventually sewed them together to make an abstract geometric pattern.

I've been needing an iPad case for a while so I decided to use the piece to decorate a linen foundation.

I used double sided interfacing to adhere the piece and then reinforced it by stitching around the edges.

I was expecting it to look like a dog's breakfast so I was very pleased with the outcome.

This lasted 14.7 seconds until I realised I'd made a rather tragic mistake:

Flap closes on design. Bugger. 

No going back once you've fused that sucker down, so I had to do some creative cutting to salvage the thing. 

Note to self: double check the placement before fusing. Then check again. 

Anyhoo, I now have an iPad case that can hold an iPad. I consider that a win.

There you have it. I tried EPP for the very first time and not a single swear word was uttered (the moment I discovered my appliqué was upside down doesn't count as technically the EPPing was over by then). I really enjoyed the zen of the process and hope to do some more.

 

And so the show goes on! For the complete list of Blog Hop participants over the two months, see here. 

For some quick links you can see yesterday's stop here at Jo's blog Bearpaw and tomorrow's stop will be at Ramona's blog Ramona Rose. 

I will be back soon with some more pictures from Nice, see you then. 

Nice, France, Part 1

Hi everyone, hope you're having a great week so far!

Commiserations to any Hawthorn supporters out there. We enjoyed the game over a quiet Bundy and Coke or two - very refreshing at 7am!

I have some pictures from Nice for you today - so if you are up for a ramble around this infamous Mediterranean city, read on:

We arrived Saturday afternoon, just in time to see the mister cross the finish line for his week-long road bike event.

Viewed from the finish line, looking across the road:

The romantic Hotel Negresco (built 1912)

Looking up:

Scary casino jester head

Looking down:

We were experiencing the last weekend of the heatwave that simmered France in August, so a cold one of these was required:

French beer isn't my favourite (I prefer Belgian) but this was cold and wet and deeeelicious.

That evening we were all a little tired after the journey and excitement of the day. I offered to cook and so went down the street to pick up some take-away pizza to eat in our apartment.

As I waited for our order to cook I took a short stroll on the Promenade des Anglais, where I came across some sort of small parade:

And couldn't resist snapping a few more shots of the Hotel Negresco, which I think is even prettier by night.

The next day I was up with the sun and left my sleeping beauties behind to explore the streets.

This amazed me - an apartment block with doors that open from each landing of the stairwell straight out to the front of the building. Not even a screen door. As an occasional klutz and a mother of young children, the thought makes me shudder.

Nice has a big expat scene - it was the winter destination from the late 1800s and hasn't looked back since. Plenty of Englishfolk retired there (and still do, lucky sods). Many Russian well-to-do also settled in Nice during the turbulent 1910s. The Saint Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral was built in 1912 and is the largest church of this denomination located outside Russia.

1865 - when Nicholas, Russia's heir apparent, died in Nice (for whom the Cathedral is named) 

It was too early for visiting hours so I admired the beautiful mosaic work from the gates. I had every intention of returning later to see inside but unfortunately time ran away from us (a good reason to go back to Nice again, methinks).

Most of my wandering that morning was around the Medecin area, just north of the Promenade des Anglais, where the buildings have fabulously ornate façades and very classy porticoes.

In an age of 'get it built quick and cheap' these buildings are a beautiful deviation from the norm. I happily spent a few hours walking around with my chin up in the air and *ahem* photographing people's windows.

Also seen out and about:

Very early on; had to have my coffee and croissant

Super cute yellow car

Across the road from super cute yellow car. D'oh.

Would have loved to take this home and turn it into a glass-topped table

Loved this vintage sign even though there is something deeply disturbing about a coffeepot drinking its own coffee.

That day the kids had a ball on the beach and we enjoyed a leisurely lunch on the Promenade (followed by lazy afternoon naps). That night we ventured down to Old Nice for some Indian food (best we've had in France) and then soaked in the evening ambiance.

The streets were bustling with diners and tourists:

And the kids loved this more modern art display:

Hardcore naughty-corner alternative for very bad children

And it wouldn't be France without a beautiful merry-go-round that's over a hundred years old:

Probably enough photographs for now (sorry for anyone on dial-up) but I will be back with more soon. Nice is too wonderful to be contained in just one post!