Boxcar Kitchen

So how do you top off vacation in Corsica? A week in Nice is just about all you need to ease back into life on the continent. I'm spoiled; I know it.

Vieux Nice is one of my all time favorite places to go for a couple different reasons. First of all, it is one of the only places in France (other than Corsica) where you can pretty much be garanteed real summer weather and it is always relaxing - almost like vacation at home but better. Once you start visiting a place regularly, you really get to know it and then you're not hounded by the guilt of trying to get out to visit every single monument, park, or restaurant. I also love how 'floaty' (salty) the water is too. The Mediterranean makes me feel like an Olympic swimmer which is something that I am most definitely not.

I've got my Nice pattern down pat: pizza, ice cream, beach and scooter. It sounds like I could carry out this routine just about anywhere but it truly is all about location. The best thin crust or 'real' pizza, like we call it, can only be found at the Bar du Coin in Vieux Nice. Measuring in at three to four times the size of my head and boasting a crust only 1 milimeter thick, these pizzas are a feat of nature. Once the last bite is dutifully washed down with a final swig of rosé, the only thing left to do is to head to Fenocchio. The treck goes without saying. By the time you've finally decided which flavors you want (out of the gazillion that they offer), I often find myself renegociated for a third scoop. This year, lavender and dark chocolate was one of my best combinations.

And since it is the Côte d'Azur, the only way to prepare for the next day's food festivities is to hop on a scooter and tour around the coast trying to get a peek at the innumerable million dollar villas that you can only live in in your dreams. It doesn't really matter though; the beaches are better anyway.