We're in France! Our plane landed just after 6 PM, and we were in our room at the Hotel Vendome by 7:10 PM.
We started the day with our usual breakfast at our B&B in Knaresborough. We checked out by 9:30AM, stopped in town to snap some final photos of Tour decorations, buy postcards and stamps, and then drove to nearby Harrowgate for some final souvenir hunting and a late morning tea at Betty's Tea Room. Betty's is a national teasure, like Polly's Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill.
If you tell someone you've been in Harrowgate, they'll ask you if you stopped at Betty's. So, at Betty's Joni had a pot of tea, I had a capucino, and we both had scones with cream. They were very, very good, and as Martha Steward always remind us, presentation is everything!
We had a nice conversation with the couple sitting next to us. They live in Blackpool, a seaside resort just north of Liverpool on the Irish Sea, but they were originally from Scotland and they had not lost their Scottish brogue one bit.
As we walked around Harrowgate it was amazing to watch the city return to it's post-Tour self as city workers were out replanting flowers everywhere that were removed so they wouldn't be trampled by the thousands of Tour spectators.
We were in the car just after 11 and headed southeast to the Manchester airport which is only 75 miles away. All went smoothly with the drive and at the airport. We took off at 3 pm, and two hours later were at the Côte d'Azur airport in Nice.
We were given the queen's room, 105, at the Hotel Vendome. Not sure why, perhaps it's because this is at least our sixth visit to the hotel and they are rewarding loyal customers. Whatever! It has double door, high painted ceilings, and a balcony that is big enough to hold a table and four chairs. This place has elegance!
After checking in and showering we headed out to tour Nice prior to dinner. We walked through Place Massena and into the Old Town, Nice Vieux. Along the Cours Saleya, a daytime market area that's turned into outdoor restaurants every evening, huge televisions were set up for the World Cup semi-final match between Germany and Brazil. Although France was no longer in the tourney, it is the World Cup, and everyone wants to watch.
We dined at Le Bistro du Fromager, which specializes in cheeses, they integrate cheese into every course. It's a tiny place, with all tables in the basement which resembles a wine cellar with low curved ceilings. For appetizers Joni had a melon, proscuito, & parmesan combination, and I had foie gras with chutney, parmesan, and lettuce. We both had homemade tagliatelle, with parmesan cheese and flavored with thyme. Delicious...an oh yes, at this place the waiter picks out your wine to match the cheeses you've ordered, so we had a dry Chardonnay...very good.
We skipped dessert and coffee, intending to get it at one of the outdoors restaurants at the Cours Saleya, We were actually seated at one with a great view of the game. We told the waiter we only wanted coffee and dessert, and he said that was fine. But another man came up to our table as we were waiting to order and said we had to leave if we weren't ordering a full dinner. When I told him the waiter said it was fine, he said, "I'm the owner, and you have to leave!". His loss...we're not in Yorkshire anymore.
After seeing that the score was 5-0 with just 37 minutes being played, we weren't as anxious to watch, so we got ice cream at a nearby shop and returned to the Hotel Vendome ready for our first sleep in France.
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