Woke up early, bit worried about driving the car into busy Nice. Filled up the tank up the road in La Colle sur Loup and then headed for our 25 minute drive into Nice. Took our last toll road and relied on the GPS to get us there! The damn thing went crazy a few times with different directions and losing signals (usually when in the middle of intersections) but finally made it. Destination was Hertz at Nice Railway station. No carpark in front of the office, so Mario doubleparked while I ran in. Carpark up the road, not clear where, more instructions from passersby required. Finally up SIX narrow, windy storeys. Was like a ride at Disneyland! Dropped off keys and that was it. Was good to be able to get to the small towns when we wanted but such a pain in the narrow streets with the crazy French drivers! Then set the GPS to walk mode and off to our hotel. 3 mins later we were there! Hotel lady would not let us in our room as we were early, the only one to do that so far! Went for some lunch up the road and found we were just 2 mins walk or 1 street away from the main boulevard. Returned to our hotel with 13 mins to check in time and were told to wait for the 13 mins! Unbelievable, so anal. The room was also the worst we'd had so far, with stains on the carpet and bedspreads. Mario asked for the remote for the aircon as it was hot and were told that we'd have to wait until night time and even then we'd be best to open our windows as the nights there are cool! Put some bathers on the girls and walked down towards the beach. Lots of big shops, including Galleries Lafayette (not good for the budget) and made it to the beach. Lovely, warm water. The girls loved it. They weren't too used to all the rocks but soon adjusted! Beautiful, what a way to spend an afternoon. Stopped at one of the fountains on the way back for more of a rest (!) and then back to our yucky hotel. Looking for a spot for dinner was difficult. Either not open if only serving drinks or sweets. One place refused to split a main dish for the children so we moved! "not possible". Eventually found a place with good food and an excellent waiter. Bravo!
And tonight is the night me and the kids nearly died! We were at what I thought was a pedestrian crossing (it actually had traffic lights). I strode across looking at the bus coming on the other side, waiting for it to stop. But I didn't check my nearest side - or see the red light, and went to cross, my girls holding a hand each. Mario yelled out "stop", I did, then felt the wind from a bus less than 10cms from my face! Oh boy!