Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Hotel Comte

So, what about Hotel Comte in Rue de Dijon, Nice? Yes, I would stay there again, and I would recommend it, but look elsewhere if you want thick carpets and palatial rooms.  A studio flat was very satisfactory for the four of us for four nights at a total cost of €291.00.
The tariff was €70 per night for the flat, plus sales tax. I did think it was going to be €107.50 per night, with breakfast and car parking.  The hotel coffee did smell good as I went out to the nearby pattisserie to buy the pain au chocolate and pain au rasin, but we were very happy eating breakfast in the room, and the nearby car park turned out to be free on Sundays and overnight.
My first impressions were not good. I was dismayed for Kath, because there was a short but quite steep ramp at the front door, and our room was up a flight of stairs with no lift, but she did really well.  The rooms in the main part of the hotel did have lifts, but our flat was in the building at the back, along narrow corridors with light switches on timers. The flat itself had a living room with a table and two single beds, a separate bedroom about 9" longer than the bed.  The bath was too short to lie in and the shower was a hand held affair. There was a balcony looking over an untidy garden and looking over the car park.
For all the initial disappointment, it suited us very well. It was clean and comfortable, we got good nights' sleep. The kitchenette served us well for tea and coffee, and the table sufficed for breakfast and one of our four evening meals.
Our first problem was how to drive to Rue de Dijon in the hire car. We got this off to a tee by the end. From the Promenade des Anglais, the main road running from the airport to the town centre along the coast, turn onto Boulevard Gambetta, and keep going under the bridge that carries the main overhead dual carriage way from East to West. After a while the road forks to the left, or would do, except it is one way, and the next right turn is Rue Clement Roassal, which leads to Rue de Dijon.
Arriving by tram is even easier. It costs just one euro for any journey within 70 minutes however far you travel.  When you get off at Liberation, the hotel is in sight. Liberation square was a great place to be near, especially on Sunday morning. There were fruit stalls every morning, but on Sunday there were all sorts including a complete row of fish stalls.

We bought fruit not only to eat, but also to draw. On our evening in we used one of the pieces of paper that the food was wrapped in to draw a still life. Good times.

You can tell which is mine, it is the least artistic one.

Two of our three meals out were a very short walk away from the hotel, and Restaurant L'Instant on the first night was especially good and welcoming.

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