Cours Saleya, Nice

We stayed for a week in Nice, in a lovely apartment just 20 meters from la cours saleya. We passed through it numerous times each day. I successfully shopped the market a few times for breakfast ingredients, fruits, and so forth with great success, even with my somewhat abbreviated French. The western end of the market is devoted to flowers and potted plants seemed pricey. The vegetables more in line with the market. About 8:00 AM was a good time to go, not so crowded except for local folks. On one-day, i forget which, maybe Monday the market turns into a massive sale of bric-a-brac and "antiques." Haggle for a good price. This colorful market rolls up around 1:00 PM, some stalls sooner. The whole area is hosed down and al fresco seating for the perimter restaurants are set up. The restaurants that surround the market are in general overpriced and under-quality. I would avoid them except for an occasional cafe or apertif before dinner. Service was particularly poor on crowded nights. Better to go deeper into Vieux Nice for dinner to avoid the overly tourist restaurants. Rue Droit has several good ones which attract locals as well as tourists. NOTE: the tall building at the far West end is where the great French artist Henir Matisse lived and worked for many years. And toward the same are, on the north side is a lovely church, but in need of repairs.

Everyone was so happy and kind to us and there was a great selection of lovely produce for everyone. I really recomend the antiques-This mrket's a real winner

The Cours Saleya market is an experience not to be missed when visiting Nice. It goes on every morning except Monday, and is always highly entertaining, but was at its peak on Saturday. The freshest flowers, vegetables, and herbs, wonderful smells, the world's best olives, bellowing vendors, street performers, swirling masses of shoppers...wish I was there right now. Cours Saleya is lined with outdoor cafes and restaurants. Le Safari has very good pizza and Nicoise pasta dishes.