Must try FOOD in Nice‘s old town | French Riviera Travel Guide

We've booked a food tour in Nice today. That's not something we usually do because we've lived ourselves so long in this area but we wanted you to make this experience as well. So this is where we're supposed to meet. We're at Place Masséna in the very heart of Nice and Yael will be our guide for the next three and a half hours. She's from Sweden we learn and has been living here for 14 years. And while the tour we booked is all about food it quickly becomes clear that we're also in for plenty of historical and fun facts. So here we have Masséna where the huge carnival takes place in February and we're introduced to these seven statues on poles representing the seven continents an installation created by artist Raume Plensa and wrongly called Buddhas by the locals. We're now walking towards the old town. Normally tour guides like Yael accept up to nine people. However this morning it's just Anja and me which is great because she can be very patient with us and our filming since there's no one else to look after. The sun fountain with Apollo in the middle surrounded by five more greek gods is definitely one of the most photographed spots in Nice. There are several anecdotes about this fountain but we'll leave those to the professional guides to reveal. It's high time for our first bite of typical local food that we're expecting to try today. Yael takes us to Alziari, the traditional local oil producer known for exceptional quality. We're going to start with the natural olives. That's what he made the Grand Cru from. Grand Cru is usually a term for the best wine but Alziari aimed to achieve a similarly high standard for olives, olive oils and related products which to us is mission accomplished. Everything is incredibly tasty. Hard to believe the olives are grown just outside of Nice. Now we're heading towards the flower market and we can guess what's next. But first a quick stop at the opera which was designed by a student of Gustave Eiffel. Anyway we guessed right, Maison Auer is our next stop just opposite the opera. Yes yes yes yes we hope you would do this. And as attentive followers of this channel will know you get chocolatey treats and candied fruits at this confectionary. Next up is the flower market which also features a wide selection of stands offering fruit and vegetables as well as local specialties like cheese and cold cuts. Yael obviously knows everyone we're meeting today very well as she stops by several times a week which means they have sample platters nicely prepared for us when we arrive. Yael repeats in English what the monsieur just explained to us and then we dig in. Check out the cheese rind with flowers. Time to follow Yael to our next destination. Perhaps something sweet again after the savory cheese. Yes sweet it does get in the little shop called Angers tucked away in one of the narrow alleys with its cute accessories and colorful macarons even available as ice cream. So here we have vanilla from Madagascar, mocha cafe, strawberries, lemon, blueberries, raspberries. We're each allowed a macaron included in the price of the tour just like all the other samples we're getting to try today. After much deliberation we finally decide on rose from Grasse and Saint-Tropez orange flower and we end up swapping macarons because they look so delicious that you want to try them all. So if you like this particular food tour you'll find the link of it in the description below the video and there are also several other food tours that are offered so you can make your choice but we can definitely recommend Yael. Our stroll through the old town remains peppered with historical facts thanks to our lovely guide who then takes us to try those typical pebbles from the beach Of course they're not real stones but sugar-coated chocolate georges that taste great and are almost too pretty to eat. Yael says her clients often take them home as souvenirs. Well we have more stops ahead of us so off we go. When booking this tour we were promised a secret and apparently it's linked to this church on rue Droite. The thing is that there's no tour guide who knows this is just between me and the other tour guide. So we've been let in on the secret but we'll keep it under wraps. Real or just an illusion? Yael explains that oftentimes windows would be painted here in Nice as real ones would have been more expensive so keep your eyes peeled for more trompe l'oeil. We continue our walk down rue Droite and stumble upon another intriguing fact. This cannonball supposedly got stuck here when Nice was attacked by the Turks in 1543. This butcher shop is highly valued by locals but we press on to the little fish market just around the corner at Place Saint François. Here we learn that on weekend mornings you can enjoy six oysters and a glass of white wine for 13 euros. For us it's time for another sweet treat though at the same little square. Néron by Louis Dubois serves delicious ice cream and lovely pastries. We're in for a réduit meaning they're tiny versions of their bigger cousins. As usual we need some time to decide which one looks best and then we go for a little lemon tart and a pistachio pastry. Glad we get some time to rest, taste and chat some more in front of the cafe. And then after that when everybody's full they take a little cookie. It's like a reduced dessert and yeah so they can fit you know. I can eat that. I can't get a whole one. We dig in and discuss taste and texture agreeing that it's absolutely delicious once again. Jael has promised us another food stop. Lunch actually. But we're taking a little detour that leads us to this charming square off the main tourist route. Look at this vine. Great tip if you're seeking a quieter spot in the heart of the old town. Then we're approaching René Sokka, one of the well-known places for those traditional local specialties with tables lining both sides of the alley. Expected to get really crowded for lunch especially in the summer season but thankfully Jael had reserved a table for us. So René's specialty is Sokka, probably the most local dish there is that you'll truly only find in Nice or maybe some neighboring cities. We usually spice it up with pepper and salt but Jael suggests drizzling some lemon juice on it because it can be a bit dry. It's a cheap and simple dish just as the Farci stuffed vegetables and Pissaladière tasty onion tart. If you've tried these three you can consider yourself an expert on local cuisine. And now we are promised some ice cream. On the way to our final food stop we hear about the story behind these hands that are common to knock on doors around here with or without a ring on a finger. And now we're gonna get ice cream. We're diving back into the vibrant heart of the old town, Place Rossetti, with its cathedral and the most famous ice cream parlor in Nice, Fénocchio. The lines are crazy when the weather is warm and Jael is as caring as ever having picked up our favorite flavors for us. Now if you'd like to experience this exact food tour check out the link in the description. So thanks to Jael we had an amazing three and a half hours and she told us some new interesting facts about Nice. That was great. And if you want to learn more about Nice we got a whole playlist for you to check out.