Cours Saleya Market

The Cours Saleya is the long pedestrian plaza running through the heart of Old Nice and the morning flower and food market that fills it from Tuesday to Sunday is the reason to arrive early. From around 6 AM to 1 PM, the market covers the full length of the cours: cut flowers, potted lavender, mimosa, and roses on the eastern half (Nice is the cut flower capital of France), and food on the western half: vegetables from the Var and Alpes-Maritimes, olives in dozens of varieties, charcuterie, cheese from Provence and Piedmont, and street food. The street food is the point: Chez Theresa's stall serves socca (a thin chickpea flatbread cooked on a massive copper pan over a wood fire, EUR 3 a portion, served hot, eaten with black pepper and nothing else) and pissaladiere (onion tart with anchovies and olives, EUR 3-4). Both are Nicoise specialities and both are best eaten standing at the stall with a small coffee from the bar across the cours. On Monday the flower market becomes an antique and flea market. The Cours Saleya is the centre of the social life of Old Nice and works as an outdoor living room. The restaurants on the north side are more tourist-oriented; the ones on the south side facing the Flower Market are more local. Budget EUR 5-10 for a morning of socca, pissaladiere, and coffee.