Marché aux Flowers

The Cours Saleya is the long, narrow square in the old town of Nice where the flower market has been held for generations, and it is the most colourful place in the city. The square runs parallel to the sea, a block back from the Quai des États-Unis, and is lined on one side by tall pastel houses in ochre, pink and yellow with green shutters, many of which house restaurants. Under the awnings, rows of stalls sell flowers in great variety, from cut roses, carnations and sunflowers to potted herbs, orchids and bunches of lavender, and in winter mimosa, the golden Riviera flower, perfumes the air. The flower market itself is said to date from the nineteenth century, the time when the hills behind Nice became a centre for growing flowers for the markets of northern Europe.

The market is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from early morning, with the flower stalls staying open into the afternoon, while the fruit and vegetable sellers pack up earlier, around lunchtime on Sundays. On Mondays the square is given over to an antiques and second-hand market instead, where dealers sell furniture, paintings, silver and curiosities. The food stalls are a pleasure in their own right. Look for the produce of the region, such as the small purple artichokes of Provence, courgette flowers, tomatoes, lemons from nearby Menton, olives and olive oil, sold with a leaf of fresh basil. Stalls and shops in the lanes sell the local street food. Socca, a thin chickpea pancake baked in a wood-fired oven and served hot, is the best-known, along with pissaladière, a bread topped with onions and anchovies, tourte de blettes, a sweet-and-savoury Swiss chard pie, and fougasse, a flat bread.

The market is a good place to meet the people who grow and sell the produce, as many of the florists and growers are family businesses who have worked here for years and will tell you about their plants. Prices are posted, and it is polite to greet the stallholder. Come early in the morning for the best choice and the best light, as the market gets busy by late morning and the terraces of the cafés fill up. Some of the restaurants along the square have a local clientele as well as visitors, and the lunch menus often feature the dishes of Nice. The market is free to visit, and the surrounding streets are pedestrian.

The old town of Nice, which is part of the area that UNESCO inscribed in 2021 as the winter resort town of the Riviera, is easy to explore from here on foot. The Palais Lascaris, a baroque palace on the Rue Droite, is a short walk away, as are the Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate and the Chapelle de la Miséricorde. At the eastern end of the square, steps lead up to the Colline du Château, the hill with the best views of the bay, and to the south the Promenade des Anglais runs along the sea. The market suits everybody, from food lovers to photographers.