Join the gentleman of Smooth Jazz Dave Koz and his friends for a week-long fun-filled trip to Europe. He will be cruising the Italian and French Riviera in September of 2012. It’s really a dream-come-true itinerary starting in Barcelona, Spain and continuing on to Naples, Rome and Florence, Italy — then on to Nice and Toulon, France! Three countries and six ports during an unforgettable seven-day cruise on board the Royal Caribbean Line’s Serenade of the Seas. This cruise is already booked out, but perhaps you have luck to catch the boat!
On the Dave Koz & Friends At Sea Cruise, every single night you will be entertained by some of the best known names in Smooth Jazz: Dave Koz, Michael Bolton, Bob James, Nathan East, Harvey Mason, Chuck Loeb, Marc Antoine, Patti Austin, Norman Brown, Rick Braun, Jonathan Butler, Brian Culbertson, Michael Lington, Paul Brown, Raul Midón are among the already booked artists.
On Monday, October 1st, 2012 the ship will arrived in Nice, France. Located on the south east coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, Nice is the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast after Marseille. The city is called Nice la Belle (Nissa La Bella in Niçard), which means Nice the Beautiful, which is also the title of the unofficial anthem of Nice, written by Menica Rondelly in 1912. Nice is the capital of the Alpes Maritimes département and the second biggest city of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region after Marseille.
The Promenade des Anglais (“Promenade of the English”) is a promenade along the Baie des Anges, a bay of the Mediterranean, in Nice. Before Nice was urbanized, the coastline at Nice was just bordered by a deserted stretch of beach covered with large pebbles. The first houses were located on higher ground well away from the sea.
Starting in the second half of the 18th century, many wealthy English people took to spending the winter in Nice, enjoying the panorama along the coast. When a particularly harsh winter up north brought an influx of beggars to Nice, some of the rich Englishmen proposed a useful project for them: the construction of a walkway (chemin de promenade) along the sea.
The city of Nice, intrigued by the prospect of a pleasant promenade, greatly increased the scope of the work. The Promenade was first called the Camin dei Anglès (the English Way) by the Niçois in their native dialect, Nissart. After the annexation of Nice by France in 1860 it was rechristened La Promenade des Anglais, replacing the former Nissart name with its French translation.
The Hotel Negresco on the Promenade des Anglais was named after Henri Negresco (1868–1920) who had the palatial hotel constructed in 1912. In keeping with the conventions of the time, when the Negresco first opened in 1913 its front opened on the side opposite the Mediterranean.
Another place worth mentioning is the small street parallel to the Promenade des Anglais, leading from Nice’s downtown, beginning at Place Masséna, and running parallel to the promenade in the direction of the airport for a short distance of about 4 blocks. This section of the city is referred to as the “Zone Pietonne”, or “Pedestrian Zone”. The banning of cars creates a more serene setting. Here tourists can find a fine selection of restaurants, specializing in both Niçoise cuisine and various types of foreign cuisine. There is also a large selection of cafés where one can sit and enjoy an espresso or choose from a variety of specialty coffees, ices and desserts, and watch the city walk by. There are also plenty of small shops selling clothing, shoes and souvenirs.
