Nice Carnaval Insider Tips

Posted on February 14, 2026 by Allison Coe

I have a whole page on Insider Carnaval Tips, explaining what’s free (lots!), what’s fun, and what to avoid.  Here are a few extras and excerpts:

Nice Carnaval 2026 float drawing featuring legend Catherine Segurane, and Jeanne Augier of the Hotel NegrecoThis year’s theme is ‘Long Live the Queen’, and my favorite float celebrates the woman that saved Nice.  If you are not up on your Nice history, you’ll want to know how Catherine Segurane. The Heroine of Nice, saved the medieval city by showing her ass!  And the perky pink turrets are a wink to another woman that left her mark on Nice, the highly eccentric Jeanne Augier of the iconic Hotel Negresco.

The most fun of event during Carnaval (in my personal opinion) is Queernaval held at Place Massena Friday night February 27, 2026 at 8pm.  It’s the only night parade that is completely FREE (although you do need to go online for the free ticket) and definitely the most flamboyant, exuberant and participative (and open to everybody), like a giant open-air drag disco dance party.  And with the ‘Queen’ theme this year, it’s guaranteed to be lit!

Secret stealthy way the locals see the floats arrive while avoiding the crowds:  Map showing the route that the Carnaval floats take through town to arrive at the festivitiesApproximately 2 hours before each parade, the floats drive in from the Carnaval workshop in the port. Hang out on rue Arson (for the Corsos) or rue Francois Guisol (for the Flower Parades), or the Port (for both), or the seaside bordering the Old Town, and wait for the Carnaval to come to you, as the impressive floats meander past with none of the muss or fuss.  Here’s the timing:

  • Night Corsos: Tuesdays and Saturdays starting around 6:30pm to 7ish for the arrival, and 10pm on for the return journey.
  • Flower Parades: Wednesday and Saturday afternoons (plus Sunday the 22nd) starting around 12:30pm-1ish for the arrival, then from 4pm for the journey back to the Carnaval Hangar.

Promenade des Anglais as seen through a glass of white wine Silver lining for Carnaval haters: The Prom is basically closed off all day Saturdays and Wednesdays, plus all late afternoon/evenings on Saturdays and Tuesdays, so these are the most wonderful times to go have lunch, dinner or drinks at one of the Prom-facing cafes/bars, with no cars for once… just the soothing sounds of the waves and birds… ahhh.

Vintage Nice Carnaval PosterThe Massena Museum has a permanent Carnaval exhibit on the 3rd floor, with fascinating historic photos, paintings, vintage Carnaval posters, floats and all kind of amazing artifacts.

And finally, for the most adventurous, On March 1, the day after official Carnaval is over, the unofficial Carnaval Populaire bursts out of the shadows.  It’s the home-grown counter-Carnaval, which is not publicized, and not for everyone, but you can read all about it on insider tip #12 of my Carnaval Insider Tips Page… if you dare!

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Next White Lotus to be shot in Saint-Tropez

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Allison Coe

White Lotus posterRumors have been flying that season four of The White Lotus would be set somewhere on the French Riviera… and after much speculation it’s just been reported in Variety that the next White Lotus will be set at the Airelles Chateau de La Messardiere, a 5-star luxury resort in Saint-Tropez.  This opulent hotel is over-the-top even by Saint-Tropez’s excessive standards, so what better spot to show the wealthy at their worst as Mike White does so deliciously.

I was really hoping that they would choose somewhere close to Nice, but with the recent passing of legend Brigitte Bardot, Saint Tropez feels even more mythic, and I think that actually it’s the perfect choice.   And Variety reports that they will be shooting at least some scenes in Nice and Paris, so I may still have a shot at being an extra when shooting starts late-April!

Tanya and Greg from White Lotus riding a moped

Tanya and Greg the snake in happier days…

No word yet on the cast, but here’s an insider tip for you:  The Nice-Matin reported that writer Mike White and Jennifer Coolidge (Tanya!) were seen dining at Nespo restaurant in Nice last July… hmmm…  Tanya starred in season one on Maui and then was killed-off in Sicily in season 2, but could that mean that we might be in for some Tanya-esque flashbacks?

This newest ‘White Lotus Hotel’ was originally built as a palatial wedding present for the daughter of a wealthy French cognac baron (bien sur!) in the late 1800’s.  The couple raised 7 children, but when the husband died unexpectedly, she was forced by circumstances to turn her home into a hotel.  Luckily, the fabulous chateau quickly attracted Parisian aristocrats, and hit its glory days in the roaring 1920’s, but then came the wars and the former palace fell into an eerie abandon.  It has has changed hands many times since then, and its most recent incarnation with The Airelles Collection has included massive renovations and meticulous upgrades, just recently reopening in 2021.

Arial view of the Airelles Chateau de La Messardiere Saint Tropez where the next White Lotus will be setThis luxurious 32-acre hilltop hideaway has its own private beach on Pampelonne Bay and its ‘beach shuttle’ is a chauffeured Rolls-Royce.  The 28 rooms and 71 suites (plus a private villa) all have butlers.  Choose from 3 picturesque pools and 5 gourmet restaurants, and send the small scions off to their own kids section in a very Willie-Wonkaish mini choo-choo train that will certainly show up in at least one scene.

Want to go visit?  Here is the scoop on a daytrip to Saint-Tropez, but don’t go now because the hotel as well as the entire town is zipped-up tight as a drum in the winter, but it all starts to  reopen the last week in April, which is when shooting is supposed to start.  Interestingly, as of this writing, no shooting dates are blocked off the hotel’s rental calendar and the most inexpensive room of the whole year is in late April for 1150€/night.  If you were lucky you could potentially be there during the filming which would be very fun, and if you can’t afford the room, you can always just book a lunch at one of their restaurants.

As a side note, to commemorate the recent passing of Saint-Tropez’s most famous and beloved resident Brigitte Bardot, Nice is renaming a beach and a movie studio in her honor.  Lenval Plage will now be known as Brigitte-Bardot Beach (ooh la la!) and this particular plage was chosen as a tribute to her animal rights activism because it’s one of the only beaches in Nice that welcomes dogs!

Further, the sprawling Studios Victorine complex where many scenes from Bardot’s first film And God Created Woman were filmed in 1956 (…and will likely be used for shooting some White Lotus scenes as well) will also now be renamed in her honor.

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Back on Track: After 5 years the Mountain Train Returns!

Posted on December 19, 2025 by Allison Coe

In 2020 a massive storm named Tempete Alex walloped the hills above Nice in the Roya Valley, washing away roads, bridges, train tracks, entire homes, and 18 townspeople.  The damage was dramatic and the rebuilding has been a long, but finally, months ahead of schedule, the mountain train known as the Train of Marvels, rides again!

The village of Breil-sur-Roya as seen from the air

Breil-sur-Roya in summer

The Train des Merveilles departs  from the regular Nice train station and climbs the  mountainous terrain through a series of newly reinforced viaducts and tunnels through the Roya river valley.  This train is especially wonderful to take in the winter, when you quickly leave the palm trees of Nice behind and enter the snowy beauty of an Alpine mountain forest.

The village of Tende

Tende in summer

An hour will take you to the lakeside village of Breil-sur-Roya and another hour to get to the end of the line for the perched village of Tende, with its rustic charm and (free) mysterious museum full of fascinating petroglyphs found carved in the cave walls which gives this valley its marvels name.   To get to Tende, you generally need to change half way in Breil-sur-Roya (which is worth the stop anyway) and there are trains between the two towns roughly every hour. But if you want to just go straight to Tende there are two direct trains from Nice, at 9:30am and 1:30pm, each taking 2 hours, and direct return trains head back at 1pm and 3pm.

A one-way ticket to Breil-sur-Roya (1 hour+) 10.30€, and to Tende is 15.30€, but you’re free to stop off in Breil, then catch the later train between the two towns, which you can buy (in English!) on TrainLine.  This route is included in the Train Day/Week/Family Passes, so if you have one of these, just get on the train and go, no lines, no tickets.

See Related Pages:

Another Winter Treat that ALSO Just Came Back:

Poster for the reopening of the Monaco outdoor ice skating rinkThe giant Monaco municipal outdoor ice skating rink is also back after a 3 year absence!  Set on the Olympic-sized swimming pool facing the super yachts, this most spectacular ice skating rink on the Riviera closed permanently after Covid …but I guess it is back by popular demand!  It’s open to the public and costs just 8€ which includes skate rental, helmets and pads.  Opening day was December 5, 2025 and it’s open through end of February.

And as long as you’re there, here’s some other ideas for things to do in Monaco.

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Photo credits: all photos by Menton Riviera Merveilles

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Light up your Holidays with Luminiscence

Posted on December 3, 2025 by Allison Coe

Just in time for the holidays: a spectacular all-new immersive light show in the magnificent Notre-Dame Basilica.  Luminiscence: The Celestial Odyssey is a real wow, with ultra-realistic projections, remade precision mapping, a newly curated soundtrack, a live choir, and a new story specific to this church.

Using precision AI to remap every millimeter of Nice’s largest church, the show projects in 360° from multiple sources that all sync perfectly on every surface, creating an intricate 3D moving tableau that seamlessly weaves together art, history, nature, and sacred music.

Choreographed to an orchestral soundtrack augmented further by a live choir on Friday and Saturdays, and with the faint scent of incense and votives, the whole experience has the effect of temporarily transporting you to another plane if you let it.

The cover of Ken Follett's best selling book The Pillars of the EarthThe show is built around Nice’s history and the Notre Dame basilica’s origins: its painstaking construction, and its enduring spiritual significance… with the spirit of the church telling her story (in French) to a child.  For non-French speakers the narration is only in occasional snippets and not overly obtrusive, and the basic elements  will be familiar anyway to everyone who has read Ken Follett’s bestselling opus The Pillars of the Earth.

This 45-minute experience happens only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, with two shows a night. Tickets can be as low as 13€ or up to 39€ for the best seats at the the most popular showings.  The side seats are half price but still great since the show is 360° even from the sides, Thursday nights are less expensive without the live choir, there are discounts if under -25 or over -65 or with a family, and there is promo right now for 15% off the second showing each night.  Tram stop Jean Medecin; the Luminiscence entry is on the right side of the church.

Light up your holidays with this sense-surround kaleidoscope in a jewel box!

See related pages: 

Photo by Best of Nice

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I Found Trader Joe’s in France!

Posted on November 25, 2025 by Allison Coe

After over 25 years in France, one of the things I still miss from the States is Trader Joe’s.  So imagine my delight when I recently stumbled upon a whole stash of TJ’s hiding right in plain sight in the middle of Nice!

Branded grocery bag with Trader Joe's item found at Aldi

Click photo to enlarge

Bizarrely, the discount chain Aldi stocks a bunch of Trader Joe’s products, and while some (like cranberries) are always there, others cycle in and out (like Brookies …which are not in the photo because I ate them…)   Click the link above for the current list and keep clicking ‘+ Voir Plus’ at the bottom to see more.

Turns out that way back in 1979, ‘Joe’ Coulombe sold Trader Joe’s to one of two feuding brothers that co-founded the Aldi German discount grocery chain years before.  Flash forward, and now the bare-bones budget Aldi supermarkets are all over France although they are operated completely separately from Trader Joe’s in America (…and the Aldi stores in America are owned by the other feuding brother, so no contact at all with Trader Joe’s). But since French Aldi and Trader Joe’s share a parent company, French Aldi has been quietly stocking some of their awesome products for years, and I had no idea.

…You’re welcome!

Could Picard actually be Trader Jacques?

On the flip-side, eagle-eyed expats have noticed a striking similarity between Trader Joe’s made-in-France frozen food aisle, and the uniquely French Picard frozen food boutiques… to the point that there are multiple reels on TikTok and Instagram along the lines of ‘Discover Picard: the Trader Joe’s of France.’

It could be true: Trader Joe’s buys direct from manufacturers then rebrands and sells at a discount under their own Trader Joe’s label, a deal that cuts out the middleman but also contractually swears both parties to secrecy.  So I have no proof, but all I can say is that American expats should definitely check out Picard Surgeles for those nights when cooking is just not in the cards.

There are several Picard stores in Nice but you may never have noticed them because from the outside they resemble a sterile white medical lab (compounded by the word Surgeles, which means ‘frozen’ but implies ‘Surgical’ to English-speakers, lol), but inside is an icy Trader Joe’s-adjacent wonderland with row after row of top-loading chest freezers full of quality and imaginative (if expensive) frozen delights.

Insider tips:

  • Picard stocks actual bags of ice cubes year-around if you are having a party
  • And they famously deliver without breaking the cold-chain!

See Related Page: French Grocery Store Tips

Photo credit: Best of Nice… taken on my vintage TJ’s tote bag 

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