Port Lympia, a maritime village a short walk from Vieux-Nice

What is port Lympia?

Port Lympia is the historic port of Nice, dug in the 18th century in an area of marshland, at the foot of the colline du Château. It takes its name from the spring that fed the site. The basin pushes into the city like a liquid square, bordered by ordered façades, ochre and ox-blood red, that deep red which Nice reserves for its houses facing the sea.

I like to arrive by the quai Cassini, when the morning light strikes the façades. The port is neither a stage set nor an anonymous marina: people work there, embark there, live there. The ferries to Corsica manoeuvre a few metres from the fishing boats, and this cohabitation gives the place its maritime village character.

What are pointus?

Pointus are the traditional fishing boats of the Nice coast, recognisable by their raised prow, hence the name, and their hulls painted in bright colours. A few still go out fishing; others content themselves with ageing at their moorings, maintained by owners attached to their history.

At port Lympia, they occupy their corner of the basin opposite the yachts, without complex. It is perhaps the image that best sums up the port: two worlds moored side by side, international yachting and the memory of Nice fishermen. I often stop to read the names painted by hand on the prows.

Where is the brocante at the port held?

The port quarter has long been that of antique dealers. The shops cluster in the streets rising from the basin, and the place Robilante, on the west side of the port, hosts the brocante dealers. One can hunt for furniture, frames, marine objects, sometimes an old engraving of the city.

A few minutes' walk away, on the other side of the colline du Château, the Cours Saleya holds its brocante market on Mondays, when flowers and produce give way to the bargain hunters' stalls. Doing both in the same morning is a Nice habit I readily recommend.

What to do at the port of Nice?

Walk, first. The tour of the basin is done without haste, along the quays, between pointus and yachts, with the ferries at the far end. Watching the boat leave for Corsica, in the middle of the city, is a spectacle of which the Niçois never tire.

Sit down to eat, next. The fish restaurants of the port serve the local catch on terraces turned towards the masts. In the evening, the façades darken, the terraces light up, and the basin holds the last light of day for a long time.

Cross the hill, finally. Vieux-Nice is a few minutes away, skirting the colline du Château by the seafront or crossing it through the park. This walk, the port on one side and the old town on the other, numbers among the simple pleasures that Nice offers.