A few observations about Nice

This was my first full day in Nice; I arrived mid-morning yesterday and got settled in to my hotel (le Palais de la Mediterranee— extremely nice). For some reason, when I checked in at the DTW ticket counter, the DL TA called the international routing desk and changed my routing from DTW-JFK-CDG-NCE to DTW-JFK-NCE. This was a great optimization, as it got me 3 extra hours in Nice and saved me from having to change planes in CDG.
Yesterday I spent some time exploring the immediate area around my hotel, combined with a little shopping and a hunt for the nearest Carrefour. I found it, bought some snacks and a pair of shorts (which I inexplicably forgot to pack), and drove around to find the conference center where Exchange Connections is being held. For dinner, I met my friend Jim, after which I collapsed in an exhausted heap at the hotel.
Today was day 1 of the conference. I only had two sessions, and they were spaced well apart, so I got some work done in the speaker lounge. As you might expect, the convention center food was good (we’re in France, after all) but not as good as restaurant food (it’s a convention center– what do you expect?) The sessions both went well, with lots of audience interaction. By the time I got done, it was late, so I stopped back at Carrefour for some ibuprofen, went back to the hotel, then walked around the pedestrian district some. It wasn’t as crowded as it was last night.
A few random observations:

• There are lots of scooters here, and it’s not a good idea to follow them through traffic unless you want to end up playing chicken with a bus. Trust me on this.
• Apple is maddening. I heard some songs I liked on the local equivalent of MTV. iTunes will show me the French version of the music store, and it will let me search for songs– but I can’t buy them. To make things worse, the prevailing price for a CD single with two songs on it is €4.99, or about $6.20. To make things worse still, don’t even think that anyone will sell you an iTunes Music Store card in France– even Carrefour, which sells iPods.
• Parking in downtown is very expensive, but forget about parking on the streets! Even with the little micro-cars people drive here (like the Citroen C4 I rented) it’s a very tight squeeze.
• It’s hard to beat French bread dipped in olive oil.

It’s time for me to hit the bed; I’ll try to post some pictures tomorrow.