Tree Time in the Old Town Today

Being a “senior” can be a blessing in France, especially on the Côte d’Azur. And I don’t mean a “senior” in high school! Us “old folks” that my mother would have called “alte kakers” (in Yiddish, literal meaning: old crapper), a derogatory term and not very flattering to those over a certain age.

I never would have thought that turning 60, or in this case 55, would be such a pleasure, because that’s the age La Ville de Nice considers you a senior. Start with the Nice Côte d’Azur Senior Plus Metropole Card. It’s free and it allows you to enter a network that brings together seniors who wish to take advantage of prices and advantageous rates and different partners (merchants and public organizations and associations of Nice) for those of us over the age of 55.

To really get the scoop, visit the main office located at:

Maison de Seniors de Nice-Centre: 6, avenue des Phocéens, 06000 Nice
Tél: 04 89 04 32 95
Email: [email protected]

To learn more about the card and instructions on how to obtain it, visit: nice.fr/fr/activites-et-loisirs/les-cartes-seniors.

And for more information about all city-sponsored seniors’ activities, visit: nice.fr/fr/senior.

You won’t believe this, but for the young or old, Mobil Azur is a public on-demand transport service dedicated to people with reduced mobility. If, because of their disability, they cannot use conventional public transport, alone or accompanied, they will pick you up at your address and drop you off where you like within three sectors (Nice City, Proxi Vésubie, Proxi Tinée), seven days a week, all for the whopping price of 1.50€ per ride! I swear this is true. I have a friend who regularly uses it.

Service is available in the city Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to midnight, Sunday and holidays 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. (excluding May 1st), and in the other sectors, service is offered up till 7 p.m. Monday to Sunday (excluding May 1st).

Just contact one single booking center, open 7 days a week Monday to Saturday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday and holidays 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. (excluding May 1st).

Here are their brochures if you don’t believe me: Brochure #1; Brochure #2; Brochure #3

Nice is greening up, too, and that’s for everyone. “La Nature au Coeur de Nice” is a ten-year long project to make Nice the greenest city in France, even in Europe. Among the project’s objectives is to use no artificial products for the maintenance of the parks and gardens; to create 25 hectares of green spaces; to ensure that there is a tree for every five inhabitants of the metropole; and to plant a tree for every child born here.

With the arrival of the tramway line 2 in the heart of the city, more than 6 kilometers of roadway will be freed of buses and will accommodate bike paths and a planted walkway. Completed with 1,000 trees and dense vegetation, this pathway will be organized as a linear garden, punctuated by even more green spaces. The idea is to allow pedestrians and riders in more carbon-free environments. Tree planting is a big deal with thousands to be planted along the tramlines, on Château Hill, in the public gardens and along the Promenades des Anglais, plus at schools and other Niçois streets.

Wherever I’ve seen this happen, so did life! Suddenly people are out and everything surrounding it prospers. You will want to seek out property along these routes and near their “greening” because you can bet, property values will go up.

And did you realize that a foreign national can have access to the French social health services free of charge? It’s called “PUMa”” — “protection universelle maladie” (universal protection against illness), ever since January of 2016. It allows each person who works or resides in France in a stable and regular way to benefit from the support of his health expenses in case of sickness or maternity, provided they are not covered by the social protection system of another State. All it takes is proof of residence in France for at least three months.

To establish the registration of a stay in France, foreign nationals must produce a resident card or long-stay visa. It’s that easy. (See the entire list of requirements here.)

However, it’s important to know that PUMa only covers part of your medical costs. Your reimbursement depends on the cost compared to the “tarifs de base officiels” — or what we called “scheduled fees” — determined by France’s Social Security system. If you want 100 percent coverage, then you can subscribe to a top-up (“mutuelle”) policy.

Note: With a weather report predicting storms at the Italian lake region, my daughter and I opted out of our planned excursion to Orta and Maggiore and will instead be discovering the beautiful medieval perched hilltop villages outside of Nice and into Italy just on the other side of the border. Wednesday I will be reporting on our findings from some of the lessor touristed back roads to places like: Tourrettes-sur-Loup, Gourdon, Saorge and Dolceacqua. Stay tuned!

A la prochaine…

 

Adrian Leeds
Editor of Parler Nice

(with Erica)

Respond to Adrian

 

 

 

P.S. Don’t forget, it’s tomorrow night! “The Good Life in Paris” our latest episode on House Hunters International —

Air dates: Tuesday, August 6, 2019 at 10:30 p.m. EDT
Wednesday August 7, 2019 at 1:30 a.m EDT

Details are on our Adrian Leeds on HHI page. Set your DVRs now!!!