NICE
Prefecture of Alpes-Maritimes (06)
Population: 345,000 (Niçois, Niçoises) and 537,000 across the 49 municipalities of Nice Côte d’Azur.
Specialities: pissaladière, fougasse, socca, brissaouda, tapenade, Niçoise salad, pan bagnat, Niçoise porchetta, trulle, ratatouille, Niçoise daube, Bellet (wine)
Notable figures: Giuseppe Garibaldi (19th-century general and politician, architect of Italian unification), Henri Matisse, Raoul Dufy, Yves Klein (painters), Arman Jean Sosno (sculptor), Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, Louis Nucera, Max Gallo, Didier Van Cauwelaert (writers), Simone Veil (politician), Georges Lautner, Jean-Pierre Mocky (filmmakers), Michelle Mercier, Mylène Demongeot, Michèle Laroque (actresses), Denise Fabre (TV presenter), Dick Rivers, Jenifer, Rose, Medi (singers), Yannick Agnel, Clément Lefert, Camille Muffat (swimmers), Jean-Pierre Dick (sailor), Suzanne Lenglen (tennis), Hugo Lloris (footballer), Fabio Quartararo (2021 MotoGP World Champion), Surya Bonaly (figure skater), Gilles Veissière (football referee, until 2014), Marcel Huot (winner of a Tour de France stage in 1928).
Sport: OGC Nice (football), OGC Nice Handball (Women’s Ligue 1), Olympic Nice Swimming, Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur (cycling team). Events: Paris-Nice cycling race, Iron Man France, Nice Open tennis tournament, Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes Marathon.
Economy: tourism, business tourism, commerce, construction, France’s third-largest airport.
Culture: Nice Carnival (February) / Crossover Festival (September) / Nice Book Festival (June) / Nice Jazz Festival (July).
Motto: Nice, the ever-faithful
Slogan: Capital of the French Riviera
Labels: Tour de France Cycling City / Flower City (4) / 5@ Internet City / UNESCO World Heritage Site as a winter resort on the French Riviera.
Website: www.nice.fr / www.nicecotedazur.org / www.nicetourisme.com / www.explorenicecotedazur.com / facebook.com/VilledeNice / Twitter: @VilledeNice
FOOD
Socca
It is impossible to trace the history of socca with any certainty, except to say that its origins are very ancient. Neither Provençal nor Italian, Niçoise cuisine borrows from both to forge its own identity. In this case, socca is probably a variation of ‘farinata’, a flatbread made from chickpea flour that Italians have been baking in the oven since the Middle Ages. It may have been brought to Nice by the Genoese in the 19th century. Pancakes made from chickpea flour can be found under various names and in various forms from Genoa to Marseille – and in other countries in North Africa, Asia or South America – but it is in Nice that it has become firmly established in the city’s culinary heritage, under the name socca.