Daily life
Titre de séjour
TEE-truh duh say-ZHOOR
Your residence permit. A long-stay visa becomes one once validated online within three months of arrival.
ANEF
a-NEF
The online platform where almost all immigration procedures now happen. Slow, occasionally broken, and unavoidable.
Carte Vitale
kart vee-TAL
The green health insurance card. Getting one takes months; until then you pay and claim back on paper.
Garant
ga-RAHN
A guarantor for your rent — the central obstacle in French renting. Visale is the free state-backed alternative.
Le Vieux-Nice
luh vyuh NEESS
The old town — a dense grid of tall Italianate buildings and narrow lanes between the castle hill and the Promenade.
La Prom
la PROM
The Promenade des Anglais, the seafront boulevard that organises the whole city. Everything is described as being near it or behind it.
Frontalier
fron-ta-lee-AY
A cross-border worker — here, someone living in France and working in Monaco. The tax consequences depend on your nationality and are worth understanding early.
Culture
Socca
SO-ka
A thin chickpea-flour pancake cooked on a copper disc in a wood oven — the Niçois street food, eaten standing up and hot.
Nissart
nee-SAR
The local Occitan dialect, closer to Ligurian Italian than to French. Street signs in the Old Town are bilingual and it survives in food names.
Pan-bagnat
pan-ban-YA
A salade niçoise in a round bread roll, soaked in olive oil. The correct beach lunch, and never made with cooked vegetables.
Emergency
15 / 17 / 18 / 112
—
15 for medical emergencies (SAMU), 17 for police, 18 for fire. 112 works for all and has English-speaking operators.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.