Renault 5:
Number 5 Is Alive!

Nice is a traffic nightmare. Everyone knows it, but nobody talks about it, and for good reason it is not even mentioned in any tourist brochure. The streets in the old town are narrow and winding, with holidaymakers and vehicles from various suppliers and parcel services jostling on the main roads and thoroughfares. The people of Nice are therefore mostly either on foot or on mopeds, and anyone who actually buys an SUV or a luxury sedan there either has good nerves or good car insurance - ideally both.

On this pleasant fall day in the French city, you need neither. For one thing, you're driving the new all-electric Renault 5 E-Tech Electric, which everyone calls the R5, and for another, Nice is almost deserted by off-season standards. It's easy to meander through the alleyways and lanes and - mon dieu, c'est incroyable! - a small parking space everywhere that you can easily squeeze into.

The most famous street in town is the Promenade des Anglais. If you're wondering how it got its name, we can help by going back to 1820. Legend has it that due to a few harsh winters, more and more beggars came to the city and the wealthy English people living there decided to provide these people with work. They did so by building a promenade along the coast. It was completed four years later and was named Promenade des Anglais, the English Walk, by locals. Also very interesting to know: In the thirties and forties of the 20th century, it was used as a race track, with the Circuit de la Promenade des Anglais hosting the Grand Prix de Nice for cars and the French Grand Prix for motorcycles in 1938.

And here we are on the road with the little R5 by Renault. Not at racing speed, of course, although, as mentioned, there is little going on on the day of our trip. But the emptiness allows us to drive »La Prom«, as the locals call it, more than once. It is simply too beautiful to glide along between the seafront and the palm trees and old houses. The promenade is seven kilometers long and the only stops are due to red traffic lights and not traffic jams. Once we've had our fill, it's time to take a detour into the old town of Nice. It seems to be the exception rather than the rule that an electric car that is so incredibly yellow gets lost in the alleyways of the »Vieux Nice« - as the old town district is called. As soon as you stop, you are surrounded, stared at and photographed. This can be a bit exhausting in the long run, so it's time for a break.

Apart from the luxurious ambience of the hotel, the private beach is an argument for staying here, especially in summer. After a quick café au lait (health tip: don't look at the bill, they are fantasy prices), you want to give the well-behaved Renault outside the door a little more exercise. One last time along the promenade, enjoying the sea and the coast - and then off into the hinterland on the mountain roads. You are amazed at how easily and elegantly the R5 takes the bends. And you are amazed at how much power (150 hp including 52 kWh battery) the French car packs. It is supposed to be a homage to the Renault 5 from 1972 - and more than lives up to it in terms of liveliness and space.

You would do well not to forget that you are sitting in a small car as you turn into curves and bends at high speed. Perhaps a sign to bring the »Renaulution« proclaimed by the manufacturer back to its original habitat. So back to Nice, into the evening hustle and bustle after work. The previously empty city is now as bustling as ever, with lanterns and fairy lights lighting up the streets. No more getting through. So I look for a parking space one last time, get out of the car and stroll through the streets. You could say that you are magically drawn back towards the beach, but the truth is that you are simply drawn along by the stream of people. Music is playing on the prom, inline skaters and joggers are doing their laps, and you find yourself a seat on a white bench with a view of the sea.

Yes, that's right, there was something about the French moments in life.

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in ramp #66 »Drive My Car«.