It has been some time since we visited the French Riviera and I've been dragging my feet (or fingers) in posting details of our journey there. Of course, I have many excuses....We have been so engaged with our tour obligations (a quick 6 days in Madeira immediately upon leaving Nice followed by a 3 week long stay in Portugal), a crazy Christmas season with our kids in Palm Springs...... there just hasn't been time to tell the story.
Well, where to begin? Johanne and I had 65 guests with us to visit the French Riviera. Our group of relative strangers became fast friends virtually overnight or more accurately, over happy hour.
65 fully grown adults with a wide variety of experience, and the desire to add to their travel resumes makes for very interesting interactions. In the end, we asked them to share a "Letterman style" list of the things they liked during the visit. What we received was simply amazing. Virtually everyone provided more than five highlights! The top five were mentioned so many times, it was as if everyone shared their thoughts. The next five were so close, I felt I should list them all. The French Riviera is truly a must visit! Our location ensured that we would be able to get to all the sites quickly and easily (Thus it's ranking as number one on the list) (see below)
1. The location of the apartment in St-Laurent du Var and Nice within easy reach
2. Excursion to Dolce Aqua/San Remo
3. The Boat tour to Cannes
4. Happy Hour
5. Excursion to Gorges du Verdon, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie and town of Gordes
6. Proximity and variety of stops from local bus service (cheap too)
7. Swimming in the Mediterranean
8. Organized group special dinners
9. Excursion to Eze, Monaco and Monte Carlo
10. Tour of Saint Paul de Vence
I thought it would be prudent to follow the list to unroll the map of our adventure.
1. Starting with the location:
Saint Laurent du Var, 4 kms from the centre of Nice. I could spend a dictionary of words describing the area... and still not do justice to what we experienced. Those who were there know....for those reading, I guess you will just have to come with us when we go again in the fall of 2015.( as of the date of this posting we have only 14 spaces left for this year).
Our apartment is situated about 200 metres from the Mediterranean. A tourism office providing separation from a beautiful beach on one side and a row of around 50 restaurants on the other. The bus stop located behind the apartment offers easy access to the 10 minute bus ride towards Nice (the most famous city on the cote d'azur/Riviera, which we will describe later) or the 40 minute journey towards Cannes and the famous "croisette"....all for 1 to 3 euros. The neighbouring Cagnes sur mer offers all the services of market, shopping etc....within a 10 minute walk from our home. What a treat!
Given that it has been several months since our visit to this area, it would be easy to think that the trip faded from memory. Au contraire!!! France never fades from memory.
Nice was not always French it was once part of Liguria, which included much of what we know as Piedmont and Tuscany....... Italy today. As you venture around this city you can immediately recognize the cultural connection to Italy. Food and style clearly has retained the old world influences. It is what draws one to this place. French but not quite French. It has something more, a spice, a rebelliousness that you don't feel in other regions of the country. Starting with a stroll from the western edge of the city along the Promenade Des Anglais, you are bombarded with an extraordinary visual canvas. Soft sand beaches melt into the azure blue waters of the "Baie des Anges" The seashore is adorned with what were the winter homes for the English nobles. Queen Victoria made Nice her home away from home, thus sparking the pilgrimage to the French Riviera for the winter. In fact, the English are responsible for the magnificent boardwalk along the Promenade. It seems that during particularly difficult winter in England back in the 18th century, Nice became flooded with beggars from the north. In order to manage the new population, the nobles decided to put them to work. The result of this decision is the boardwalk! I wonder if the beggars were consulted?
The city is very hilly and requires a strong heart and legs to get around. Take the bus to the high ground to visit most of the main museums or take an elevator to the "Castle" for the best views. The oldest quarters of the city are situated near the port. There are so many interesting streets to visit that it takes many days to completely satisfy our curiosity. The good news is, with our hotel so close and the mere 1.5 euro fee to get there, we could go every day! No wonder the group rated the hotel location as number one! We even managed to take in a Verdi opera at last minute, at the splendid "Opera de Nice". Started very small in 1776, it was renamed in 1826, Theatre Royal and rebuilt by it's new owner, the City of Nice! In 1860, it hosted Napoleon III. That night Johann Strauss lead the orchestra. Napoleon visited again in 1864 with Czar Alexander II of Russia. In 1881, a fire destroyed the building, the city rebuilt it again. Re-opening in 1885 to to great fan fair with performance of Verdi's Aida. It was renamed "Opera de Nice" in 1902, playing host to opera, ballet and classical music ever since! The architecture is amazing! If art is your thing then you will love Nice! Matisse, Chagall, Modern Art, Beaux-arts de Nice museum's are all within reach.
Enough of the history lesson. I am hungry. We had some very interesting meals in Nice, one near the opera with tapas "a la francaise" and another with Johanne's brother and friend visiting around the same time as us. The multitude of streets are packed with restaurants. We had a hard time making a choice with so many options. In the end we followed Johanne's brother's advice, returning to a great little seafood spot that they had been to earlier , on a street I am sure we will never find again. Great food and great company.
The French Riviera Classic Motor Show was presented during our stay, in Nice. I few of the guys in the group wanted to go. No problem, I will find out where and when. A quick trip to the tourist office secured the details. The next morning, after additional careful study of google maps, 12 of us ventured forth. Without our French translator, I might add. The funny thing, as we departed for the bus, the group was smiling, confident that I would be a reasonable substitute for the official French translator, aka Johanne. Well, fake it 'til you make it right? The bus was fairly easy, except we ended up at the airport. I, looking confident, unlike the group, assured them that this was the correct stop. I know where to go, pointing to a tall sign on the horizon as our beacon. We cross under the Promenade de Anglais, me..... the "Pied Piper" leading the not so youthful army. Upon exiting the tunnel, we are presented with.... a parking lot. Confidence is a funny thing,. here today..... gone today. No problem! I stop a passing Frenchman. Pardonnez- moi! Ou est l' exhibition de Motor Car? Quickly referring him to the flyer I have brought for this very occasion. So far my French is working perfectly!!! The boys are now confident again...I can feel it. The stranger looks at the information and fires a machine gun litany of information at me. I look right at him, completely enraptured by every word. When it seems he is satisfied with his directions, in other words, he stopped talking, I simply said:
" Merci". He noddled his head, smiled, exclaimed: "de rien" and walked away. I turned to the group, they, looking pleased with their choice of translator, asked what was said. To which I replied "we need to go this way" pointing to the road that we had just walked under. With no further distractions, we made it to the show.
As you see, there was an interesting collection of cars, including an F1 Ferrari that won the Canadian Grand Prix. We spend a few hours wondering admiringly. As a bonus, the exhibition included some food trucks, one offering a good old fashion burger. Virtually everyone in the group had one. Cars, burgers and beer. A perfect guy day!
We will be visiting Nice again to explore it in greater detail in September 2015. Stay tuned we will share what we find.
The Number 2 on the best list.....Dolce Aqua/ San Remo: I little slice of Italy! Come back and visit the blog as I will share our adventures in the next post later this week.
Be well
Sante
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