Been waiting a long time for that awesome punny title. The DomPost would be jealous.
Today we visited Nice (the city on the French Riviera) and Eze (a hill top village nearby).
Nice is a major French city of about 500,000 on the Mediterranean sea. It has the famous 'Promenade Anglais' along the foreshore - rather like Wellington's Oriental Parade footpath, but Frencher. This footpath was built by the English in Victorian times when they discovered the weather to be more desirable in the south of France than back home, and hence began the popularity of Nice and other locations on the riviera as holiday destinations. Sandy beaches don't last at Nice, due to wave action, so there is an artificial stony beach which has to be replenished regularly with more smooth stones. Not so nice to walk on, but at least you don't get sand in your socks and sandals!
Nice seemed lovely from a far. But closer up it was a little run down and dirty, compared to other places we had visited recently, and we had a pretty mediocre cafe experience which took the edge off things. The place was very busy even in this off season time, and must be horrendous with all the crowds in the summer. However, the markets and narrow streets were fascinating. There was lots to buy, but we only bought tablecloths (pl).
Eze on the other hand was amazing. It is literally a hill top village, accessible only on foot, and with terrific views across Nice and the coastline. Only a few hundred people live there,many of them artists these days.
A little surprisingly, given it is built on a granite hill top, it has well developed gardens, including a huge cactus garden.
It's interesting to see the change in building styles as we move around.
Paris - grey and cream coloured apartments with wrought iron railings.
Dijon, Beaune - half timbered houses, yellow ochre and cream colours.
Nice and the riviera - brighter colours, especially the shutters - lilac, blue, green, pink. Plastered houses with deep terracotta oranges and yellow ochres.
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