Nice 4 - An Eccentric Baroness, a Villa in Paradise and Farewells

11th  October

It seems to have taken me ages to get my Nice Blog done! I think it's the combination of a new job (well a job move) and decorating that has held me back. But anyway here's the last instalment of my Nice blog, hope you enjoy it.

Today we were heading east out of Nice to the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild. No problems finding the 81 bus and we sat back and savoured the fantastic views as the bus trundled along, it's worth paying the one Euro fare for the views alone. I made a mental note that one day, on another visit, (because I know I'll be back!) I would like to get off at Beaulieu-sur-Mer and look round there.  But today out goal was a stop called Passable (all their stops have names so it is really easy to know the right one to get off at) on St Jean Cap Ferrat. Well the area certainly wasn't passable, it was gorgeous and reminded me a somewhat of Killiney in Ireland with it's stone walls, narrow winding roads, exotic flora and grand houses. 

Deb and Me Enjoying our Champagne Lunch

The bus stop was right beside the road that leads to the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild and it was a five minute walk to the villa, along the route we marvelled at the views over the bay to Beaulieu and Eze and in the other direction the green peninsula of Cap Ferrat stretched out into the blue Mediterranean Sea.

The Italianate-style Villa, built by Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild between 1907 and 1912,  is a sea of pinkness and white on the outside set in fantastic gardens. But first, before looking round, we decided to go into the Tea Room as we were hungry and I'd heard the food was lovely there.  It was an almost circular room with huge windows that looked out over the bay of Villefranche or the patio shaded by orange trees. The walls were a peachy colour and there was ornate stucco and woodwork, the floor had beautiful mosaic on it and the chairs were golden! Apparently this was where Beatrice had her dining room.

The Patio

We both opted for the Meissen menu - warm tart and salad, a dessert and tea or coffee. I noticed a group of four women sitting by a window enjoying a bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne. We couldn't afford a whole bottle but opted for a glass each, it felt very decadent drinking champagne at lunchtime lol!

After that we took the audio tour around the house. I enjoyed the tour as you could get really close to everything and go at your own pace. Beatrice was part of the megarich Rothschild family and she married a rich banker called Maurice Ephrussi. The marriage did not go well as Ephrussi was a gambler and amassed huge debts. After 21 years of marriage they parted, there were no children. It was after this that Beatrice started building the Villa which became her winter home from 1912. In 1933 a year before she died she bequeathed the Villa and all her collections to the Academie des Beaux-Arts.

The tour started in the patio, which wasn't a patio as we understand it, it was a large, square colonnaded area with a gallery running round the first floor level. The ceiling of the column's arches were painted with designs inspired by a Venetian palazzo.  Beatrice often held grand concerts in this area.

Beatrice's Bedroom

Off the patio were the grand and small salons with priceless pieces of furniture, art and tapestry. It is light and airy and very feminine. There are gaming tables too, as Beatrice enjoyed gambling.

Also on the ground floor are Beatrice's apartments. I found her bedroom touching as it felt quite personal with family photos on the table and one of her dresses lying over a chair - she must have been a small woman! There was a large Venetian bed with silk bed linen facing a huge rounded opposite window that looked out over the Bay of Villefranche, what a view to see from your bed!

Another View of the Bedroom Showing the Tiny Chairs

Beatrice was a modern woman and she a fully functional bathroom, (an intriguing round shaped room with a dome) telephone, a lift and coal fired boilers for heating.

In the bedroom amongst the chairs there are two very small chairs, miniature versions of the full-sized ones. These were for Beatrice's pet dogs and mongoose. She seemed to be a bit eccentric and always had lots of animals around her. Once she had a sumptuous wedding for two of her favourite dogs with the animals dressed as bride and groom and guests and their dogs had to also come suitably attired! Seems pampering and treating pets as humans is not a new phenomenon! True to her memory, animals still lived in the Villa, there were large cages with budgerigars in the patio area.

Some of her Chinese collection of Mandarin robes and tiny silk shoes for bound feet were on show in this area, how those poor Chinese women must have suffered to be able to fit into those minute high fashion shoes, I should have put my hand into the photo so it was clear just how small the shoes were!

The rest of the rooms were primarily filled with her extensive collections from all around the world. Rooms full of Meissen and Sevres porcelain, Louis XVI furniture, Chinese articles, works by Fragonard, priceless tapestries to name just a few of the collections. There was a lot to see and but I still  wondered what was in all those rooms not open to the public that we passed by on the tour.

The View of the Formal Garden to the Villa

The house is only part of the delight of the Villa. The gardens are massive and gorgeous, the south aspect of the house looks down a long manicured garden with fountains. At the end of which there is a little hill with a small building at the top which gives a sensational view of the house and gardens. The fountains performed a show every twenty minutes, dancing, spraying and looping to Handel's Water Music. Around the edges of the formal garden were various themed gardens, each very different and it was quite an adventure following the little paths and steps between them. I liked the lovely shady Spanish Garden and also the Zen feel of the Oriental Garden, but they were all lovely in their own ways. And as you walked along you were treated to stunning views of either the Bay of Villefranche or Bay of Fourmis at Beaulieu, both backed by craggy mountains and cliffs. Stunning.

We were there for ages, but it was informative and fascinating, and also not too busy which meant you could wander parts of the garden without others being around which I liked.  If you would like to read more about the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild visit its website here

We got the bus home and I think the driver must have been finishing his shift as he careered around the tight bends and stopped for the minimum times to pick up or drop off! I spent most of the trip hanging on for dear life lol!

That night was the last Debbi and I would have together in Nice. Her airline (we travelled separately) had cancelled Saturday's flight and she had to go home either the Friday or Sunday, she reluctantly went for the Friday so lost a day of her holiday. We'd done well with our money (Nice is not at all as expensive as they say) and decided to treat ourselves to a meal at the swanky Les Pecheurs close to our apartment. But we found it was fully booked, we'll know for next time! We decided to check out places on the way to our little favourite, Le Barbecue in the Old Town, and if we found nothing we fancied we'd stop and eat there. As it was we did end up there once more and had a delicious, good value meal and the best wine we'd had in Nice (and I'm sorry French people, it was Portuguese!)

12th October

Up early to see Debbi off, it felt really strange to see her walking away and I felt a bit "lost" for a while. But I was determined to make the most of my last full day and first went out to the local patisserie for a baguette, croissant and raspberry cake.  Whilst having breakfast ship's horns, hooters, whistles etc started going off in the Port, no idea why, it went on for about two minutes.  I later realised that it was probably to welcome a cruise ship that I later saw moored there.

After breakfast I walked up to Place Garibaldi, bought a Chantilly Meringue in Serain Cappa for later and then walked into the Old Town. I pottered around the shops, bought a few last things. I then walked through to the Promenade des Anglais by the sea. It was a lovely day and a breeze from the sea made it not too hot for me.  I walked round Castel Hill, past the beautiful War Memorial cut into the rock of the hill and on to the Port. It all looked so lovely glimmering in the sunlight.

Coco Beach

I went home and had lunch before setting out again this time in the other direction towards Coco Beach. I passed by the cruise ship, big, but nothing like the size of the juggernauts we'd seen in the Bay of Villefranche. I was soon at Coco Beach and walked down the steps and found my self a nice bit of rock and sat and read my book on Iceland, a strange combination but it worked for me lol. Funny, two of my favourite places are Iceland and Nice and they are both almost exactly the same distance from my home, but in opposite directions. It was very relaxing there looking out over the sea. There were a few people swimming, one of two sunbathing and a couple like me relaxing and reading, sometimes simple pleasures are the best!

And that was about it for my holiday too. I had the trip from hell home next day, but I won't bore you with all those details here! When we were in Nice three years ago we saw a U2 360 gig so that's one day used up for that and then we were in bed much of the next day as we stayed up so late, so that's two days not devoted to Nice. This time I felt I really got to know the place much better and was able to really enjoy and savour it's many delights. I know I'll be back!

One of the Many Delights of Nice

Nice 3 - Finding the Bus to Cannes and All That

10th October

Another lovely sunny day and today and we've got Cannes booked in for the day!  We had our route by bus all planned, get the 100 from the Port to Station S C Bermond where the 200 bus to Cannes leaves from, simple, haha!  First the two 100 buses that arrived at the Porrt stop let people off but not us on, we realised it was a drop off stop, not a pick up. We didn't know exactly where the Station J C Bermond bus stop was but I had looked on a map the previous evening and had a idea.  There was lots of building work in the area but eventually we found the bus stop, but the 200 was not listed as leaving from there. We walked on a little way and found a second Station J C Bermond bus stop! No 200 to Cannes listed there.  We were now getting frazzled, it was hot and we were wondering if we'd ever find the bus to Cannes! 

We walked on and then Debbi shouted, "There's 200 bus!" And sure enough it was, and it turned a corner and disappeared from our view behind building works.  We rush on to the corner and saw a third bus stop called, yes, Station J C Belmond, God know how many there were! And parked there was the 200 to Cannes. With some relief we paid our 1 Euro each and flopped into our seats, it had been one and a half hours since we'd left our apartment!

The trip to Cannes took ninety minutes, and it wasn't as scenic as I thought it might be. I noticed the signs to the Renoir Museum in Cagnes sur Mer and wished there was time to go there, maybe another day. The hill of the old town of Antibes looked lovely as we passed. I'm sure that the coastal areas on this route are lovely, but the bus route is pretty boring compared to the run east of Nice.

La Croisette, Cannes

We were dropped off just opposite the film theatres and close to the casino. We'd made sandwiches and seeing we'd been travelling for three hours now we were ravenous so we found a seat and ate them. We soon noticed opposite us a very drunk man trying to have a pee! What a delightful first sight of Cannes! It took him at least 15 minutes to have the pee and sort himself out, and then he flopped onto a bench. Shortly afterwards a girl came over to him and gave him cans of beer, just what he needed. There were a few down and outs around which surprised me so close to the glitzy places.

We crossed the main road to where there was one of the theatres, there was some event going on as there were lots of red carpets and self-important looking people with swinging laminates round their necks.  We went past the casino and arrived at one end of Promenade de la Croisette. It is the equivalent to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, a sweeping, horseshoe bay with an endless beach flanked by rows of palm trees. Many of the hotels along La Croisette had very beautiful stucco work on them and looked very expensive.  We walked along for a while enjoying the warmth. We then noticed the fancy designer shops on the other side of the road and decided to window shop.  I'm not into designer stuff but was curious. We peeked into the windows of the Gucci, Fendi, Prada, Bvlgari shops, cringed at the horrendously hideous prices, they all had security guards just inside the doors, no wonder with prices like that!

We then took a road away from that area and wandered there for a while but there wasn't much to see. We saw an ice cream shop with dozens of beautifully displayed choices of flavour. We both tried the violette ice cream and it was delicious, very creamy with just a subtle Parma Violet flavour.

We went back to the main road, which was a dual carriageway, on the shoreline and noticed a man in a mobility scooter driving right up the middle of the road! Brave or foolhardy?

We passed a few men playing games of boules. It looked enjoyable and relaxing with men of all ages playing. 

We were both somewhat disappointed in Cannes, we both expected more from it. Maybe we should have explored further but we didn't have the inclination to do so. We decided to go home to lovely Nice. We caught the rush hour and it took over two hours to get back to Nice on the the bus! 

Welcome to my Yacht!

That night we ate at Le Lunel on the Port. We'd eaten there when we were in Nice three years ago and it was very good. I noticed recent reviews were not so good but we decided to give it a go and we weren't disappointed. I had goat's cheese salad to start and it was huge, more like a main! Then it was chicken forestiere for the main, equally delicious. I was very full after that but couldn't resist the chocolate fondant with ice cream which was perfect, the chocolate oozed out when I took a spoonful, heaven. And it was all washed down with a delicious French red wine. We noticed that most places only sold French wine whereas in the UK you can get wine from all over the world. I suppose they are supporting their own wine producers. Debbi was equally satisfied with her meal too so I'm glad we went back there. Once again it was warm enough to eat outside in comfort.

On our way home we passed by the fancy yachts in the Port, we would have loved to have just looked round inside one but had to make do with having a peep from the quay. It was a relaxing end to what had been a busy, and at times frustrating, day. For me Nice beats Cannes hands down!

Nice 2 - Eze, Hot Stone Therapy and a Lazy, Hazy Day

8th October

Disaster! The patisserie was closed today (as are quite a few places in Nice on Mondays). We made do with toast and then went to the nearby Ile de Beauté at the head of the Port to catch our bus to Eze-sur-Mer. Apparently Ile de Beauté is a nickname for Corsica, and there is a ferry that leaves from Nice Port for that island.  The 100 bus takes you along the stunning coastline east of Nice as far as Menton beside the border with Italy. The journey only costs 1 Euro no matter where you get off.  The bus sweeps up Mount Boron giving you beautiful views of Nice and the Mediterranean, glistening sky blue on warm and sunny day.  The bus then glides down to Villefranch-sur-Mer, which has one of the deepest natural harbours in the Mediterranean and is a regular port of call for the huge cruise ships, indeed there was one in the bay today. 

We travelled on past the land-locked end of Cap Ferrat into Beaulieu-sur Mer which positively oozes of money with it's marina, casino and fancy hotels.  The mountains and cliffs rise high behind the small town and continue round the bay.  There is a short tunnel through the cliffs and shortly after that we arrived in Eze-sur-Mer set in the stunning location backed by huge cliffs and mountains.

Me on the Beach at Eze-sur-Mer

We were hungry so we first went to a small roadside cafe and went very local and had a Nicoise salad which was delicious. We then crossed the road went under the railway, and down a narrow stepped alley onto the beach. It is a pebble beach but the location is wonderful, there were huge beds of dry seaweed that were soft and bouncy to walk on.  The beach was surprisingly quiet, we found a lovely spot and settled for the afternoon.  Debbi was brave and went into the water, I did a little paddle and was surprised at how cold the water was on this warm and sunny day. The stones on the beach were hot and I lay down and Debbi put some of them on my back, a bit of stone therapy. As the heat spread down into my muscles I could feel the relaxation spreading through them (I've now booked a stone therapy session at my salon!)

After a lovely day that cost us the grand total of two Euros for our bus fare (the trip alone was worth the money) we headed home and had a rest and shower before we went out for our meal.  We ended up at La Barque Bleue at the Port, less than five minutes from our apartment. Again it was very mild and we sat outside. I had a goats cheese tart to start, followed by spaghetti carbonara all of which was very good.

9th October

Debbi Tucking into her Socca

We'd decided to have a lazy, moochy day today to really soak in the atmosphere of Nice. We had a lie-in and then breakfast of fresh palmier and baguette from our patisserie. We wandered up past the Port to Place Garibaldi and went to the Rue Pairoliere in the Old Town to Chez Rene Socca which is one of the most famous places to buy socca a Nicoise dish. Socca is basically a thin chickpea pancake made on a huge griddle about two feet in diameter and then kind of hacked up into pieces that you buy a plate of.  The restaurant was set on two sides of the small street with wooden tables. You went to where the socca was being made to buy it and ordered drinks from the waiters at the table. The socca was only 2.80 Euros for a large portion and it was quite nice, though I enjoyed it more when we got some lemon to squeeze onto it. 

After our lunch we went on further into the maze that is the Old Town, just wandering in and out of shops, we both bought some heavenly smelling violette eau de cologne, bags and garlic graters. We came across the famous Fenocchio ice cream shop and just had to try it! It certainly lived up to it's reputation, I had vanilla and it was one of the best I've had.  

More Cake!

We headed back to Place Garibaldi and found a seat at le Sully, one of the many bar restaurants in the square. We ordered half a litre of red wine. Unfortunately it wasn't good wine, but we forced it down before moving across the square to Le Paradis du Fruit and more  -this time good - wine. It was lovely just relaxing watching the Nice life pass by.  

After consuming a litre of the wine we wandered across to Serain Cappa for a cake and we both had delicious chocolatey ones that went down very well. We then wandered back to the Port with quite a spring to our step lol!

We ate in that night, and had some French lessons care of our Ipod Touch app. We learned a lot of, let's say, unusual French words that I don't think we'll be using much lol!

Our lazy, moochy day had gone very well, we are very good at doing nothing lol, we decided that in the future we will always set aside a day of our holiday for chilling like this!

Nice, Part 2

Monday 13th July 2009

We stayed in the apartment this morning as we were waiting for Julie's case to be delivered. It duly arrived at 12:30, and Julie was delighted to be reunited with her belongings. After she'd had time to sort out a bit we decided to go into the centre of nice and do a sightseeing trip. The tram we were going to get left from Place Garibaldi, but on our way we saw a gorgeous patisserie/chocolatier shop - we just had to indulge! And boy, the little expensive cakes were works of art beautiful to look at, subtlety flavoured and worth every Euro.

After that diversion we finally got to the tram stop. We thought you bought the tickets on board but we'd missed seeing the ticket machine on the platform. Luckily an inspector didn't get on during the short journey. The fare was 1.30E to any destination, very cheap and the trams were modern and left every six minutes.

We got off at Place Massena, a very large square just off the Promenade des Anglais. We knew where the tour started from and we walked there. We sat on the top of the open decked bus and set off. First we headed back the way we had come, past the Old Town and Port and onto the road that does a loop around Mount Boron on the Cap de Nice. There were some fabulous mansions in the hills over looking the Port including one that was very eccentric looking, Indian influenced and had been built by an Englishman. The views down to the Port and city were wonderful.

We went round and back towards the city and up into the Cimiez area where there was a Matisse museum. We continued on and heard about all the aristocratic Russians who had moved to Nice at the time of the revolution and many built very grand homes. There is even a beautiful Russian cathedral in the city that we passed by.

Finally we drove along the famous Promenade des Anglais, so named because it was built by the British. To be honest I was a little disappointed in it. The pebbly beach was covered with sunbathers crammed together like sardines, you wouldn't get me on there! We passed the famous Hotel Negreso, a lovely building that is still as exclusive as it was originally intended to be.

After the trip we walked back up to Place Massena. We had the most delicious Italian ice cream ever, mmm. Nice was once part of Italy and only ceded to France in 1860 so there is a strong Italian influence in architecture and food. Nice has it's own language, Nicard, that is being resurrected. All the street signs are in both French and Nicard, the latter bearing a strong similarity to Italian.

We went into the famous Galeries Lafayette store. It wasn't as grand as the one in Paris but still large and bustling as the sales were on. We spent ages searching for the toilet there and eventually had to ask and found it hidden away in little corridor.

We walked on along Ave Jean Medecin, Nice's main shopping street and wandered into a few shops. It was tempting to buy things but after all we had spent on the U2 tour we were quite sensible for once and didn't buy anything! We noticed lots of signs everywhere offering U2 tickets for sale.

After a while we got the tram back to Place Garibaldi (paid this time!) and walked home. We were eating in tonight and I was cook. Afterwards we sat and chatted. There was no TV in the apartment which I found really good, it encouraged us to communicate more. We did quizzes and had some good laughs.

Tuesday 14th July 2009

On the sightseeing trip the guide had said that there was a lift to the top of Castel Hill close to our apartment so we decided to explore there. We found the lift ok and soon were up at the top of the hill, which was the original settlement of Nice. It was an oasis up there, lots of cool shade from the abundant vegetation, a large waterfall the spray of which was very welcome! Play areas for kids, a cafe, shops, lots of seats and fabulous views down over the city and sweep of the bay on one side and the Port on the other. It was quite windy so even in the sun the heat wasn't too overpowering.

Afterwards we walked back via the Port and saw boat trips advertised so decided to go on one. They told us that because of the wind the trip might not go but we put our name down and were told to be back by 14:40.

We went to an Irish pub on the other side of the Port for a late lunch which was very good. The boat trip was on and soon we were sailing on the slightly rough Mediterranean. The route took us around Cap de Nice in the horseshoe bay and Villefranche sur Mer. It was beautiful, mansions littered the hillsides, the bay was full of boats, some very luxurious and even a cruise ship. The guide pointed out the luxury homes of the likes of Bill Gates, Mick Jagger and Tina Turner. The rich know where to live!















Photos: Promenade des Anglais and Nice Villefranche sur Mer

We did a loop in the bay and then sailed back towards Nice before turning and following the Promenade des Anglais back to the Port. It's always nice to see a place like this from the sea, you see a whole new perspective.

That night we were going out for a meal and we'd already picked a restaurant, Le Lunel on the Port. We had one of the set menus, again excellent value. We had Kir to start, I had we all had goat's cheese salad to start, sea bass in saffron (yum!) for main and I had apple pie to finish. We got a bottle of very good red wine in with the set meal, all for 25E, excellent value. A relaxing way to end a busy day. We were all excited about the U2 gig the next day!