It's been quite a week since we left Lake Como!
We returned to Milan for our final night in Italy, just because catching the ferry from Menaggio and a train from Varenna might have been touch-and-go for catching our reserved 11am fast train from Milan to Ventimiglia. (After spending a month in Lake Como, we knew that the "schedules" for both the ferry and train were more like "suggestions" in terms of precision). We stayed in an unmemorable hotel near the train station for convenience, but I think we would have preferred to stay back over in Brera if we hadn't had to catch the train. I will say that the Milan Centrale train station is quite a work of Art Nouveau/Art Deco architecture, with some fascist-looking elements thrown in for good measure thanks to Mussolini being in charge during the completion of the station. In hindsight, we probably should have flown from Malpensa airport to Nice -- it would have been faster and less hassle than taking several trains and stopovers. Lesson learned!
Ventimiglia is the last Italian town on the Italian-French border of the Riviera Coast. It is the "end of the line" for Italian trains, so from there we took a French regional train (no reservation needed -- yay!) to the French town just across the border called Menton. This charming town has it all -- sea, sun, and lots and lots of citrus. I can confirm that the limoncello we tasted here was magnificent.
We explored the harbor and the beach boardwalk and then walked up the steps toward the formidable church of Saint Michael the Archangel at the top of the hill.
The streets of old town Menton are a maze of alleyways and stairs leading up and down, like a town designed by MC Escher. We were glad we booked one night here so we could explore this town fully before moving on to our Airbnb in Nice.
Here is a quick map courtesy of RickSteves.com with an orientation to the Cote d'Azur (also known as the French Riviera). You can see Ventimiglia and Menton all the way to the right, and then moving westward down the coast you'll see Monaco, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Cap Ferrat, Nice, Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, and Cannes. When we left Menton, we took the regional train which hugs the coast and has beautiful views of the sea from the windows.
Our Airbnb apartment in Nice is a little less spacious than the one in Menaggio, but it has most of the things we will need for a long stay here.
If we lean waaaaay, way out on the balcony we can just barely see the blue of the Mediterranean Sea. Like our apartment in Menaggio, this apartment is on the third floor with no elevator. So we will continue getting our daily workout just going up and down the stairs!
We got acquainted with our new city by taking a couple of long walks. The first walk was along the Promenade des Anglais ("English Promenade").
This uninterrupted path hugs close to the water all the way along the 7 kilometer stretch of rocky beach. Back in the early 1800s, English aristocrats used to winter in Nice to escape the gray drizzly winters back home. They funded the construction of a paved walkway so that they could stroll in all their finery along the sea. We like it because there are no intersections or traffic lights, so you can walk as far along as you'd like without needing to stop to cross a street.
Our second walk took us to Nice's seaport, Port Lympia. The long history of Nice includes: initial settlement by Greeks in 300 BC (Nice gets its name from the Greek city name Nikaia after the goddess Nike), the addition of a nearby Roman settlement of Cemenelum (that eventually merged with the rest of Nice and is now the hilly district of Cimiez), and for most of its history from the middle ages until 1860 the city was called Nizza and was actually a part of Italy (well, since Italy didn't exist yet it was actually part of the Duchy of Savoy and then the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia). The port is a relatively recent development compared to the town's history -- it's only been open since the mid-1700s, and originally was much smaller than it is today.
We had some really great weather to do some exploring around the Riviera this week, so on Thursday we took a short bus ride to the cape called Cap Ferrat, where there is an absolutely gorgeous gilded age palace that was built by heiress Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild. The mansion had room after room of precious art, antique furniture, and more porcelain china on display than anyone could ever use in one lifetime.
But what was really stunning was the garden. Or I should say gardens, plural. There are nine gardens you can walk through and each has a theme (Spanish garden, Rose garden, English garden, etc.). The gardens have some really jaw-dropping views as well.
After touring the Ephrussi Villa, we walked to the little town of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and had lunch, then took a walk along part of the cape. The many hues of blue in the water below explain why this region has the name Cote d'Azur ("Blue Coast"). This is one of several beaches on Cap Ferrat, called Anse des Fossettes.
Heading back on the return bus to Nice, we stopped off briefly at the pretty town of Villefranche-sur-Mer. It's a cute but somewhat touristy town -- cruise ships often anchor here in the deep harbor and tender the guests into town. We noticed that prices for drinks at the waterfront bars were much higher than we were willing to pay, so we headed back to the bus stop and on to Nice.
On Friday we walked north from our apartment to the neighborhood called "Liberation" where they have a nice produce and fish market. We bought some perfectly ripe figs and a couple of super-ripe heirloom tomatoes.
Afterwards we took the city bus over to the Cimiez neighborhood to have a look at the ruins of the Roman arena and bath complex there. The ruins date back to the 3rd century AD.
Saturday, we planned a daylong excursion over to Cap d'Antibes. The town of Antibes was a Greek outpost in the 5th century BC and was later occupied by the Romans. During the Middle Ages it was part of Burgandy and the Holy Roman Empire. Unlike Nice, which has had more of an Italian influence, Antibes has always been French. The French fortified the city with walls and a massive defensive fort to keep the Italians (well not really the Italians but rather whoever was ruling Liguria at the time - Savoy, Spain, Austria...) on their side of the border.
Antibes is also home to Port Vauban, the largest yacht harbor in Europe. It has over 2000 mooring spaces and can dock megayachts up to 100 meters (980 feet). One of the biggest ones we saw was the $200 million megayacht Faith measuring in at 97 meters.
The farmer's market here in Antibes had many more items than we saw in the Liberation market over in Nice -- spices, preserves, charcuterie, cheese, handicrafts, and artistically displayed fresh produce.
Right next to the market was a sign proudly proclaiming "L'Absinthe Bar". We were intrigued so we decided to go in, even though it was only 11am.
Stepping into the bar was like stepping into a museum dedicated to Absinthe. What is absinthe, you might be wondering. Well, it's a high-alcohol botanical liquor that tastes a bit like licorice or anise seed thanks to its main ingredient, wormwood extract (scientific name: Artemisia absinthium). It can have a white or greenish hue and was a popular drink with artists and writers in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Alcoholism was such a problem back then and the 70% alcohol content of absinthe led to claims that it deteriorated moral character. By 1915 it was banned in many countries, including the US and France, and only recently since the 2000s has it been re-discovered and made legal again. You don't drink it straight, but instead it is mixed with plenty of ice water from an absinthe fountain on the table that is slowly dripped into the glass over a sugar cube on a special "absinthe spoon" until the sugar dissolves. There's quite a ritual to it, as the water dribbles very slowly out of the spigot. Was 11am on a Saturday morning too early for a sample? Not if you wear a vintage hat and pretend you are a character in a Manet painting. After just one glass each, we left the bar with a bit of a buzz but with our moral character (more or less) intact.
From Antibes we walked across the cape to the beachy town of Juan-les-Pins. The beaches on Cap Antibes are sandy instead of pebbly like the rest of the French Riviera. If you forgot to bring water shoes or love digging your toes in the sand, this is the place to be.
For contrast, here is a photo of the beach in Nice with the pink-domed roof of the historic Hotel Negresco in the background. If you love the water, but hate sand getting everywhere, this is the beach for you.
The only problem with the pebbles is that they are not easy on the feet -- ouch! We packed good-soled water shoes just for this purpose. Today we took a day off of sightseeing and rented chairs and an umbrella to relax at one of the beach clubs close to our apartment. It was the hottest day of the week and the water was very refreshing. So were the beers.
As we headed back to the apartment in the late afternoon, we walked past the beautiful Belle Epoque-era Negresco hotel. Lots of famous names have stayed at this hotel such as Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, and Paul McCartney. We took note of this Rolls Royce parked out front, loitering for a few minutes (wet watershoes in hand, no less -- très classy!) to see if anybody of note stepped out to claim it. No luck but if we happen to find out who it belongs to, we'll be sure to let you know.
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