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Secrets of the French RivieraAncient villages, WWII forts, walking paths, fields of lavender, and few tourists make for idyllic days in the hill towns above the sea.By Carla KingOn the Riviera you can don your diamonds and head to Monaco by night, and by day, languor on the rocky beaches on a padded blue lounge chair and have the garcon bring you cold rose wine ‘til your head spins. But you can also mountain bike to crumbling hilltop castles, explore World War II forts, tour a perfumerie, wander a restored castle with a dungeon, gaze at the works of Matisse and Picasso, Chagall and Jean Cocteau, learn to play petanque and maybe, just maybe, acquire a taste for Pernod. The French have known about Nice and the backcountry for years. Here's their secret. Food and Attitude Nice and the Eastern Riviera are heavily influenced by the nearby cultures of Italy, Spain, and Africa. Off-season, Nice has the laziness of a retirement town. The surrounding region is full native Nicoise, highly independent peoples who still speak an ancient language called Nissard, especially in the perched villages of the backcountry, or l'arriere payes.
Africa's culinary influence is apparent on many corners where an Algerian specialty called socca, a delicious chickpea crepe served straight from the pan in the streets of Nice's vielle village, or old town. And you'll never experience better rose wine. Is it the vintage, or the setting, that makes this cold, crisp wine so refreshing during those warm Riviera evenings?
Climate and Terrain
Ancient Perched Villages Behind the Riviera is a treasure trove of ancient villages that display the history of the area in the layers of its architecture. The foundations for these villages were laid during Roman invasions of the 2nd century B.C. The Barbarian and Saracens further personalized the structures during invasions in the 8th, 9th, and 10th, but the most striking feature is 11th century constructions around the watchtowers of a feudal lord. They've survived all this, and the Protestant-Catholic wars, secession from Austria, the French Revolution, and most recently World War II, when many of them were outfitted with modern forts and weapons to fend off ground and air attacks at the volatile Italian border. St. Paul de Vence is the most famous art village in France. Spend a day relaxing, shopping, and visiting the very manageable Fondation Maeght. If you're going to splurge on something, consider lunch at La Colombe d'Or. The food and atmosphere can't be beat, and since the proprietor used to take payment in artists' works his collection includes works of Picasso and many others, which hang unceremoniously on the walls for customers (and ONLY customers) to admire.
Finally, you might want to take a look at Grasse, the perfume capitol of France. Essences captured are jasmine, rose, lavender, mimosa, orange blossom and narcissus. You can visit the Fragonard perfumerie to watch the process from beginning to end, and cruise the surrounding countryside to enjoy the flowers in their natural state. Lavender fields are everywhere! In the fall, check with the Nice tourist office to see when the village of Peille has its demonstration of extracting the essence from the flowers, the old fashioned way, by heating the blossoms in a long-handled copper pot over a blazing fire. World War II Forts
Getting Around: Car, Train, Bike, or Hike
You may also consider hiking. The balcons trail runs parallel to the coast and gives you good views of the sea. A good day hike begins in Gorbio, with lunch in Ste. Agnes, the highest of the perched villages (lunch at the creperie) and ends in Peille, my very favorite perched village. You may also opt for a longer hiking trip between village gites. The Nice tourist office can help you plan all this. For the really ambitious, a 14-kilometer long footpath begins at the Lingostière station, which is served by the Chemins de fer de Provence train and continues along the old country lanes past the Bellet vineyards, olive groves, flower gardens, forests, and many views of the of the Baie des Anges. If you get tired, take a bus back to Nice. Many bus stops intersect the route. RESOURCESRail and Rental Rail Europe http://www.raileurope.com/us lets you buy tickets on line, from all-Europe passes to one point-to-point ticket. Have great rail/drive packages and „flexotel‰ (pre paid hotel vouchers) programs TGV train http://www.raileurope.com/us (Train Grande Vitesse) or bullet train goes from Paris to Marseille and takes about 8 hours. You can put your bike on the train but you may have to negotiate for it to be the same train you are on! In Nice you can take the local trains http://www.sncf.com/indexe.htm to Ventimiglia, just over the border in Italy, for the Friday market, or visit Menton, Antibes and Cannes. Read about the marketplace here. http://www.connectioncotedazur.com/cca/0108radio3.asp The narrow gauge train http://www.beyond.fr/sites/pignes.html from Nice to Digne takes you to some wonderful hiking and biking country. If you have your own bicycle, you must take it to the station the night before your trip. Visit the Nice tourist on the seafront at 5 Promenade Anglais. For a long-term stay (more than a week), ask them about long-term rentals of apartments or villas. In the poor tourist economy you're likely to find a great deal. Getting ThereThe Eastern Riviera is the coastline between Cannes and Menton at the Italian border, as opposed to the Western Riviera, which includes the famous (and overrated) San Tropez. The land between the coast and the Alps behind Nice is called by several names: the Alpes-Maritimes, the "backcountry" (l'arriere payes), and the Nice pre-Alps (pre-Alpes Nicoise). Here's a tip: make Nice your hometown. Don't be tempted to stay in Cannes, which is famous for the film festival, but basically it's a conference town and doesn't offer much but overpriced hotels and restaurants geared to business travelers on expense accounts. Nice's international airport is located only 15 minutes from the heart of the city. You can fly direct from the United States or connect in Paris. If you're taking a grand tour of France you may want to consider taking the TGV (bullet train) from Paris to Beaune (Burgundy wine country) to Lyon (the gastronomic capital of the world), Province, and finally, to Nice. If you're staying a week or more, you may want to consider renting an apartment or villa. They're a bargain option and run the gamut from noisy downtown apartments to quiet hillside villas. The tourist office at the “Nice Theirs” train station has a long list of them. Hiking and BicyclingAvid cyclists will love the challenging cycling behind the Riviera. Carla’s guidebook, Cycling the French Riviera: Day trips between the sea and the Alps, includes detailed day trip itineraries and bicycle rental information. Order the book direct from cycling@carlaking.com. The Sentiers de Grande Randonnie (GR) runs for many miles. The GR5 runs north from Nice and the GR51, the "Balcony of the Cote d'Azure," runs east-west along the Mediterranean coast. Carla King Images by Carla King |
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You won't find the fussy sauces of Paris in the cuisine
here. Garlic and olive oil are used in practically everything. One specialty
is the Pan Bagnat, a sandwich stuffed with onions, tomatoes, black olives,
lettuce, cooked egg, tuna and anchovies, and dosed with oil and pepper.
Other specialties are pissaladiere, which is a sweet onion tart; and there
are many kinds of pasta, including a giant, overstuffed ravioli. Fish from
the Mediterranean Sea is also plentiful, served simply grilled or in a
complex bouillabaisse. Not to be missed is the regional specialty, a blette
tart. Blette is a white beet, but it's the spinach-like leaves that are
used, cooked down with nuts and sugar and sandwiched in pastry.
The old town is filled with quick and inexpensive
eating options, but my favorite is Chez René (2 rue Miralhetti). The
cobblestone street leading from Nice's Cours Salaya to this classic
boisterous food counter is a classic, so leave time for a nice slow stroll.
Once there, choose from any number of local specialties: the socca, and
pissaladerie, fried anchovies, baked Provencal vegetables; then relax at one
of the picnic tables where a waiter will take your drink order.
Nice enjoys a temperate climate, which makes any time
of year a pleasant visiting experience. Winter can get a bit chilly,
especially in the backcountry where snow is not uncommon. A trip to Isolda
2000 ski resort may be in order at this time of year. In spring and fall you
might ski half the day, then swim in the warm Mediterranean Sea the other
half! Spring is warm, bringing short, violent showers and luscious fields of
wildflowers. Summertime is hot and dry and the hills glow with the light
purple of lavender flowers and the dusky green of olive trees. Cicadas
screech their mating call and heavily laden bees tend hives bursting with
sweet lavender honey. I'd argue that fall is the most perfect time to visit,
when most of the tourists are gone, the locals go mushrooming in the
forests, harvesting the fields, and waiting for the first dusting of snow to
decorate the not so distant Alps.
Because it’s so close to Nice, Eze Village is perhaps
the most touristed perched village of all. Have a drink on the terrace of
the restaurant for a lovely view of Monaco. The carnival atmosphere is just
about unbearable in August, but in fall things tone down. The same goes for
Gourdon, with its beautifully restored castle (complete with dungeon, take
the guided tour), views, and shopping (all kinds of tourist junk, candy, and
lavender honey).
My favorite loop includes Gorbio, Ste. Agnes, and
Peille. It's a great day trip, whether you're driving, hiking, or biking.
These lovely perched villages are secluded and peaceful, and you can linger
over views, stroll through cobblestone streets, and participate in festivals
like the lavender pressing festival in Peille.
The most impressive WWII fort in the area is in nearby
Sospel. You'll be given an army jacket to keep yourself warm while you
explore the 330-foot deep structure dug into a conical hill. The kitchen
served up to 230 soldiers who lived there for months at a time, sheltered
from Hitler's and Mussolini's armies who bombarded the area, destroying many
villages and even capturing Nice. You can explore almost all of the rooms
they lived in-their sleeping quarters, their communications room, their
kitchen, and you can even look through the machine-gunners' periscopes to
the outside world. A museum is now housed in the lower level of the fort,
complete with film footage, uniforms, weapons, , and articles about
the invasion of the Alpes Maritimes and the fall of Nice. The place offers a
fascinating and up-close view of wartime life that will not fail to send
shivers down your spine. If you hike or bike in this area you'll see the
tops of other forts like this, though most are filled with rocks and closed
off for safety reasons.
There are many car rental agencies in Nice, but my
favorite way to explore the area is by train, bicycle, and on foot. Bicycles
rental agencies are plentiful, and bicycles are allowed on the train's
baggage car so that you can ride uphill into the hills and cruise back to
Nice at your leisure. You should be in pretty good shape, though, and be
ready to cycle up an eight-kilometer switchback road. The effort is worth
it, and the French really respect cyclists. That is, they don’t try to run
you down in their cars.