A Few Days In Nice

I was delighted to have the opportunity to join my couses at their holiday flat in Nice. After meeting my cousins at Grenoble (Lyon) the plan was to head down to Nice by car.

My flight from Stansted arrived without any problems I was warmly welcomed by them and their dog, Tuppy. On the way to Nice, we stopped to view the ancient Roman Theatre at Orange. The size of the semi-circular theatre backing on to the hillside is impressive. The niche in the stage wall houses a colossal statue of the Emperor Auguste – an awesome sight.

The sun shone of the golden sandy coloured buildings of Avignon which was our next destination. We took the train tour through the vast gardens of the Palace of the Popes. The alleyways were extremely narrow and cars were often parked haphazardly! The famous bridge used to span the two arms of the Rhone, 22 arches in all but today all that remains are the four arches with a small chapel on the second pier. Tuppy was more interested in a paddle in the river than the amazing Roman aqueduct with its triple tiers that we saw at Pont du Gard.

On to Marseilles; again lovely old golden stone buildings along the coast road and the harbour. On the hilltop, the church and old fort reminded me of Malta. The latter part of the journey to Nice was marred by heavy rain which continued until the following morning. In the afternoon, we visit the Russian Cathedral of St Nicholas, the largest Russian church outside Russia. In 1865 Crown Prince Nicholas Alexandrovich died at Villa Bermond where today a chapel has been built on the site. I had not realised that the Cote d’Azur had been visited by the Romanovs since 1856. We had lunch at the hilltop hotel where Queen Victoria used to stay; it looks like a Palace !! Nowadays it has been converted into flats and at the bottom of the hill is a statue of Queen Victoria and several angels. Blue Skies and sunshine tempted us out to visit the Roman Monument, La Turbie, in memory of the Emperor Augustus. The people of the Alps were finally subjugated between 25BC and 14BC. This paved the way for the Roman advance up the Rhone Valley and along the Rhine and ultimately to England.

We moved on to Monaco; wonderful views along the Corniche roads. I would NOT drive along any of them; such horrendous sharp bends! Two very large cruise ships were in the vicinity as it was Yachting Week. Eventually we escaped the horrendous traffic and found an underground car park. We visit the Cathedral where Grace Kelly is buried and Prince Rainier lies alongside her grave; her grave is covered with masses of flowers. We saw the Casino and the Oceanographic Museum where Jacques Cousteau was Director for many years.

Sadly our expedition up the hills to visit Matisses Chapel was in vain as it was closed. Our next stop was Vence and it is a lovely old city with cafes, craft shops and narroe pave passageways. In the town centre there is a very large statue of a wounded dove, i.e. Wounded Peace. This bishopric is the smallest in France and there have been bishops here since 374AD.

On my final day, we headed for the Market. New streamlined trams run through the streets and stretches of grass between the tracks give a countrified air to his part of the city. One could broswe the large market for hours on end with stalls offering vast quantities of fruit and veg, pottery and herb mills, African animals and table linen. I returned from Nice with many happy memories of my first trip to the area.

You can book trip trip to Nice online with Explorer Travel on their website (http://www.explorerdirect.co.uk)