Sunday, November 6, 2011

French Riviera on a Song


Ticino - Italian Alps
When you think of the French Riviera, you get images of the Azure blue Mediterranean Sea, the idyllic life in the Cote d’Azur, the Casinos of Monaco (and Monte Carlo). But what excites your senses is Cannes – the film festival and red carpet capital of the world. However, what really motivated us to take a tour was the chance to explore the Mediterranean & the old towns of Nice, VilleFranche’, Eze and Vence. 
These are all quaint wonderfully preserved old towns along the Cote d’Azur, and places where time has stood still since the 14th century or roundabouts. Now don’t get me wrong… while there we also planned for Marseille and St. Tropez. But we didn’t really want to get lost in St. Tropez as eagerly as we did in the forgotten backyards of St. Paul De Vence or Eze’. This was a ‘historical’ trip in the true sense of the word.
View Of Italian Alps
 28th October: The day we bunked work, both Tushar and Avik and started at around 6 am from Basel. It was still dark, and the 4 of us were still sleepy - but the drive was grand. Through the Italian Alps and Ticino (we reached Ticino by 9 a.m.) – The snow covered Alps and Lake Maggiore – it was worth the early start. Through Italy and through the toll gates (at a heavy cost of 25 € toll each way!), we rambled on to the France and were welcomed by the grand drive along the coastline. It was easy to understand the significance of the simplistic name ‘Cote d’Azur’ for this side of France.
After bypassing Monace, and VilleFranche on the way to the Ibis hotel in Nice, we returned to Eze’ by the most amazing view points on the coast. 
View From VilleFranche of Coted'Azur
 I think we stopped about a ton of times to look out and finally reached Eze’ just before the info office closing time (5 p.m.). It was still daylight saving, so we did manage to wander around till 6:30 when dusk did finally settle in. But the charming town captivated all of us. I think we were debating on the practicality of staying over in the Hotel Chateau Eza despite having hotel reservations in Nice – just 10 km away and another time era away! Breathtaking! The narrow alleys, the decorated shops, the myriad cul de sac – it was straight from some animated movie from the bygone era ;) We fell in love – again!
Anyways, off to Villefranche-sur-Mer, and here was a different sea side town. The yacht city (almost) was a contrast to Village of Eze' and the sea side dinner shops were as inviting as were the captivating Rue Obscure and Église Saint-Michel of the Cite Historique.
Eze' Village
By Eze' Village
VilleFranche Coastline
But dusk intervened, so we decide to retire to Nice with a sample of French wine and some Doner kebabs from a roadside diner in Nice that was always overcrowded, despite being run by Algerian migrants.
The dinner was as fulfilling as the wine was wasted.
Eze' Village
Posing - Eze' Village


Map Of Eze' and Chateau Eza!
29th October: This day we had planned for Nice Old Town - Vieux Nice – it looks and feels exactly like it did two or three centuries ago! Promenade de Anglais, Cours Saleya and Place Garibaldi – the main city plaza – were the feature attractions we had planned for. The Promenade was inviting, and we spent a fair amount of time frolicking there and watching dog tricks. Then we headed for the Marche’ Aux Fleurs – Cours Saleya – the flower market for the uninitiated. And then we headed off to the old town - Vieux Nice. Vieux Nice was where we were lost for the next couple of hours before we realized that we had to head for Vence, and St.Paul De Vence also. And Antibes and Capd’Antibes – if time permits…
Vieux Nice

Vence Old town and St. Paul de Vence - Again there was a feeling of time travel. And an appreciation of the charm of Europe vs living in Sydney or in the U.S. It is an uplifting experience… and it makes for a hugely rewarding and life changing experience.
Posing by Vieux Nice
It changes you and you feel puzzled by the rush in India to discard the old for the new! Old is Gold – and it is nowhere truer than in Europe. It is also big money – serious money – apart from being the culture marvel. We wandered about – just getting lost in the alleys and marveling at the picturesque town. One resident helped us with directions and tourist guide map of Vence, another cemetery flower seller with directions to the Old Town – but the most interesting part was the lunch at an Italian eatery in Old town. It was the most amazing assorted Italian platter – with lasagna, pizza, gelato – to go with roast chicken and bread. Mmmm… that was the tasty and it cost 31€ for the four of us.
Nice Old Town House
Vence Old Town House
Vence Town Centre














St. Paul was 2-3 km & we spent the rest of the day relaxed - doing nothing & yet marveling at everything unfolding before us. Antibes was a disappointment though. But primarily because of us - it was already dusk and we hadn’t done our research too well. So we just wandered a bit and then headed for the Cap d’Antibes, which was the beachside version with fantastic views. Overall the French Riviera was easy on the body – aimless wandering had never been so rewarding.
'Italian' Lunch at Vence! 
 All the European cities we had visited – Paris, Rome, Barcelona – were huge and needed proper planning to see them in their best sights… and was usually hard preparation work before and after. Cote d’Azur – was easy, just head where the heart takes you and be prepared to be amazed!
A feature highlight of our tour was the night car parking we did at Nice in front of our hotel – 2 wheels were parked on the pavement, and we somehow just about managed to get the parking place!
Vence in all its grandeur and 'plane' trees! 
St. Paul de Vence

St. Tropez!
30th October: This day was for Marseille and St. Tropez… yea the beaches and the sun. Also the occasional topless women! So we set off early on this Sunday – finding breakfast was hard early in the morning, but eventually we found a nice place serving French Breakfast omelet. Then off to St. Tropez – a pretty pretty pretty port town – the original play area of the super rich Europeans. The coffee, the lighthouse and the yachts – all reeked of old money, European grandeur and Mediterranean easy lifestyle. Marseille had to be postponed to another time – it was too late and we had Cannes in our sights.
Lighthouse at St. Tropez
Posing by St. Tropez
We took a quick self guided tour of Fragonard at Grasse – the free factory tour was already closed by then.
An hour of perfume trying later – we got the 2nd most exotic perfume since the marriage – the first being the Givenchy during our honeymoon trip to Mauritius.
My Cutie Pie at St. Tropez!
It was fun and it was late by the time we started back for our Ibis hotel – night car parking was a headache in Nice – and that night was no exception. We had to budget an extra half hour at least to find a decent free parking place (between 8 p.m. till 9 a.m.). We had a quiet dinner and then retired for the night. We had planned for an early start to Basel the next day – stopping over at Monaco and Villefranche.
Cannes!

31st October: Through Monaco after a hearty breakfast at Villefranche – we witnessed the Monte Carlo beach, the casino and the most impressive of all – the McLaren F1 race car.
A long drive and another 25 € toll through Italy later (we tried for Avoid Tolls option – only for the GPS to suggest an alternate route that would take 12 hours extra!) – we reached Basel around 6 p.m. 
Cathedral Russo in Nice
View From From Villefranche
The highlight was the scratches we got on the car at the Russian Cathedral parking and then again at Villefranche parking – a heavier cost the bill of which is yet to be reconciled!

Cannes McLaren Showroom
Thus ended our Cote d’Azur adventure – it was adventure, and it was an eye opening culture tour.
Cathedral Russo













Wish we could do the same back at home in India too!

At The Cannes
At The Fragonard


Here is a picture that captures it all – the simplicity, and yet the richness that makes one wonder how much poorer we would be without our old towns!
Charming Old Towns