| A Few Days In Nice | | Print | |
| Written by Rob Atherton from explorertravelblog.co.uk |
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On the way to Nice, we stopped at Orange to view the ancient Roman Theatre. The very size of the semi-circular theatre backing on to the hillside is an impressive spectacle indeed. The niche in the stage wall houses a colossal statue of the Emperor Auguste – an awesome sight. Our next destination was Avignon and the sun gleamed on the golden sandy coloured
Next, we moved on to Monaco; wonderful views along the Corniche roads. I would NOT drive along any of them, however - such horrendous sharp bends! There was a Yachting Week on at the time and two very large cruise ships were in the vicinity. Traffic was horrendous but eventually we found an underground car park. We visited 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. Another expedition was up into the hills to visit Matisses Chapel but sadly it was closed on this occasion. So, we moved on to Vence, a lovely old city with narrow paved passageways, cafes and craft shops. In the town centre there is a very large statue of a wounded dove, i.e. Wounded Peace. There have been bishops here since 374AD and this bishopric is the smallest in France. On my last 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. The large market sold vast quantities of fruit and veg, pottery and herb mills, African animals and table linen; truly one could browse for hours on end. It had been my first trip to Nice and I returned hope with many happy memories of my first visit to the area. For more information and for details of how to book your trip to Nice online with Explorer Travel visit their website: http://www.explorerdirect.co.uk Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites          |
buildings of the ancient city. The Palace of the Popes is vast and we took the train tour through the Palace grounds. The alleyways were extremely narrow and cars were often parked haphazardly! The famous bridge used to span the two tributaries of the Rhone, 22 arches in all. But today all that remains are the four arches with a small chapel on the second pier. We even managed a detour to the Pont du Gard - an amazing Roman aqueduct with triple tiers. On to Marseilles; again lovely old golden stone buildings along the coast road and the harbour. The old fort and the church on the hilltop reminded me of Malta. Heavy rain marred the latter part of the journey to Nice and again the following morning. In the afternoon, we visited the Cathedral of St Nicholas, the largest Russian church outside Russia. Close by is the chapel, built on the site of Villa Bermond where the Crown Prince Nicholas Alexandrovich died in 1865. I had not realised that the Romanovs had been visiting the Cote d’Azur since 1856. We had lunch at the hilltop hotel where Queen Victoria used to stay; it looks like a Palace, so no wonder! Nowadays it has been converted into flats and at the bottom of the hill is a statue of Queen Victoria herself.
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.
Nice