Stay in Nice, France and Take Sidetrips East and West

Photos and article by Eleanor S. Morris

Not all French adventuring is expensive. You can enjoy the Riviera for a song. See the museums of which Nice has sixteen wondrous ones. Stay in a delightful, friendly and inexpensive small French hotel like Nice's owner-run Hotel Little Palace just a few blocks from the Promenade des Anglais on the bay. Lounge a little on the beach--not for too long since the "grains" of sand are actually small rocks.

Then take side trips by bus or train to the charming small towns which dot the hills of the Riviera's three Corniches, the roads that wind ever higher and higher above the blue Mediterranean. A day's outing to the east lie the winding medieval villages of Villefranche-sur-Mer and Eze, and even Monaco, should you want to take a gander at the glamorous principality, peek into the Casino, and admire the yachts in the harbor.

A few miles to the west are towns made famous by the artists who lived there: Cagnes-sur-Mer with its Musee Renoir, the Matisse Chapel in Vence, and the cobblestone hillside art-colony village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, with its Foundation Maeght museum of French Impressionist works and, in the fall, the delights of a country wine festival with costumed participants. Nice bus and train stations, easy to reach and simple to use, are situated in the center of town, within a good walking distance of the Hotel Little Palace, as well as others.

Villefranche-sur-Mer, charming small village on a deep bay squeezed between Cap Ferrat and Mount Boron, makes a delightful day's outing, taking the SNCF train from the Gare (station) on Avenue Thiers. For a ticket "pour l'allez et le retour," which translates to "round trip," you'll be in Villefranche, almost a suburb of Nice, in less than ten minutes. The village's small station is perched high up on the hills above the bay, with a view of the red-tiled roofs of the ancient small town, and of the citadel dominating the coast. There's a steep downhill walk before you come out into the narrow cobblestoned streets leading to the bay.

Sailors have known Villefranche since the Saracens landed here--particularly reminiscent are such arched and tunneled streets as Rue Obscure, long and dark and covered like the North African souks. Down on the quays of the village-port fishermen still mend their nets beside their boats, watched by a gallery of contented cafe patrons enjoying the view from beneath the colorful umbrellas of the seaside sidewalk cafes.

Eze, six miles and about 15 minutes from either Nice or Monaco, is a medieval village perched 1,500 feet above the sea. It's crossed by the Upper, Middle and Low Corniche roads, with the railway station on the Low Corniche. There's a 17th century church to see; a chapel with frescoes; and a garden of exotic plants on the ramparts of the village's ruined chateau. Most exciting is walking up the winding, twisted, narrow streets to the garden and the dizzying view of the Mediterranean far below. Tucked into hidden corners among the stone buildings along the way are cafes and shops selling perfume, pewter, olivewood crafts, paintings and ceramic work.

Legendary Monaco glitters like gold along the bay, with sidewalk cafes both on the shore and along the avenue leading to the famous Casino. Uphill is the palace and the narrow streets of Monaco-Ville, but the less expensive restaurants and cafes are near the train station, where frequent trains link the two towns within minutes.

To the west is Cagnes-sur-Mer, where they say "the story of Cagnes and Renoir is a love story." The artist's home was purchased by the town in 1960, and the house and its furnishings have remained the same as they were when Renoir lived there from 1908 to 1919. His studio, with armchair, easel, brushes and frames; Madame Renoir's bedroom; the rooms of his sons Claude, Jean and Pierre; and five and a half acres with 140 ancient olive trees, among which visitors may walk, relax, or even paint. There is train service to Cagnes-sur-Mer from Nice.

Saint-Paul-de-Vence is another cobblestoned medieval village, with a church, monuments, ruins, works of art, and museums, all surrounded by ramparts begun in 1536. The earliest mention of the town dates from 1016, and the aspect of the fortified village has scarcely changed to this day. A living community, not simply a stone preserved folk-village museum, St-Paul boasts the Foundation Maeght, which rotates exhibits by such as Braque, Matisse, Chagall, as well as old masters like Giacometti and the newest in modern art. Here, too, is a spectacular view over the beautiful countryside of southern France. Known by its diminutive of St-Paul, the village can be reached by train to Cagnes-sur-Mer; by bus from Nice it's under an hour, and buses leave every half hour from Nice's Gare Routiere.

The small town has less than 3,000 inhabitants, so you won't want to confuse it with larger Vence, slightly to the north, with a population of almost 15,000.

Vence, like Eze to the east, is between Nice or Cannes, and the bus to St. Paul-de-Vence continues on to here. Enclosed like St-Paul within medieval walls and calling itself "cite des artes," city of art, the town boasts museums, art galleries, exhibitions and concerts all year round. Most important are the Matisse Chapelle du Rosaire and the Chagall mosaic in the 10th-12th century cathedral.

But after extolling the art of the surrounding hills, it's only fair to mention that Nice itself is a treasure-house of museums. There are 15 in all. Among the most notable are the famous National Museum Biblical Message Marc Chagall, the Musee Matisse, in a 17th century Italina villa which also contains the Musee Archeologique and Roman ruins, and the Musee Massena, cataloguing the life of a local hero, Andre Massena, a favorite general of Napoleon I. And all 15 are easily reached--by city bus.

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