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This hikes begins in the town of Beaulieu, which is just east of Nice, past Villefranche and in front of Cap Ferrat. Beaulieu is one of our favorites coastal towns along Cote d’Azur, lacking the tourists of Nice and Villefranche, sort of a more sophisticated sister-ville, that is still close enough to make it into Nice within a few minutes.
Continue reading “Hike to Saint-Michel Plateau”
This is one of the most accessible and flexible hikes around Nice. It allows for a short hike to a great viewpoint, or a more sportive three-hour hike, and a few hikes in between. Mont Bastide is the mountain that is just before Eze. When you pass over the bridge to Eze, your back is to Mont Bastide; the bridge joins Mont Bastide to Eze. Here’s the hikes that are possible to Mont Bastide.
Continue reading “Hike to Mont Bastide”
I have been trying to visit Roquebrune, (a hillside village above Cap Martin and overlooking Monaco) for some time, but every time we had gone the traffic, parking and crowds had been overwhelming so we chose to pass and try again another time. Well, it is November and there are usually not as many tourists around at this time of year, and as it was a beautiful day, I decided to give it another shot.
Continue reading “Roquebrune, Cote d’Azur”
The Conseil General Alpes Maritimes publish a number of booklets (available online as well) that describe many of the walks and hikes that can be discovered enjoyed along the Cotes d’Azur. We’ve been enjoy many over the past few years, and below are some of our favorites. There are 60 in total in three books; Pays Cotier, Moyen Pays, Haut Pays. If I’ve written previously about it, a link is included. “A” means they are from the first book (closest to the coastline walks) and the number signifies the number of the hike in their book. They are rated as Easy, Medium, Difficult and Sportive.
Continue reading “Walks & Hikes of the Cote d’Azur”
This was a rather roundabout way to get to Paris, as it took us through Italy, Switzerland and Luxembourg, but it made for a great trip. We took the coastal freeway to Savon and from there, turned up to Turin, until we reached our first night’s stay just north and outside of Turin in the the Canavese Valley. There are numerous small towns in the area, situated in the foothills of the Alps. We stayed at a small B&B just outside of the town of Strambinello, called the Castello (Castle) di Strambinello. It would be just outside, west of Ivrea, off the freeway that travels from Turin to Aosta.
Continue reading “Roundabout Drive from Nice to Paris”
There’s an amazing winding staircase that goes from one of the top towers to the bottom of the moat, 35 meters deep and dug between 1879-90, and a well was dug starting in 1690 through the rock down to fresh water, going down 120 meters. That must’ve been fun to dig, mostly by hand, by prisoners, back in those days where the only tools were chisels and perhaps some gunpowder for explosives. A few things were most notable: It has been a military fortress since the 11th century, right up until the 2nd World War, where it held back the Germans for eight days before being overtaken. Today it just provides tours to the public and is no longer active as a fortress.
Continue reading “Chateau de Joux near Pontalier, France”
It was the 21st of November but the weather was still warm and beautiful, so we loaded up a friend’s car and headed for Cap D’Ail to do some paddling. We parked at the train station, which is right beside the coastal “sentier” walk into Monaco. This is one of our favorite walks in the area. I blew up the paddle board and started towards Monaco while Flo followed along by the coastal path.
Continue reading “Paddle Boarding to Monaco”
Living in Nice makes it possible to explore and do a variety of things, all within a day. Recently we drove from Nice to Monaco to walk around and have breakfast. From there we continued on to Ventemiglia in Italy to do some shopping for parmesan cheese, ham, limoncello and vegetables as it is so much less expensive there.
Continue reading ““A little bit of everything” Drive from Nice”
These are some of are favorite beaches on the Cote d’Azur, from Nice to just before Monaco.
Continue reading “Great Beaches around Nice”We’ve covered most of the coastal walks around Nice, and now have begun to search out hikes that are in the hills behind Cote d’Azur. Our first was behind the hilltop town of Gourdon, where there’s a bluff that overlooks the town and provides a very panoramic view of the coast and Mediterranean.
Continue reading “Plateau de Cavillore Hike at Gourdon, France”