4 days on the French Riviera
By Lisette Felix
I hadn’t seen my passport since my last trip a year ago, when my daughter told me one day out of the blue that I needed it. Thankfully, after searching the house upside down I finally found it squashed between the bookshelf and the wall. The feeling of relief was magnificent as was the surprise – a birthday trip to the French Riviera.
The 2-hour flight from London revealed breathtakingly beautiful panoramic views of the South of France, which I had seen in the 1955 film To Catch a Thief , but it didn’t prepare me for the real thing.
We landed in a hot, sticky and bustling Nice, famous for its Promenade des Anglais, (the Walkway of the English). It was given its name because the British aristocracy of the 1800s liked to spend their winters in the town and would walk along this long 7 km (4.3 miles) pathway which extends along the Mediterranean coast.
In addition to the usual sites, we were fortunate to visit a Nice rarely seen by tourists. Thanks to a friend who lives locally, we discovered the town’s thriving Black business community in and around Rue Pertinax. Among them were Madame Janet Ofori, a hairdresser, who shared her journey from Ghana to Nice and young entrepreneur Madame Arame Diop [Missarame], whose hair product business is quickly expanding.
Our base was the reasonably priced Best Western Riviera & Spa hotel in Nice. The £604 all-in package holiday only afforded us breakfast on the first morning of our 4-day tripwhich also included Cannes and Monaco. Consisting of the usual ‘cheap hotel’ assortment of stale French patisseries and over-milked soggy scrabble eggs and bacon, it was not the usual morning fare I enjoy. Still, my daughter was delighted that the McDonalds was never far away, where we only had to ask for burgers to be ‘bien cuit’ to ensure a ‘happy meal’ eating experience.
The train to Cannes revealed more picturesque, stunning views. I was so relaxed and wanted to sleep, but I didn’t dare close my eyes for fear of missing any of the incredible sights around me.
Famous for its film festival, Cannes was like a ‘little Hollywood’ with its handprints of actors immortalized on steel plaques in front of Palais des Festivals. They included Meryl Streep, David Lynch and Ben Kingsley to name a few.
We browsed the luxury shops along the well-known street, each window more spectacularly adorned than the next. Lunch at the Carlton Hotel’s Rüya Cannes Restaurant was pricey but excellent, with elegant decor and views of palm-lined streets and the ocean.
During our meal, a distressed waiter interrupted my reverie, gently admonishing that “your handbag should not be on the floor.” He swiftly rescued it, pulling out a folded wooden stool and gently placing my second-hand Louis Vuitton handbag on it. I smiled to myself -The French…
The train from Nice to Monaco, the next day, was less than an hour’s ride. Large picture windows on both sides of the train again revealed spectacular views.
In the small municipality where over 40% of residents are millionaires, everything is beautiful – the people, the architecture, the views, the opulent cars. The average rent per square metre is about £45,000 (50,000 euros) per month, but there is no income tax.
We took a short walk to the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, which was smaller than I had imagined, though perched up on a hill. The palace has been continuously occupied by the Grimaldi family since 1297 when François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, sought shelter there. On obtaining entry he murdered the guard, whereupon his men appeared and captured it.
One cannot visit Monaco without having a little flutter at the renowned Casino Royale and we didn’t resist. We dropped a few euros into the one arm bandit machine, crossing our fingers that the whirl of the brightly coloured fruit motifs would hopefully roll into a winning line. Success! We walked away with 40 euros.
There’s so much more to see than we could in four days, like St Nicholas Monaco Cathedral where famed actress Grace Kelly married the country’s ruler, Prince Louis Rainier III in 1956, or Formula One motor racing at the Monaco Grand Prix, or even a guided boat tour to Mala caves with a stop in Villefranche.
So, you see, there’ll be lots to do when I come back to my newest happy place. Just have to make sure that I keep my passport handy!
Information:-
Flight price: £604 includes 3 nights/ Best Western Hotel (low season)
Website: https://www.britishairways.com/
Travel Agency: British Airways Holidays
Telephone: [BA]0344 493 0787
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4 days on the French Riviera
Travellers focus on the unknown
By Lisette Felix
“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign.” [Robert Louis Stevenson in the book ‘The Silverado Squatters’].
Travelling often means discovery of unknown locales, but as a child, I noticed that the only place my parents ever went to was their birthplace in Dominica and, I suspect that for the longest time, all other Caribbean families did the same. We were encouraged to ‘go back home’ to discover what living there was really like.
For my generation who had no guilt, we went on holiday to experience a new place like everybody else. We were seeking, sun, sea and the occasional sexcapade; if I can say that.This was, of course, after you did your duty in visiting the home country.
My friends and I visited Brussels, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands , far enough that you knew you were somewhere else, but close and cheap enough that you didn’t have to fly.
Brussels was amazing to me – travelling on the hydrofoil with my mum to Ostend when I was 18 and being helped off this funny sort of boat onto a waiting bus with the tour guide babbling incoherently in French and hurriedly translating her words into broken English. I was mesmerized as I passed through markets of cascading baskets upon baskets of fruit, shiny vegetables and beautiful twisted shapes of seeded bread and rolls. I had never seen anything like it.
Today, our children – the second generation born and raised in the UK, take planes like we used to take buses and trains. If they can get there, they will go – Australia, Peru, China, Cambodia, Japan, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and beyond. There is no limit.
My daughter, Nadine and her husband Gee are fearless travellers. In October they decided to take a trip to Romania to see her friend Leanna and some designer shopping in Turkey. Well, her university days had brought her into contact with other students of varying nationalities and they both now have friends in many parts of the world. One in particular had moved to Romania in Eastern Europe for a job in the capital Bucharest. Naturally my daughter was invited to come for a visit.
For one week they visited famous and less well known parts of the country. It’s a fascinating place with ancient castles and a very rich history. Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, was set in and around Romania, and was loosely based on the exploits of Vlad the Impaler, who liked to impale his enemies, after torturing them, on the gates of his castle. Nadine visited Bran Castle, and was surprised at how nice it was.
“After driving for about three hours we came upon a small castle. I was pleasantly surprised, I had been very anxious on the drive to the castle, I had expected it to be a huge, dark foreboding place. Instead I found a quaint country house in a very picturesque location.”
The pair has many exciting plans for future destinations, including visiting Japan and Dubai. “We travel because we like meeting new people, seeing new things and experiencing different cultures,” they said.
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