Page 67 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

PROVENCE AREA B Y AREA  65

The RivieRa and Ra and R

The alpes MaRiTiMes

The French Riviera is, without doubt, the most celebrated
seaside in Europe. Just about everybody who has been
anybody for the past 100 years has succumbed to its
glittering allure. This is the holiday playground of
kings and courtesans, movie stars and millionaires,
where the seriously rich never stand out in the crowd.

There is a continual complaint that the scenery of its shores and the rich
Riviera is not what it used to be, that the environment of hill villages like St-Paul
Cannes Film Festival is mere hype, that de Vence. This village has echoed to the
grand old Monte-Carlo has lost all sense of voices of such luminaries as Bonnard and
taste and that Nice isn’t worth the trouble Modigliani, F Scott Fitzgerald and Greta
of finding a parking space. But look at the Garbo. Today, its galleries still spill canvases
boats in Antibes harbour, glimpse a villa on to its medieval lanes.
or two on Cap Martin, or observe the The Alpes Maritimes, which incorporates
baubles on the guests at the Hôtel de Paris the principality of Monaco, is renowned
in Monte-Carlo; money and class still rule. for its temperate winter climate. The
The Riviera is not just a millionaire’s abundance of flowers here attracted the
watering hole: a diversity of talent has perfume industry and the English – who
visited, seeking patrons and taking advan- created some of the finest gardens on the
tage of the luminous Mediterranean light. coast. Inland, the mountainous areas of
This coast is irrevocably linked with the life Provence offer a range of skiing activities
and works of Matisse and Picasso, Chagall, in superb mountain scenery, and a chance
Cocteau and Renoir. It lent them the to try traditional Alpine food.

Relaxing on the promenade des Anglais, Nice
Cannes Old Town, known locally as Le Suquet, overlooking the harbour