Page 527 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

38 Trophée d’Auguste
à La Turbie
Eze "'= ⌂ Avenue Albert 1er
# Hours vary, check website
! G6 ⌂ Alpes-Maritimes ∑ trophee-auguste.fr
£ @ n Place Général de
Gaulle; www.eze-
tourisme.com
For many, Eze is the ultimate 39
perched village, balancing on Roquebrune-
a rocky pinnacle high above Cap-Martin
the Mediterranean Sea. Every ! G6 ⌂ Alpes-Maritimes
summer, thousands of visitors k Nice £ @ n 218 avenue
stream through the village’s Aristide Briand; www.rcm-
14th-century fortified gate. tourisme.com
The flower-decked buildings
are almost all shops, galleries Medieval Roque brune over-
and craft workshops. At the looks the wooded cape where
top of the village, the château villas of the rich and famous
is surrounded by the lush still stand, once occupied by
tropical plants that thrive in the likes of Coco Chanel and The golden interior
the Jardin Exotique, which is Empress Eugenie. The cape of the Villa Ephrussi
arranged down the cliffside. has not always been kind. The de Rothschild
Further along the Upper poet W B Yeats died here in
Corniche is the Roman Alpine 1939 and renowned French
Trophée d’Auguste à La architect Le Corbusier was be longed to the Baroness
Turbie. This enormous drowned off the coast in 1965. Ephrussi de Roths child, and is
structure, dating from 6 BC, In 1467 townsfolk believed furnished as she left it, with
dominates the surrounding that by performing scenes her collections of price less
village, and offers fine views from the Passion they would porce lain, items previously
towards Monaco and Italy. escape the ravages of plague, owned by Marie Antoinette
and every August this ancient and a unique set of drawings
Jardin Exotique tradition is continued. by Fragonard.
" ⌂ Rue du Château Beaulieu-sur-Mer lies where
# Hours vary, check website the cape joins the main land.
∑ jardinexotique-eze.fr 40 With an exceptionally mild
St-Jean- Cap-Ferrat climate and very fine hotels,
it is the site of another unique
house, the extra ordinary Villa
! G6 ⌂ Alpes-Maritimes
k Nice g Nice £ Beaulieu- Grecque Kérylos. Built from
1902 to 1908 for archae ologist
sur-Mer @ n 5/59 av Denis
Semeria; www.saint Theodore Reinach in imitation
jeancapferrat-tourisme.fr of an ancient Greek residence,
it holds reproduction mosaics,
Some of the most sumptuous frescoes and furniture.
villas on the Riviera are on this
peninsula. From 1926 until his Villa Ephrussi
death, the best-known was de Rothschild
Somerset Maugham’s Villa "'-= ⌂ 1 av Ephrussi
Mauresque, where he hosted de Rothschild, Cap Ferrat
celebrities like Noël Coward. # Feb–Oct: 10am–6pm daily
Poss ibly the best villa is (to 7pm Jul & Aug); Nov–Feb:
open to the public. The Villa 2–6pm Mon–Fri, 10am–6pm
Ephrussi de Rothschild is a Sat, Sun & school hols)
terracotta and marble man- ∑ villa-ephrussi.com
sion set in themed gardens on
the crest of the cape. It once Villa Grecque Kérylos
"'= ⌂ Imp Gustave
Eiffel, Beaulieu # Jan–Apr
& Sep–Dec: 10am–5pm daily;
Villefranche-sur-Mer, May–Aug: 10am– 7pm daily
curving around the deep, ¢ 1 Jan, 1 May, 1 & 11 Nov,
clear waters of its bay 25 Dec ∑ villakerylos.fr
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