On the Riviera, Off the BeachWhether you’re traveling during the off-season, rained-out, or shunning the sun, there’s no reason not to enjoy the Cote d’Azur’s other pleasures By Ellen FoxEveryone’s got a couple of loose rules they consider vital to good vacationing: Avoid Europe in mid-summer. Bring hand sanitizer. Don’t overdose on museums. Pack gastro-intestinal remedies. Find a way to bring along one dressy outfit. Here’s just one more rule: Plan some indoor activities, since you can never plan the weather. Whether your summer dream vacation is fouled-up by a spot of rain, or you’re intentionally traveling during the off-season, it’s essential that you factor in some sheltered touring. I discovered this recently during a drizzly press trip to the usually-sunny French Riviera in spring, which, like autumn, is cheaper and less crowded than the high season, but which is also more prone to be overcast. That still doesn’t mean there aren’t enough treasures to make a trip to the Riviera worthwhile, whatever the weather. What follows is a list of suggested indoor activities for your visit to the Cote d’Azur (as the Riviera is also called). Take it along, and take an umbrella.
Cannes: Cannes isn’t as likable as Nice - it’s less of a city-unto-itself, and more of a brand name. Except when it comes to the food market. Whereas Nice’s open-air cours Saleya feels like a tourist-choked Epcot reproduction of a French market scene, Cannes’ roof-covered Marche Forville feels like the real thing – a working market. Feast your eyes on the glistening produce and flowers, exotic-looking cheeses and still-twitching-and-gasping fish. It’s open every day except Monday, when it’s a flea market. Less epicurean types can also kill a few hours at the Musee de la Castre, an ethnological art museum on the hilltop above the old town (called Le Suquet) that comes as a refreshing surprise from the region’s sometimes suffocating charm. Here –housed in an old castle and chapel– are Nepalese divinities and stone-faced Greco-Roman statues and Native American headdresses. There’s also a room filled entirely with exotic instruments. Eze: The Riviera is famed for flowers – and their fragrances. Though die-hard perfume fans might want to hit the town of Grasse, which is referred to as “the cradle of the perfume industry”, those in the cliff-top town of Eze have two “parfumeurs” to choose from. The overpowering Fragonard site (the alternative being Galimard) is really more of an exhibit attached to a gift shop. Still, a weary pregnant woman in an official gray dress led us past distillation vats, a deserted scent lab and a packaging station staffed by two bored employees, as she explained how many different essences make up a single perfume (300), and how many hours it takes to mix their Royal-Jelly-based faced cream (6). The final destination – and the place with the most activity – is, of course, the gift shop, its shelves and counter-tops laden with bath gels and candles and gleaming golden bottles of fragrance, with names like Arielle and Reve Indien. A word of caution, though: Don’t linger too long if you’ve got sensitive sinuses, the place smells like, well, a perfume factory. Menton: Old moneyed Menton’s got a much ballyhooed “micro-climate” which means that – due to its position between the Alps and two Mediterranean peninsulas – the temperature is always a couple of degrees higher than in the surrounding towns. This makes Menton a perfect breeding ground for sub-tropical gardens, which, however, are not much fun to linger in when the sun’s not out. Therefore, if you see two churches while on the French Riviera, make the second one Menton’s Basilica Saint-Michel Archange. Surrounded by the twisting, little medieval streets of the old town, the church is worth checking out for two noteworthy characteristics: A seventeenth-century painting called the “Vierge Noire”, or “Black Madonna” – in which the Mother and child are depicted with dark skin; and the conspicuous absence of a crucifix or any central depiction of Jesus at the helm of the church. That spot’s reserved for armor-clad St. Michael, the guardian saint of the town, who, little wonder, is also the patron saint of boatmen and mariners - the one you pray to ward off storms at sea. Give him your best, and you might just be able to take those windsurfing lessons after all. Info:Vallauris
Nice
Cannes
Eze
Menton
Other Helpful Websites:Comite’ Re’gional du Tourisme Rivera Cote d’Azur: www.crt-riviera.fr |
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Vallauris: Every town on the Riviera has its own specialty. Vallauris has been known for its pottery since Roman times, due to rich deposits of clay once found nearby. There’s much talk about Pablo Picasso’s creative sojourn here, between 1948 and 1955, during which he turned his fragmented eye on the potential of ceramics. Reproductions of his pottery can be found at the Galerie Madoura. One can also seek refuge at the abstract master’s colorful “War and Peace” chapel in the National Picasso Museum, which shares space with two other museums at the Chateau-Musee de Vallauris. For pottery that’s affordable and portable, duck into one of the numerous studio-shops on or around the Avenue Georges Clemenceau. Ceramiques Natoli features everything from large lamps and vases to kitschy little ashtrays and egg-holders, many of them decorated with the region’s favored color combo of yellow, green and blue. Spotted nearby were even some whimsical little ceramic phalluses (waving little arms and legs) perched above the potter’s wheel, but these, alas, were not for sale.
Nice: What’s the Red Square-ish Cathedrale Orthodoxe Russe St. Nicolas a Nice doing smack in the middle of the Riviera? Russians have had a strong presence in Nice since the mid-nineteenth century, when aristocrats made the area their winter playground; there was also once a Russian naval base at nearby Villefranche-sur-Mer. Seek a little shelter, and solemnity, within St. Nic’s icon-drenched walls, or, for the more religious among you, take in the intimate cathedral’s two-hour service every Sunday, which features – warning! – the tradition that all service-goers remain standing for the entirety of the mass. Nice also boasts a large number of museums. There’s the unexciting Musee Matisse (only for die-hards), near the romantic Jardins du Monastere (walk around if the sun comes out.), but you can also take your pick from among the Musee D’Art Moderne et D’Art Contemporain, Musee National Message Biblique – Marc Chagall and the Musee Departemental des Arts Asiatiques. Can’t decide? Buy a Carte Musees Cote d’Azur museum pass, which grants free admission to most museums and monuments on the Riviera, in your choice of 1, 3, or 7-day access. For an afternoon of indoor shopping, you can head for the Galeries Lafayette, the local outpost of the famed French department store.