Past & Present:
Do-Gooders Did the French Riviera Proud
By Betty Lowry, member Society of American Travel Writers
© 1998 Betty Lowry
By Betty Lowry, member Society of American Travel Writers
© 1998 Betty Lowry
An English clergyman, Rev. Lewis Way, spent his own money to build Nice's famous seafront promenade in 1820. His purpose was two-fold: give work to the vast number of unemployed and promote good health by encouraging exercise while inhaling the sea air. Since those with the time and inclination to use the facility were primarily British, the Nicoise sarcastically called it "Promenade des Anglais" (The English Walk). Queen Victoria let her donkey do the walking, but she approved the idea.
In Cannes they built Boulevard/Promenade La Croisette in blatant imitation, and it was only a matter of time before pedestrian-only lanes would wind around Cap Ferrat and Cap d'Antibes or run between the road and the ocean in towns as diverse as Menton and St. Tropez. The zillionaire peninsula of Cap Martin has its Promenade Le Corbusier, and anyone can walk from there to Monte Carlo Beach in about an hour and a half.
The Riviera's "quality of light" famous for sending painters into rhapsodies is unchanged. The air is freshened not only by the ocean breeze but by olive and citrus trees on the hills, wild herbs scrunched underfoot and acres of carnations and lavender grown for the perfume and bouquet trade. The madness-provoking wind called "Le Mistral" also clears out fumes from the cars speeding along the corniche roads.
Beyond the high power of expensive automobiles (Rolls Royce and Bentley owners were having a rally in Monaco on my recent visit) and the bicycle races (Tour de France Bicycle Race is in July but the contenders practice all year) are the low-impact pleasures available to all. The climate is perfect for walking, sailing, biking, swimming and just getting about in old-fashioned ways. The enclaves of the 125-mile long Riviera are connected by train as well as road making commuting between them easy.
In Nice a spray truck washes the gravel beaches every morning. In the public gardens, the paths are scrubbed. The line between archaeology and historic preservation blurs in a region where occupation goes back 2500 years, but the profit of tourism is the bottom line to those who must approve the costs of keeping the coast pristine.
"The Blue Response" is Cannes' answer to the eco-questions of the turning century not the losers in the International Film Festival held every May. Under the logo of Mediterranee 2000, coastal communities with "exemplary environmental policies" are being recognized and awarded the "European Blue Flag" (Pavillon Bleu d'Europe). The same organization is bringing threats to the environment to public attention. For example water pollution and excessive seacraft mooring has caused havoc on the sea floor shrinking the posidonia beds. These are habitat, spawning ground, nursery and source of food and oxygen for numerous species of plants and animals. The captains of yachts and fishing boats alike are being cautioned to anchor only on sand as well as to stop indiscriminate dumping since plastic bags and heavy metal are death to dolphins.
In Vallauris, the old Roman village above Golfe-Juan reborn as a pottery center under the tutelage of Pablo Picasso, art students pay homage to the town dump. Here Picasso salvaged broken bicycle parts and junk to use in his sculptures, a lesson in recycling lost on no one.
Property values everywhere in the region are outrageous and so are the appreciated values of paintings once exchanged by the artists for hot meals. However, the museums have one admission-free day a week, and the Carte Musees Cote d'Azur has three and seven day versions providing unlimited admission to 58 museums and monuments in 29 cities and towns for approximately $15 and $30 available at any museum or tourist office. In Nice $8.00 will buy access to all the museums there any day of the week, and of course, the galleries of today’s artists welcome potential customers without charge.
Historic renovation has reached a peak in Saint-Tropez's Musee de l'Annonciade where Neo-Impressionist and Fauve paintings are hung in a chapel (circa 1510) on Quai de l'Epi. The 12th century Chateau Grimaldi in Antibes where Picasso once lived has become the Picasso Museum. In Villefranche, an ancient and derelict chapel where fishing gear had been stored was reclaimed and decorated by Jean Cocteau who also converted a 17th century bastion into his museum in Menton. An archaeologist's passion for Athens in the 5th century BC resulted in the reproduction of an Athenian mansion, the Villa Kerylos, in Beaulieu-sur-Mer. The Musee Matisse in the Cimiez section of Nice is a late 17th century Genoese Villa.
Public buses make frequent trips to the medieval villages that perch on the ridges of the Maritime Alps overlooking the Mediterranean and link them to each other as well. Flowers are riches here where fragrance is distilled into perfume. Tourrettes-sur-Loup has cornered the market in violets, and Grasse with its roses, lavender, orange blossoms, mimosa and jasmine has been a supplier of scent since Catherine de Medici set the fashion in perfumed gloves. The Medicis were not concerned with social responsibility, but their needs turned a nondescript hillside into a nonpolluting industry. Grasse now has thirty or more perfumeries including four or five that give free tours.
French Government Tourist Office
Telephone: 202-659-7779
E-mail: mailto:info@francetourism.com
Web Page: http://www.crt-riviera.fr
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