The Good Life France Magazine




The Good Life France Magazine brings you the best of France - inspirational and exclusive features, fabulous photos, mouth-watering recipes, tips, guides, ideas and much more...


Published by the award winning team at The Good Life France

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Autumn 2022

Discover Aix, the ‘Little Paris’ of Provence, the historic region of Beaune, a land of wine and castles. Beautiful Bordeaux and Normandy. The stork villages of Alsace and the pickled-in-the-past, post-card pretty perched town of Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert. Breath-taking Lavender fields in Provence, castles in the air in Dordogne. Exquisite Villefranche-sur-Mer and Nice. Discover what’s new, the best tours, recipes, a language lesson, practical guides and much, much more…

Bay of angels Adam and

Bay of angels Adam and Eve products from home sprouted up in the neighborhood they called “Newborough”. These early Brits avoided the crowded, dirty streets of the Old Town but they liked to stroll the rue des Ponchettes which bordered the square Cours Saleya which was turned into a garden promenade. However, to access the walkways, they had to cross a bridge which spanned the Paillon river and then make their way through the Old Town. In 1822 the Reverend Lewis Way of Nice’s new Anglican Church raised money to construct a path along the sea, easily accessible from their neighborhood. The path, Chemin des Anglais, was completed in 1824 and it reached from the western banks of the Paillon river to rue Meyerbeer. Over the course of the 19 th century, it was extended west and eventually became the Promenade des Anglais. A stroll west along the Promenade reveals spectacular examples of Belle Epoque architecture. The Villa Masséna, now the Masséna Museum, is a fine example of a private villa on the Promenade, while the Hotel Negresco heads a procession of elegant 19th century hotels. century seaside park, while the ruins of the old Colline du Chateau became a hilltop park with sea views. The opening of the Nice train station in 1864 shortly after Nice became part of France in 1860, sparked the development of the Quartier des Musiciens. Boulevard Victor Hugo was the first street to be laid out and the rest followed in a grid pattern. Fabulous Belle Epoque residences such as the Palais Baréty were followed by a new style, Art Deco, in the interwar period. The verdant hill of Cimiez already had a few Belle Epoque hotels even before Queen Victoria chose the Excelsior Regina Hotel as her preferred holiday spot in 1895. Within a decade the entire neighborhood was transformed from farmland to a playground for European nobility. The stately apartment buildings now lining the Boulevard de Cimiez were designed as hotels and followed contemporary tastes. When Orientalism came into vogue at the turn of the 20th century, minarets were chosen to adorn the Hotel Alhambra. Another neighborhood favored by 19thcentury Brits was Mont Boron, the hill between Nice and Villefranche-sur-Mer. In 1891 they founded the l’Association Des Amis Des Arbres to protect trees and wooded areas against over-development. The Chateau de l’Anglais, built by Colonel Robert Smith was inspired by his tour of duty in India and brings a touch of exoticism to this forested hill. Just as the British aristocracy congregated in Cimiez and Mont Boron, the Russian aristocracy followed Tsar Alexander II to the Piol neighborhood after he wintered there in 1864. The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, consecrated in 1912, testifies to the long Russian presence in Nice. The only part of the more than 500-hectare UNESCO-protected area that had little to do with tourism development is Port Lympia. It was vital to Nice’s export trade however and most of it does date from the late 19th-century. Cours Saleya Nice’s World Heritage designated area covers almost all the city’s highlights except for one surprising omission. The winding streets of Vieux Nice north of Cours Saleya are not UNESCO listed. Most of the baroque churches and pastel buildings date from the 18th century and thus are before Nice’s development as a tourist destination. Nice’s 19th-century rulers, the Dukes of Savoy, quickly recognized the potential of the “distinguished foreign visitors” which included Russians, Germans, and Americans. From the mid-19th century onward, every urbanization decision taken was aimed at increasing the comfort and enjoyment of holidaymakers. Foreign tourists liked exotic vegetation? Let’s plant the Promenade des Anglais with palm trees! Foreign tourists liked gardens? The Jardin Albert 1er became a 19th- 78 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 79