Palm trees on the

Palm trees on the promenade Place Rossetti dates to the 16th century influenced by Franco-Italian Renaissance style. Queen Victoria loved Nice, where she would often holiday in the winter months, meeting up with other European royals - her cousin King Leopold of Belgium, for instance, and Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany and her grandson. It became more of a holiday destination than a place to convalesce. The Queen liked to travel in disguise, calling herself Countess of Balmoral, but she fooled no one. For a start, she travelled with 100 staff and, upon arrival, booked 80 rooms at the Hotel Regina. It’s still there, and glorious, though now it’s a private apartment block. There’s also a sweet shop in Nice which looks just like it did when the Queen went there for her bonbons. A sweet shop fit for a queen A Taste of Provence. © Exquisite, all-inclusive, small group tours to Provence and beyond “If you have ever considered culinary tourism, Goût et Voyage will be the trip of your dreams. Excellence at every turn!” DS, NY www.goutetvoyage.com Nice has UNESCO-listed heritage status thanks to its historic winter tourism status. The early British visitors to Nice were not so fond of the old town - it didn’t suit their refined tastes, so they developed their own playground around the Cours Saleya square which hosts a marvellous market. They created the 4.3 mile long Promenade des Anglais around the Baie des Anges (the Bay of Angels, so called as a local legend claims that angels guided Adam and Eve to the bay after they were exiled from Eden) paid for with money raised by the Anglican church of Nice and completed in 1824. And they built palaces and mansions. 10 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 11