Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Stroll like the belle-époque English aristocrats for whom the promenade was paved.
Start at the pink-domed Hôtel Negresco, then cross to the sea and end your promenade
at Castle Hill. The following sights are listed in the order you'll pass them. This walk is
ideally done at sunset (as a pre-dinner stroll).
Nice's finest hotel is also a historic monument, offering up the city's most expensive
guests—atleastinhighseason.But,it'sworthatrytoenter—dresswell,appearconfident,
and march in. (Or, you can always get in by patronizing the hotel's Le Relais bar, which
opens at 15:00.)
Theexquisite
Salon Royal
loungeisanelegantplaceforadrinkandfrequentlyhosts
modern art exhibits (opens at 11:00). The chandelier hanging from the Eiffel-built dome
is made of 16,000 pieces of crystal. It was built in France for the Russian czar's Moscow
palace...but thanks to the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, he couldn't take delivery (por-
traits of Czar Alexander III and his wife, Maria Feodorovna—who returned to her native
Denmark after the revolution—are to the right, under the dome). Saunter around the peri-
meter counterclockwise.
If the
Le Relais bar
door is open (after about 15:00), wander up the marble steps for
alook.Farther along,nipintothetoilets foreither anearly 20th-century powderroomora
Battle of Waterloo experience. The chairs nearby were typical of the age (cones of silence
for an afternoon nap sitting up).
Grab a blue chair and face the sea. The body of Nice's patron saint, Réparate, was sup-
posedly escorted into this bay by angels in the fourth century. To your right is where
you might have been escorted into France—Nice's airport, built on a massive landfill. On
that tip of land way beyond the runway is Cap d'Antibes. Until 1860, Antibes and Nice
wereindifferentcountries—AntibeswasFrench,butNicewasaprotectorateoftheItalian
kingdom of Savoy-Piedmont, a.k.a. the Kingdom of Sardinia. (During that period, the Var
River—justwestofNice—wasthegeographicborderbetweenthesetwopeoples.)In1850
the people here spoke Italian and ate pasta. As Italy was uniting, the region was given a
choice: Join the new country of Italy or join good old France (which was enjoying good
times under the rule of Napoleon III). The vast majority voted in 1860 to go French...and
voilà!
The lower green hill to your left (Castle Hill) marks the end of this walk. Farther left
lies Villefranche-sur-Mer (marked by the tower at land's end, and home to lots of million-
aires), then Monaco (which you can't see, with more millionaires), then Italy (with lots of,
