Take local buses to some...
by noahsdad
Take local buses to some out-of-the-way sights. In Vence, the Matisse Chapel bursts with color and life but is also serene and contemplative. Grasse has frivolity to spare: the rococo Fragonard museum and a perfume factory (the aromas waft through town in a heady, floral blend!).
Advanced Nice: the quartiers
by NiceLife
Not for beginners, the principal residential areas of the city of Nice. Essential knowledge for Estate Agents and property seekers, affordable longer term rentals.
Most desirable:
Heart of Nice - Centre and Liberation - Musiciens, Vieux Nice
Est - Mont Boron and the Port
Cimiez
Ouest - Magnan and Fabron.
Up and coming but mixed: Riquier and St Roch
Cheap but too far out: Californie
Avoid at all costs: Ariane
Being in France is very...
by ErikaL
Being in France is very different from being in the US. Make sure you are aware that you ARE in another country not your own and be respectable of that. One thing I learned is that a smile is an invitation to be hit on because they assume you are single.
Les Alpes Maritimes - the "Marine Alps"
by WanderingFinn
A great idea for a one day trip -or why not more- is to drive up to the maritime Alps of the French Riviera. It's a nice way to cool down a bit and keep a break from e.g. beachlife or city life. Still you don't have to choose one from the other - you can keep your beaches and nightlife but still get the mountains and tiny villages.
From these little Alps (usually max 1500 m in height) you find a totally different environment, nature, cool fresh air and fantastic scenic roads, small villages and great people. Two good examples, well and easily to be done during one day during daylight are villages called Luceram and Peillon. (Please see my special pages about these villages).
If you want to go further away and higher up, a place called Sospel is highly recommended by many. Just take your map and choose your destination!
It is good to bear in mind when calculating driving times the advancing in narrow mountain roads is many times slower than usual; sometimes you even have to stop to let another car pass by, or the curve might be so tiny that you have to back your car a few times to get on. So don't let the sun go down when in the middle of the mountains unless you are used to it.
More villa voyeurism, on Cap D'Ail
by NiceLife
The rail stop before Monaco (or the TAM 100 bus) is Cap D'Ail , the garlic cape. No garlic here, but lush vegetation andpriviledged villas to be seen off the two kilometre Sentier Littoral that winds along to coast to Monaco Fontveille.
Offering glimpses of homes favoured by Greta Garbo and Sir Winston Churchill, the walk is dotted with helpful botanical information plaques about the vegetation found here
The Cape also offers an attractive shingle beach, Plage Mala,one of the better of this stretch of the Riviera
It is quite feasible to walk through Fontveille to Montecarlo, and take the railway train back to Nice.