The Riviera
THE extraordinarily warm sun and the amount of clear weather on the Riviera give it a winter as mild as that of Sicily, Palma, or the South of Spain, and the fact that French prices have not yet caught up the exchange make it this year particularly attractive. Of course, the Riviera covers a long line, and, though it is every year more closely filled, there is still a run of over sixty miles from St. Raphael to the Italian frontier at Garavan.
To choose a spot in it there are three questions to consider : one's tastes, other people's, and the wind. And of these the wind is not the least important, for that strong, insistent blow from the West, cold in cold days, temperate in temperate ones, drives many a man and woman furious on the Riviera. There is not much peace from it at St. Raphael, and that is the reason why those who want a comparatively quiet place which is, as the guide books say, "much frequented by the English " would be wise to go two miles inland to Valescure, where one lives among the pines, and has a golf course. It is not particularly cheap ; but in the smaller hotels one can live in luxury for three pounds a week.
Between St. Raphael and Cannes there is the Esterel, a low range of red rock, thick with pines, the rock jutting right down into the sea. Agay is a sheltered spot in it, with its smaller hotel particularly good, for those who want warm shelter by the sea, if they want not much else. From there to Thermic, enterprising business men are trying to establish new resorts, especially at Le Trayas and at what is called Theoule Superieur. But neither of these yet offer much attraction. Nor does Theoule itself, except that, with La Napoule, it-is close to the famous golf course at Cannes.
Cannes has long been an English centre, and is full of large hotels and. luxurious villas.. But it has.also its cheap hotels, and an excellent meal for a few francs may always be obtained at the Hotel Francais. Golfe Juan and Juan-les-Pins are small but rising places with excellent beaches, so that they have a summer as well as a winter season, and bathing begins with April. Juan-les-Pins has an especially attractive casino with an excellent band, nor is it out of reach of the Nice golf course at Cagnes-sur-Mer. Two restaurants in the main street offer pleasant meals at a cost of not much above a shilling and rooms either in pensions or in one of the fur- .
nished villas can be obtained at very low prices. Here, it elsewhere, a letter addressed to the Syndicat,d'Initiative will bring back a full list of all possible lodgings. For Nice itself much is to be said ; it is the Paris of the Riviera with all that that implies ; its flower market is one of the sights of the world and crowded with bargains. A mile out of Nice between Montboron and Beaulieu, and looking down on the lovely harbour of Villefranche, a new settlement is coming into existence. At the two restaurants, Chariot and the parisiana, Monte Carlo offers wonderful meals to those who wish to save every penny for other tables. At Cap Martin there are cheaper pensions than can he got at either Mentone or Monte Carlo. But to get them one must arrive early.
Far at the other end, Hyeres has two golf courses, and at the Family-House " an excellent meal can always be got at the lowest rates, as at the Restaurant du Theatre in Toulon. Hvkes offers two golf courses, and four different directions in the train, and is most loved by those who want to avoid the madding crowd. At the biggest hotels one is sheltered from the wind. But with its brilliant sun, it is on the whole the most enticing spot for those who want good weather. West of Toulon that cannot be guaranteed.
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