Since there is a short and inexpensive flight from Paris to Nice, we decided to take an advantage of this one weekend. A lot of tourists spend all their holidays in Nice but I do not see where the attraction lies. Nice seems to be just a big city with a lot of traffic and conveyer food in uniform restaurants for many middle-class tourists outside of France. In order to have a more authentic experience in the south of France, we went 15km from the airport of Nice to stay in a villa owned by a French family, with a view of Gattieres, a beautiful village, on a hill. It was like a dream come true waking up in a sunny room and having coffee with a croissant on a terrace while enjoying a marvelous view.
The villa was a convenient location to visit many places around. St. Paul de Vence with sweeping vistas of both the mountains and the sea was quite a sight to behold. The town is filled with various art galleries if one is looking to buy interesting art. Close by, Vence is another slightly larger town where one can find many nice restaurants hidden in courtyards.
I am glad I got to see Monaco but I would not go there again because it seemed kind of commercial and boring with not much to see. If you are a millionaire and can party on one of the huge boats in the harbor then you would probably have a much better time. Eze, a medieval fortress village between Nice and Monaco, had a much nicer atmosphere. Walking along narrow cobblestone road up the hill draws you into the past. Petite cafes with a striking view on the way invite you to have a drink. The most amazing view is from the exotic botanical garden on the top of the cliff. At an altitude of 400 m, the summit of the cliff overlooks the sea. And you never know what kind of event you might catch at the village. Standing on the top of the cliff allowed us to have a nice view of a wedding party leaving the church below. Also from the village it is possible to take a path of Friedrich-Nietzsche who lived there for some time.
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