Author: Bob Cartwright
Oliver Roberts of the South African Times newspaper has been spending time in Nice and along the coast in Cannes. After describing a visit to the Cannes Film Festival and a drink on one of the luxurious yachts moored there, he seems more at home in Nice where he says:
"Returning to Nice Ville that evening, I realise how toned down this part of the Riviera is compared to Cannes, but it still reeks of proper money. Nice Ville’s inhabitants, however, are a little less brash; Ferraris and women in elaborate hats still pass along the Promenade des Anglais, but the avarice here is a bit more sedate, as if the rich are slightly embarrassed by their condition."
Oliver clearly enjoys the city's charms, writing: "Classical Belle Époque architecture, in the form of coffee shops, apartments and hotels, survives among the newer buildings like battered old teeth in an increasing mouthful of false ones. One of the more outstanding structures is the Hotel Negresco; built in 1912 by Henri Négresco, it is now a national monument.
"Nice is only second to Paris with its number of museums and galleries, which include the Musée Matisse, Théâtre de la Photographie et de l’Image, Nice Archaeology Museum with Roman Ruins and a Russian Cathedral, which was inspired by St Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square.
"By night, Vieux Nice, or Old Nice, becomes a dreamy labyrinth of cobbled streets and voices that drift and pop in corners like balloons. Roads lead endlessly into one another, each lined with restaurants, crêperies and street performers."
He then goes on to describe the art, some of it very bad, he says, on sale and the characters one might see strolling along the promenade, ranging from "limping tramps with guitar cases chained to their legs, lonely people in heavy jerseys walking their dogs, single women giving wide berth to any men they saw approaching, new lovers, and those whose lost love has made them old. Then there are those — and it’s always the same ones, every day — who come alone to sit on the bench and just stare at the water. For them, this is enough."
Don't be surprised if South Africans turn up in Nice in good numbers in the next year or so. They are great travellers and Nice might be just their sort of city.