Beautiful Eze

The French Riviera is dotted with small, charming towns tailor-made for day-trips from a home base in Nice or one of the larger cities.  Most of these towns are right along the coast, situated to take immediate advantage of the sparkling water and beach space, but the town of Eze is a truly fabulous exception.  There is the tiny Eze-sur-Mer along the beach, but this really is just a few streets and the train station.  The real site to behold is Eze Village, which is carved a looong climb (or a short bus ride) up in the hillside.  The village is completely inaccessible by car, and very recognizable by the lovely red-brick pathways with tiny shops and cafes literally carved into the side of the hills on either side.  Even though I was there on a cloudy day, I think it's safe to say it's one of the most picturesque places I have ever seen.

Looking down from the very early part of the Nietzsche Path, which winds up (and up, and up..) from Eze-sur-Mer to Eze Village.

My poor navigation skills meant that I missed the entrance to the path not once, but twice, and consequently was exhausted before even starting.  Fortunately iPhone GPS got me back on track, and the views were well worth it just a little ways into the hike.

Glancing back down a village street.

Rooftops in the village all have this deep reddish-orange tile.  This is an iconic Eze view, taken from the window of Le Nid d'Aigle -- a great restaurant where I was only too happy to devour a huge bowl of pasta after hauling my sorry self up from the shore.

You certainly can see how cloudy it was, but in some ways that just makes it that much more beautiful. This view is from Le Jardin Exotique, perched all the way at the top of town.  In the very bottom right corner, you can see the winding Moyen Corniche, a road connecting all the French Riviera towns which apparently was quite an engineering when first completed.  Legend has it the car accident that killed Princess Grace Kelly occurred along this road.  The garden here is decorated with a series of hauntingly beautiful statues -- I took so many photos of them that they merit a separate post all to themselves!