Tag Archives: Nice
In the footsteps of painters
I daresay Raoul Dufy would be surprised if, raised from the grave, he could see Nice’s Promenade des Anglais today. Known for several artworks that feature Nice and the French Riviera, he painted ‘La Baie des Anges à Nice‘ in 1927; a sweeping view of a quiet, timeless seafront.
But landscapes change. Today, the French Riviera has around 11 million visitors a year – more than any other part of France (except Paris). Together with the permanent population, that’s a lot of people to fit into a narrow strip of land, caught as it is between mountains and sea. Dufy’s distant, green hills are now a patchwork of red roofs. Elegant, parasol-shaded figures strolling across Dufy’s canvases have been replaced by herds of joggers sweating it out in head-to-toe Decathlon lycra.
“La Baie des Anges” in Nice, seen as it is today, from Dufy’s original viewpoint
Ironman France – Nice
The French Riviera is no stranger to international events (the Cannes Film Festival, Monaco Grand Prix and last year’s G20 summit, to name but a few) and last weekend, triathletes from all over the world came to the South of France as Nice hosted Ironman France 2012.
2 500 triathletes – heroes, or extra-terrestres [alien beings], depending on your point of view – swam nearly 4 km in the Med, cycled 180 km through Provence’s Alpes Martitmes, and then ran a marathon…all under a scorching summer sun.
Ironman France 2012, Nice – Images by Rebecca Marshall Read More…
Young Riviera Chefs Making Waves
South of France cuisine : time-honoured tradition
When it comes to food, the French Riviera is all about the traditional cuisine of Provence. Juicy olives, oodles of garlic, tomatoes and pungent Provençal herbs grace tried and tested recipes, handed down over generations to delight today’s sun-soaked restaurant-goers.
However, delicious though time-honoured Provençal dishes may be, cuisine in the South of France is not really very ‘now’. Despite many fine restaurants and enough Michelin stars to light it up on a (rare) cloudy day, the Cote d’Azur is seldom associated with cutting-edge fine dining.
Tearsheet from Voyager Magazine article (Issue 69)
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G20: Nice holds its breath
Nice held its breath yesterday as the G20 protests came to town. But in the end, tickling with feather dusters was the most serious aggravation endured by police and the only ‘violent’ event was an old mattress being set fire to under a bridge.
Lock-down on the French Riviera
The whole of the French Riviera is about the G20 this week. Activity is centred on Cannes, which is where the official summit is taking place. Cannes regularly hosts large international corporate trade shows such as MIPIM, MAPIC & MIPCOM, as well as the Cannes Film Festival, and so is no stranger to crowd control. However, the current scale of security operations across the Côte d’Azur is unprecedented. Fears of possible terrorism and anti-capitalist action in Nice and Monaco as well as Cannes have led French authorities to attempt to lock-down swathes of the French Riviera. Read More…