Paris

Coming down from La Turbie, we follow the nationale 7 direction Roquebrune and descend to CAP MARTIN. Be careful, it’s a narrow and dangerous road and the driver gets very few opportunities to enjoy the view. It's a short drive but an arduous climbing to the medieval village of Roquebrune. But yet being overpriced, overcrowded and over restored, , Roquebrune remains a magical village. Perched village above the Grande Corniche and dominated by a stunning Carolingian fortress, the only still intact in France according to the villagers. It should date from the 10th century! It is nowadays a museum for old weapons and furniture.
Apricot houses , chiselled out of the rock, overhang tiny squares and blind alleys through a labyrinth of vaulted archways.

Roquebrune perched over the Corniche

The village itself is typical for a touristy perched village with its old streets, keeping ancient times in memory: they form a well-restored ensemble. Alas, the inevitable toy and cheap articles boutiques invaded every square inch! Bit you are not compelled to buy, you can just walk around! Particularly astonishing is rue Moncollet, carved in the rocks. Some medieval houses have barred windows and at the end of the impasse du Four, you can see an oven where the citizens of Roquebrune came to bake their bread. But to have a quiet view of all this, get there early in the morning, before the coaches start to unload their loads of tourists. Rue Grimaldi, the main street, is marred by cute gentrification and craft shops. But even here the traders and craftsmen say polite and friendly, which is not always the case in other parts of the cote. Before leaving stroll own the rue Grimaldi up to the place des Deux Freres, a release of the slightly claustrophobic feeling of Roquebrune.
Let's descend now To Cap Saint-Martin. The prettiest road leads along rue Souta Riba, a narrow vaulted path edging around the outside of the village.
At first sight we see only just see an average French village with “Bar-Tabacs” and super markets. Only at the end of the peninsula we find something that reminds us the atmosphere from the other caps. There the site is miraculously preserved and we can say that Cap Saint-Martin is better preserved as Jean Cap Ferrat. However, here, no villas are open for the public and it is unwise to label all its grand residents as slavish followers of fashion. Here, empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known under the name of Sissy, had her estate.. She took her quarters at the Grand Hotel de Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Designer Karl Lagerfeld lives on the Cap as fragrant Coco Chanel wafted into entertain German officers during the war. The empress Eugenie liked to play the "grande dame" here but presumably, the air must have done her good, she lived 94 years !! Greta Garbo didn't come for the company. And if you’re an amateur of Mediterranean vegetation, take the ancient customs officers path, stretching along the seaside to have the opportunity to discover a beautiful panel of really typical Mediterranean vegetation.
But I never got the feeling of “living in another world” in Cap Martin. Cap Martin is not at all rich and wealthy as Cap d’Antibes or Cap Ferrat.
The French architect Le Corbusier moved away from his earthy existence on August 12 in 1965 when he drowned at large of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Essays about recent French architecture consider this date as a historical moment. Young architects whose creativity was crushed since years under the dictatorship of the “living-machine”, as Le Corbusier called the condominium-blocks-on-stilts he built wherever he had the opportunity, like in Marseille, could breath again. In a study about contemporary French architecture it is even mentioned that Le Corbusier succeeded to “impose his will” to all his contemporaries” and that after his death a new and self-thinking, deciding young generation of architects could not develop. We have seen the dramatic- and very visible- results. Anyway, his tomb in the cemetery uphill, you access by stairs. Beautiful view on Cap St.Martin. In the H alley on the right is the tomb the architect designed himself and where he rests together with his wife.

Bibliography:

Mary Blume, "Cote d'Azur. Inventing the French Riviera" (Thames and Hudson, London 1982) Stephen Liegeard, "La Cote d'Azur (Ed.Serre, Nice 1988), Patrick Howarth, “When the Riviera was ours” (Century, London 1977), Michel de la Torre, Alpes-Maritimes 06 (ed.Nathan, later Deslogis-Lacoste),-Guides du Routard 1998, ed. Hchette, Architecture et dictature by J.Michaux and A. André, ed. presses universitaires.

From Nice to Saint-Tropez (suite)

Cap d'Antibes

Juan les
Pins-Golfe-Juan-Vallauris

Cannes

Iles de Lerins

La Napoule and Henry Clews

Esterel cornice to Frejus

Frejus

Sainte Maxime to Port Grimaud

Old Grimaud and Cogolin

Saint-Tropez

From Saint Tropez to Cassis

Ramatuelle-Gassin-Croix Valmer-Cavalaire sur mer

Le Lavandou-Bormes les Mimosas