Saturday, January 11

What to see and do in Nice, France

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This article was produced by  Traveller ().

Think of and hot, languid summers spent lounging on are likely to to — along with yachts, and elegant . But come to this eastern corner of Côte 'Azur outside the months, and gone is the , ushered out by the salty breeze, along with the cosmopolitan crowds that typically fill the streets of the old town.

Not long ago, the off was considered the best to go. Long before the ' as a summer destination, it thrived as a villégiature d'hiver ( resort), aristocratic and upper- families a chance to escape the bitter, gloomy winters of northern and bask in its mild, coastal Mediterranean . The elites of the 1800s turned Nice into what's now recognised by UNESCO as the ‘Winter Resort Town of the Riviera'.

In the first part of the 19th century, it was mostly the upper who would retreat here. A few decades later, they were joined by wealthy Russians, Germans and Austrians, among others, who brought with them their near-limitless and own about how they wanted their winter to look — creating the eclectic of baroque, époque and deco seen in the city of Nice .

Coco Beach is a small pebble cove with shallower waters and smaller crowds.

Photograph by Anthony Lanneretonne

Lu Fran Calin has been awarded Cuisine Nissarde — a label recognising that promote typical regional and .

Photograph by Anthony Lannertonne

These winter , or hivernants, helped Nice into what's now the fifth-largest city in , framed by the Provence Alps to the and the -fringed Bay of Angels to the . But despite its , there's little to suggest it's changed significantly since the of those early visitors — there's hardly a -and- in sight, and retains the same slow, rhythm.

Nice the same it always has. That includes the of , such as Matisse, Picasso and Chagall, who had a personal to the city, which are on in many of the city's . There are also relics of the past like the ôtel Régina, built for Queen Victoria, who regularly wintered here — and even reminisced about it on her deathbed. Then there is the opulent Opéra Nice, which operas, ballets and concerts throughout the for as little as €10 (£8.).

While, for most, spending the entire winter in Nice is not viable anymore, just a short off-season break is enough to and revitalise. It's best to take it slow: get in a painting at the Musée des Beaux- de Nice; wander the villa-lined streets of Cimiez imagining the lives of those who lived here in its heyday;

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