Front matter

Every attempt has been made to replicate the original book as printed. Some typographical errors have been corrected. A list follows the etext. No attempt has been made to correct or normalize the French orthography of the printed book. The images have been moved from the middle of paragraphs to the closest paragraph break for ease of reading. (etext transcriber’s note)

RAMBLES ON THE RIVIERA

WORKS OF FRANCIS MILTOUN

The following, each 1 vol., library 12mo, cloth, gilt top, profusely illustrated. $2.50

Rambles on the Riviera

Rambles in Normandy

Rambles in Brittany

The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine

The Cathedrals of Northern France

The Cathedrals of Southern France

The Cathedrals of Italy (In preparation)

The following, 1 vol., square octavo, cloth, gilt top, profusely illustrated. $3.00

Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine and the Loire Country

L. C. P A G E & C O M P A N Y New England Building, Boston, Mass.

R a m b l e s o n t h e R I V I E R A

Being some account of journeys made en automobile and things seen in the fair land of Provence

B Y F R A N C I S M I L T O U N Author of “Rambles in Normandy,” “Rambles in Brittany,” “Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine,” etc. With Many Illustrations Reproduced from paintings made on the spot B Y B L A N C H E M C M A N U S

BOSTON L. C. P A G E & C O M P A N Y 1906

Copyright, 1906 By L. C. PAGE & COMPANY (INCORPORATED) —— All rights reserved First Impression, July, 1906 COLONIAL PRESS Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. Boston, U. S. A.

APOLOGIA

THIS book makes no pretence at being a work of historical or archæological importance; nor yet is it a conventional book of travel or a glorified guide-book. It is merely a record of things seen and heard, with some personal observations on the picturesque, romantic, and topographical aspects of one of the most varied and beautiful touring-grounds in all the world, and is the result of many pleasant wanderings of the author and artist, chiefly by highway and byway, in and out of the beaten track, in preference to travel by rail.

The French Riviera proper is that region bordering upon the Mediterranean west of the Italian frontier and east of Toulon. Nowadays, however, many a traveller adds to the delights of a Mediterranean winter by breaking his journey at one or all of those cities of celebrated art, Nîmes, Arles, and Avignon; or, if he does not, he most assuredly should do so, and know something of the glories of the past civilization of the region which has a far more æsthetic reason for being than the florid Casino of Monte Carlo or the latest palatial hotel along the coast.

For this reason, and because the main gateway from the north leads directly past their doors, that wonderful group of Provençal cities and towns, beginning with Arles and ending with Aix-en-Provence, have been included in this book, although they are in no sense “resorts,” and are not even popular “tourist points,” except with the French themselves.

Particularly are the byways of Old Provence unknown to the average English and American traveller; the wonderful Pays d’Arles, with St. Rémy and Les Baux; the Crau; that fascinating region around the Étang de Berre; the coast between Marseilles and Toulon (and even Marseilles itself); the Estaque; Les Maures; and the Estérel; and yet none of them are far from the beaten track of Riviera travel.

Of the region of forests and mountains that forms the background of the Riviera resorts themselves almost the same thing can be said. The railway and the automobile have made it all very accessible, but ninety per cent., doubtless, of the travellers who annually hie themselves in increasing numbers to Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo, and Menton know nothing of that wonderful mountain country lying but a few miles back from the sea.

The town-tired traveller, for pleasure or edification, could not do better than devote a part of the time that he usually gives to the resorts of convention to the exploring of any one of a half-dozen of these delightful petits pays: Avignon and Vaucluse, with memories of Petrarch and his Laura; the pebbly Crau, south of Arles; and the fringe of delightful little towns surrounding the Étang de Berre.

Any or all of these will furnish the genuine traveller with emotions and sensations far more pleasurable than those to be had at the most blasé resort that ever opened a golf-links or set up a roulette-wheel, which, to many, are the chief attractions (and memories) of that strip of Mediterranean coast-line known as the Riviera.

The scheme of this book had long been thought out, and much material collected at odd visits, but at last it could be delayed no longer, and the whole was threaded together by hundreds of miles of travel, en automobile, through the highways and byways of the region.

The pictures were made “on the spot,” and, as living, tangible records of things seen, have, perhaps, a quality of appealing interest that is not possessed by the average illustration.

The result is here presented for the value it may have for the traveller or the stay-at-home, it being always understood that no great thing was attempted and little or nothing presented that another might not see or learn for himself.

The reason for being, then, of this book is that it does give a little different view-point of the attractions of Maritime Provence and the Mediterranean Riviera from that to be hitherto gleaned in any single volume on the subject, and as such it is to be hoped that it serves its purpose sufficiently well to merit consideration.

F. M.

Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, January, 1906.

PAGE

Apologia v

PART I.

CHAPTER

I. A Plea for Provence 3

II. The Pays d’Arles24

III. St. Rémy de Provence42

IV. The Crau and the Camargue56

V. Martigues: the Provençal Venice70

VI. The Étang de Berre87

VII. A Seascape: From the Rhône To Marseilles107

VIII. Marseilles—Cosmopolis122

IX. A Ramble with Dumas and Monte Cristo144

X. Aix-en-Provence and About There156

PART II.

I. Marseilles to Toulon177

II. Over Cap Sicié202

III. The Real Riviera226

IV. Hyères and Its Neighbourhood239

V. St. Tropez and Its “Golfe”254

VI. Fréjus and the Corniche d’Or271

VII. La Napoule and Cannes292

VIII. Antibes and the Golfe Jouan305

IX. Grasse and Its Environs319

X. Nice and Cimiez330

XI. Villefranche and the Fortifications348

XII. Eze and la Turbie359

XIII. Old Monaco and New Monte Carlo370

XIV. Menton and the Frontier398

Appendices409

Index: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, V 431

PAGE

On the RivieraFrontispiece

“It was September, and it was Provence”facing 8

A Young Arlesiennefacing 36

Abbey of Montmajour and Vineyard39

Baker’s Tally-sticks48

St. Rémy facing 48

A Panetière52

The Bulls of the Camargue59

Les Saintes Mariesfacing 60

Église de la Madeleine, Martiguesfacing 70

House of M. Ziem, Martiguesfacing 74

Martigues77

Loup86

Istresfacing 92

The Kilometre West of Salon102

Bouches-du-rhône to Marseilles (Map)108

Fos-sur-Mer111

Chateauneuffacing 112

Roadside Chapel, St. Pierre114

Flower Market, Cours St. Louis129

A Cabanonfacing 134

Marseilles in 1640 (Map)141

Notre Dame de la Garde and the Harbour Of Marseillesfacing 148

Environs of Marseilles (Map)150

Château d’Iffacing 150

Les Pennesfacing 160

Roquevaire166

Convent Garden, St. Zachariefacing 170

Marseilles To Toulon (Map)176

Cassisfacing 180

La Ciotat and the Bec de l’Aigle185

St. Nazaire-du-Varfacing 198

Fishing-boats at Tamarisfacing 208

In Toulon’s Old Portfacing 212

Toulon To Fréjus (Map)220

In Les Mauresfacing 222

Comparative Theometric Scale230

The Terrace, Monte Carlofacing 234

The Peninsula of Giensfacing 242

Ruined Chapel near St. Tropezfacing 258

Fréjus to Nice (Map)277

St. Raphaëlfacing 278

Maison Close, St. Raphaël280

On the Corniche d’Orfacing 284

Offshore from Agayfacing 286

On the Golfe de la Napoulefacing 292

Cannes and Its Environs (Map)301

Jouan-les-Pins306

Antibes and Its Environs (Map)313

St. Honorat317

Flower Market, Grassefacing 322

Gourdon328

Nice to Vintimille (Map)331

A Niçois334

Nicefacing 338

Olive Pickers in the Varfacing 344

Environs of Nice (Map)345

Cap Ferratfacing 348

Villa of Leopold, King of Belgium356

Eze360

Augustan Trophy, La Turbie364

A Roquebrune Doorwayfacing 368

Monte Carlo and Monaco (Map)371

The Game383

Overlooking Monaco and Monte Carlofacing 390

The Ravine of Saint Dévote, Monte Carlo,facing 396

Pont Saint Louis406

The Provinces of France (Map)409

The Ancient Provinces of France (Map)411

Ensemble Carte de Touring Club de France (Map)420

The “Taride” Maps421

Three Riviera Itineraries (Maps)423

Comparative Metric Scale (Diagram)427

The Log of an Automobile429