My Blog List

Sunday, August 9, 2015

PLENTY OF THIS AND NOT SO MUCH OF THAT

I don't usually collect tickets but somehow on our recent trip there were so many I ended up keeping them. It reminds me of my first time abroad when I kept every little piece of foreign information that came into my hands.


Mostly they were rail, tram, boats, museum and palaces but there were 4 gardens among the visits.


July 6th found us on our way to the Côte d'Azur. We had to drop the car off at Nice airport before continuing on to Italy. But first I had plans for a visit to Le Jardin d'Eze, a few miles east of Nice. The garden is perched at the top of the medieval village of Eze.


Build after WW11 on the site of an old castle it was quite a hike up to the entrance along cobbled streets, some of them with the most beautiful bouganvillea.


Like many such villages in France the shops are now there for the tourists, who are plentiful. We had arrived towards the end of the afternoon so most visitors were heading back to the many tour buses parked below. We preferred to take the side streets which seem to hold no interest for most.


You can't help but marvel at the structure of the cobbled walls built with a type of limestone called 'La Turbie' and brought from the quarry to the village by mules.


We paid our 6€ entry fee and began the climb up steep steps.


Almost immediately came the spectacular view, looking down over the coastal road with Cap Ferrat in the distance.


This is a garden of cactus and succulents spilling down the rocky slope towards the red roof tops of the village.





I have to admit that with the whole of Europe in a heatwave and the late afternoon sun beating down on us it was almost a relief to take the pathway around the back-side of the garden and find ourselves in a shaded grotto. What a contrast.



Looking down over the graveyard and the viaduct which now links the two sides of the valley it was time to head back into the heat and more cactus.





Coupled with the incredible view and the village itself this garden is well worth a visit especially if you can get there in the morning before the heat and the crowds.
We headed back down the hill to the car. We had to find our hotel for the night.

Stay tuned for the gardens of Isola Bella and the Zurich Succulent Garden. ( Sukkulenten-Sammlung Zurich)

14 comments:

  1. It's so much fun to accompany you on your trips through photos. Thanks for sharing your adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh!!! I want to be there, in person, someday. Until then thank you, this is almost as good (and a lot cheaper).

    ReplyDelete
  3. That does seem like a climb, but so worth it! The views are as amazing as the garden. I didn't know this place existed, so thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those shots of cacti and succulents lining the hillside remind me of so many places but are certainly not what I expected out of a garden in a medieval city in the Nice area for some reason. Gorgeous whether expected or not. Thanks for hauling us up that hill with you/D. (so apparently your surgery passed the trekking test with flying colors, hooray!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If only you knew how many steps I walked on this trip. Hotels there have never heard of elevators! The new hip is doing just fine, thank you.

      Delete
  5. Such a beautiful place. Great cactus beds. But, those little side streets....so nice.

    I love 'going places' with you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm always so amazed at the gardens you find when you're on your jaunts around the world. And here I thought I was doing good by finding the Key West Botanic Garden when we went to Key West (the other two gardens we visited that trip were based on recommendations from Philip).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are gardens everywhere Katina as you found out for yourself. I did know about this one before I went but many times I find a surprise garden by asking where we are staying.

      Delete
  7. We were in that area for a week in March and did gardens in Cap Ferrat, Monaco, and Menton but we never made it up to Eze. Looks lovely!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think March must have been the perfect time to go. It was far too hot in July. Alas we just had one day in the area. I wonder if you went to St Paul de Vence.

      Delete
  8. What a find! I like how there like California, non-native plants that are adapted are appreciated. The spiky forms really add to the drama the sea, tile roofs and hills already provide.

    I still have tickets, but not from travel - from all the rock concerts I attended growing up in Denver!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a view! I bet it made the climb so worth it. I love reading about your travels.~~Dee

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful photos! How much fun- looks like an amazing trip!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Stunning scenery, but what a lot of steps you must have climbed to enjoy it. By the way, I wonder what plants grew on those stony cliffs before all those New World plants were imported -- the agaves, yuccas, and cacti? Some type of local scrub, I imagine.

    ReplyDelete

I love your comments unless they are spam comments which will always be removed in comment moderation.