In September, I took a fast train from Paris to spend three days in the beautiful and historic Villefranche-sur-Merβ almost next door to Nice but much smaller and more intimate. Destination: Villefranche-sur-Mer. Niceβ which with a population of over , residents is the fifth most populated city in Franceβ is very different than the comparative serenity of Villefranche, which still looks and feels much like the fishing village it once was.
There is still a festival in February when the fishermen decorate their fishing boats and throw flowers at each other and the spectators β accompanied by a parade, music and costumes. It replaced a smaller 14th century church. Most of the structures on rue du Poilu and the rest of the town were constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries. Particularly interesting is the rue Obscure β towards the west side of the town β a covered , dark and narrow street harkening back to medieval times.
It was dug in about as a place to protect the town people from bombardment from the sea. I had to climb a steep street to get there and negotiate somewhat steep downhills and stairs to get back down to the water. This time I found an also inexpensive hotel right across the street from the water of the old harbor of Le Darse β called Hotel de La Darse.
A room with a sea view would have been much more expensive, but unnecessary I felt. The old harbour of la Darse dates back to the 17th century. It was originally opened for the galleys of the Duke of Savoy, and is now a marina with dockyard activities for yachts. Not far from the hotel, there is a quiet and almost empty small stone beach. The edge of the harbor features lovely but generally more expensive restaurants than found up the hill in the town itself.
I recall during my first trip to this town being a bit annoyed when I unfortunately elected to sit for a drink on the shore and found a large group of people recently having disembarked from a Disney cruise. The local residents seem to feel the same way. This time, I stuck to the restaurants up the narrow streets to the old town. I also followed a rule I have used in the past and find very useful β asking for restaurant recommendations from locals.
