The Other Side of Nice!

Hey guys!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and week! Mine was interesting to say the least but I’m not even going to get into it!

I’m finally getting to post this blog, nearly two weeks later! I had the best of intentions when I returned home from France and I had planned to get this up straight away but as usual, life and college got in the way and my priorities were not so much focused on the blog unfortunately. But I think I’m starting to get on top of things now and hopefully I’ll be able to post more regularly!

Just to explain the title of this blog- obviously I’ve been in the south of France a lot this summer but it was always ‘on the other side!’ ( the Cannes side- apart from one or two days trips to Monte Carlo). So this time I was staying on the other side of Nice! ( a Nice change!)

In case you’re wondering, I stayed with my aunt in Villefranche-sur-mer. Villefranche is a small town outside of Nice and it was so calm and peaceful while only being a 10 minute train away from Monaco. I had never stayed or explored Villefranche before so it was great to be in a new location for the few days!

For anyone who didn’t see my holiday wishlist blog, I went to France two weeks ago- on a flying visit, for an event in Monte Carlo on Thursday the 7th of September. I was invited to the ‘What Women Want’ Fashion show at Nikki Beach at the Fairmont Hotel, Monte Carlo so I wasn’t going to pass up an invitation like that! But to be honest, as well as going for the show, I was delighted to be getting a last minute holiday before college.

I only had one full free day while I was there so I wanted to visit Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild on Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. It’s been on my list of places to visit and I hoped to get there when I was in France in June but it just never happened. Anyway, I knew I would get back to visit someday and it ended up being a lot sooner than I had expected!
For anyone thinking of visiting you can get the 81 Lignes D’Azur bus which starts on the Promenade des Arts in Nice and goes along the coast, stopping in Villefranche and Beaulieu-sur-mer etc, but it actually stops right outside the gardens so get off at Passable Rothschild. From there it’s a 5 minute walk to the villa where it’s €14 to get in. It may seem may seem expensive but it’s definitely worth it. The seaside villa was constructed by Baroness Beatrice de Rothschild in 1912 and is filled with antique furniture, old master paintings and art. But as interesting as the villa is, the gardens are just amazing! I’m not a huge garden fan nor do I have a green thumb but I absolutely love flowers, and it was so nice to just walk around for the morning through all the different gardens and enjoy the views! One thing I would say is wear jungle formula or some sort of bug repellent so you don’t end up like me with numerous bites! I had 11 bites on day one!There’s also a musical fountain which plays every 20 minutes so you’ll definitely catch it going at some stage if you’re there!The Spanish Garden was my personal favourite because I loved the terracotta tiles outside and the water features but there was 9 gardens altogether each with its own theme. The Japanese Garden-I also went to the Tearooms after my wander around the gardens for a lovely dessert and some sort of drink that literally tasted like jelly! I’m all about trying new things 🙂So as I said, I was invited to the What women want fashion show at Nikki Beach at the Fairmont Hotel Monte Carlo. I left Villefranche around 11am Thursday morning with all these plans of exploring some new places in Monaco, but after going back to Monaco Ville for an hour I had exhausted my energy and I ended up relaxing in the Hotel de Paris! So I spent about two hours there catching up on emails and reading the Nice Matin and then obviously I used their fabulous bathrooms to get ready for the Nikki Beach Fashion show!

Nikki beach is on the roof of the Fairmont Hotel which is set behind the famous hair pin bend recognised from the Monaco Grand Prix. The location really is fantastic because you get views of the whole Mediterranean Sea! I also want to say a huge thanks to Megane at Nikki Beach for everything and the star treatment! I was absolutely pampered for the day with champagne, the most amazing fruit tray and other goodies. It was definitely meant to be for two people, but do you think I was going to leave the two mini-magnums to melt? Definitely not!

Skirt- River Island

Top- scarf from Butterslip, Kilkenny

Heels- River island

Necklace- Butterslip, Kilkenny

The show was run by the organisers of Monte Carlo Fashion Week and showcased clothing from local designers and stores. I had never been at a Fashion show poolside so it was a first!

I really had an amazing time in France even though it was a quick visit and I got to see my auntie which was also lovely!

I was brought back to reality fairly quickly though sitting in Semple Stadium at a hurling match the day after I came home! I literally went from Monte Carlo to a Match! (should have definitely stayed in France 🙂

So that was my quick holiday to France- in a nut shell. I managed to visit a few other places too so some of the photos are below if you want to keep scrolling!

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Eva xx