The Riviera
The Riviera of France is very beautiful at this time of year. The flowers are just coming out and the sun is hot. The Mediterranean is very blue & the rocks, which jut out of it are red. The houses on the small hills are usually white or of a bright colour, surrounded by palm trees. In the gardens, which are formed in steps down the hill sides, there are orange & lemon trees, fig trees, almond & olive trees, cactus & many bright flowers. On the walls of the houses there is whisteria [sic].
Everything is very beautiful & colourful. The Riviera is picturesque & the colours are bright beyond imagination until one has seen them.
In the distance there are mountains & hills & on a clear day the snow caps of the Maritime Alps can be seen.
The soil is red & very fertile. Some of the most picturesque of the towns are built on the mountains & hills. On going to Nice by train from Geneva _ One passes through _ Lyon, Vienne (in France), Avignon, Arle, Marseille, Toulon, Fréjus, St Raphael, Cannes, Juan les Pins, Antibes and Cagnes. The journey takes 7 1/2 hours.
Nice.
One of the chief towns on the Riviera. It is quite big & full of Hotels. Lots of people of different nationalities go there & there are a lot of English people. The town spreads along the coast. There are quite a lot of public parks which are very pretty. The whole town is beautiful, with its flowers, cacti, palms and orange & lemon trees. There is a big casino.
Along the sea front there is a long promenade. In the summer there are carnivals & at Easter, Nice goes gay with her famous Flower Carnival. There are trips to different places in the Riviera each day, in Charabancs*.
*Charabancs are horse-drawn or early motor coaches, usually open-topped, common in the early part of the 20th century.
Peggy1936 