On the Riviera generally, but especially in Hyères, St. Raphael, Grasse, and Menton, board and lodging in good hotels can be had for 8s. or 9s. per day, which includes coffee or tea in the morning, and a substantial meat breakfast and dinner, with country wine (vin
ordinaire) to both. In some boarding-houses (Pensions) the price per day is as low as 6s. If two are together, especially two ladies or a gentleman and his wife, an excellent plan is to take a furnished room, which, with a south exposure and good furniture, ought to cost about £2 per month. They can easily prepare their own breakfast, and they can get their dinner sent to them. If the party be numerous, apartments should be taken, which vary from £2 to £30 per month. For the season, from October to May, furnished apartments are let at prices varying from £18 to £100. As a general rule it is best to alight at some hotel, and, while on the spot, to select either the pension or apartments, as no description can give an adequate idea of the state of the drains nor of the people of the house. A maid-servant costs nearly £1 per month, a cook about one-half more, but they are not easily managed. Fluids are sold by the litre, equal to nearly a quart of four (not six) to the gallon. Solids are sold by the kilogramme, or, as it is generally called, the kilo, equal to 2 lbs. 3¼ oz.
Bread is about the same price as in England. The best beef and mutton cost from 1s. 10d. to 2s. the kilo. A good chicken 2s. 6d. Eggs when at their dearest cost 1½d. each. Excellent milk costs 4d. the litre. The best butter 3s. 2d. to 3s. 6d. the kilo. Of French cheese there are a great many kinds, all very good. Among the best are the Roquefort and the fromage bleu, both resembling Stilton, and cost from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. the kilo. [ The Riviera: Fish.
Vegetables.] Fish are dearer than in England. The best caught off the coast are: the Rouget or Red Mullet, the Dorade or Bream, the Loup or Bass, the Sardine, and the Anchovy. The Gray Mullet, the Gurnard (Grondin), the John Dory (Dorée Commune), the Whiting (Merlan), and the Conger are very fair. The sole, turbot, tunny, and mackerel are inferior to those caught in the ocean. The cuttle-fish is also eaten. [Good vegetables] can be had all through the winter, such as carrots, leeks, celery, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, lettuce, spinage, sorrel, and artichokes. The cardon (Cynara cardunculus) and salsifis (Tragopogon porrifolius) are often served up at dinner in the hotels. The cardon tastes like celery, but the salsifis has a bitter flavour. The potatoes are of good quality, but often spoilt in the cooking. In all the stations are English clergymen, physicians, apothecaries, bankers, bakers, and grocers.
Before commencing to treat in detail the different stations of the Riviera, “some of the general advantages of the invalid’s life in this region must be noticed. The chief of these is the amount of sunshine which he enjoys for weeks and even months together, when the sun
often rises in a cloudless sky, shines for several hours with a brightness and warmth surpassing that of the British summer, and then sinks without a cloud behind the secondary ranges of the Maritime Alps, displaying in his setting the beautiful and varied succession of tints which characterise that glorious phenomenon of the refraction of light, a southern sunset; when he imparts to the rugged mountains a softness of outline and a brilliancy of colouring which defy description. In the early stages of phthisis, and especially when the patient is young and active-minded, struck down by overwork or sudden exposure, this cheering influence is most beneficial. It is of great importance that, while taking the needful care of himself, he should not degenerate at an early age into a hopeless valetudinarian, especially as an every-day increasing mass of evidence warrants us in believing that under the influence of medicine and climate a large number of these patients gradually recover their health and lead useful lives, and, with due care, lives of no inconsiderable duration. Patients should never neglect to consult a doctor on their first arrival, as his experience and advice with regard to lodgings, food, etc., are of great value, and may often prevent them from falling into bad hands, or settling in unhealthy localities.” To these remarks of Dr. Williams may be added, that patients should bring with them a letter from their physician describing their case and the treatment he thinks should be adopted.
The best time for walking and driving is between 9 and 12, as then there is rarely either wind or dust. For invalids requiring quiet sunny walks there are no stations on the whole coast so suitable as Hyères and Bordighera.
The Riviera: Sea-bathing. Doctors’ Fees.
[Sea-bathing] on the Riviera may be continued with advantage by many during the greater part of the winter season. As the rise and fall of the tide are so trifling, the beach is always in a fit state for the bather. The water of the Mediterranean is more highly mineralised than that of the ocean. It contains about 41 per cent of common salt.
[Doctors’ Fees.]—French doctors charge their countrymen generally 10 frs. for each visit. English doctors charge for each visit 5, 10, or 20 frs., according to what they suppose to be the means of their patients. An extra charge is made for night work.