At No. 6 Place Garibaldi is the Museum of Natural History. The first hall contains a collection of the fungi growing in the department; and separate, under a glass case, specimens of those allowed to be sold in the market for food.
The best of the drives from Nice is to Menton, 20 m. east, either by the high Corniche road along the flanks of the mountains, passing above Monaco, or by the beautiful new road which seldom rises much above the coast, and passes through La Condamine to Monte Carlo. An omnibus runs daily between the Boul. du Pont Neuf and Monte Carlo by this road (see [p. 187]).
Cab with 1 horse and 2 seats to Villefranche and back, 5 frs.; ½ hour’s rest allowed. With 2 horses and 4 seats, 7 frs. Above the Pont Neuf, near the Place St. François, omnibuses (without fixed time) start for Villefranche, ½ fr.; St. Jean, 15 sous; and Beaulieu, 15 sous. On feast-days a steamer generally sails to Monaco. In the village of St. Jean there is a very comfortable country inn, H. Victoria, where bouillabaisse can always be had. Pension, 8½ frs. And at Beaulieu, close to the station, is the *H. et P. des Anglais, pension 9½ to 12 frs. Those who go from Nice to St. Jean with luggage should leave in the omnibus, but for Beaulieu the rail should be taken. A carriage with 2 horses to St. Jean and Beaulieu and back, 25 frs. The tour round Mt Boron, ascending by the new and descending by the old road, costs, in a coach with 2 horses, 15 frs. Time, 1½ hour.
Val-Obscur.
[Nice to the Val-Obscur], 4 m. N.—Take tram from the Place Massena to St. Maurice, 2 m. N. It stops in front of the gate of the Villa Chambrun, by the side of the Octroi. For the Vallon des Fleurs ascend by the road to the right. For the Val-Obscur ascend by the road to the left, passing the Chapelle du Ray. Carriages can drive the length of the water-conduit. From this part the bed of the stream may be followed, but as it is very stony it is better to keep on the path by the side of the conduit as long as possible. The Val-Obscur is a deep ravine, 440 yards long, between cliffs of an earthy
conglomerate from 200 to 300 ft. high, and 7 ft. apart at their narrowest point. By continuing this path for a little distance past a house on the side of the hill, then crossing over by a path to the right, we reach the chapel of St. Sebastien, whence a road ascends to Mt. Chauve, passing by Le Ray, with an inn, 1446 ft. above the sea, or only 1324 ft. below the summit of Mt. Chauve.
The [Vallon des Fleurs] ou des Hepatiques is renowned for its olive trees and its wild flowers in early spring. The commencement of the valley is about 10 minutes’ walk from the St. Maurice terminus of the tram. A path leads to the top of the valley. From the summit it leads round by the head of other two vallons to the Cimiès road, which it joins nearly opposite to the observatory, only a little higher up the valley of the Paillon. The whole forms a very agreeable walk. (For [Cimiès], see p. 177.)
[ Nice: Villa Clery. St. Pons. Grotte St. Andre.]
A much-frequented drive or walk is to the Grotte St. André, about 3¾ m. N. from Nice by the west bank of the Paillon and the Vallon St. André. A cab with 1 horse and 2 seats there and back, 5 frs.; with 2 horses and 4 seats, 7 frs.; ½ hour’s stay allowed. Carriage, 15 frs. But if the return to Nice be made by Falicon, 25 frs. When about 1½ m. up the Paillon there is a large gate which gives access to the orchard of the Villa Clery, containing some orange trees above 100 years old, yet in the whole plantation there is not one well-developed specimen. The oranges are sold at from 4½ to 6 frs. the 100, and packed and despatched to order. Almost opposite, on the east side of the Paillon, are the more beautiful gardens and perfume distillery of Rimmel. On the top of the hill (430 ft.), above the Clery orchard, is seen the monastery of Cimiès, built in 1543 after the original house, which stood near the Croix de Marbre, had been destroyed by the Turks. The next large edifice passed on the west bank is the monastery of [St. Pons], built in 775 by St. Syagrius, a contemporary of Charlemagne, on the spot where the Roman senator St. Pontius suffered martyrdom. The emperor is said to have spent some days here in 777 while on his way to Rome. In 890 it was destroyed by the Saracens, and in 999 rebuilt by Fredericus, Bishop of Nice. In 1388 the treaty was signed here by which Nice was annexed to the house of Savoy. A short distance beyond, at the part where the stream St. André unites with the Paillon, 3 m. from the Place Massena, is the asylum for the insane. First-class boarders pay 4 frs. per day, second 3 frs. A little higher up the stream are the village, pop. 660, and (on a hill) the château of St. André. The château is a plain house with a small chapel at the west end,