MARSEILLES
MENTON 152½ 2½ [ROQUEBRUNE] station, where the Corniche road from La Turbie joins the low road from Menton.
Roquebrune, pop. 1080, is 150 ft. above the station and the sea, among great masses of brown conglomerate rocks. From the main road a series of paved steps leads up to the village through a plantation of lemon trees. The streets are steep and narrow, but the houses are better and more comfortable than those of the villages similarly situated in the neighbourhood of Menton, Bordighera, and San Remo. Near the terrace is a small restaurant. On the summit of the hill are the ruins of the great castle built by the Lascaris of Ventimiglia, who, in 1363, ceded it to Charles Grimaldi. On a lintel on the eastern square tower is the almost defaced sculpture representing a bishop’s mitre, with the armorial bearings of the Grimaldis, and the date August 17, 1528. This bishop is supposed to have been Augustine
Grimaldi, councillor to Francis I. of France, who repaired this castle in 1528. A broken staircase leads up to the top. “No warrior’s tread is echoed by their halls, no warder’s challenge on the silence falls. Around, the thrifty peasants ply their toil, and pluck in orange groves the scented spoil from trees that have for purple mountains made a vestment bright, of green and gold inlaid.” —Guido and Lita, by the Marquis of Lorne.
Menton. Hotels.
699 m. S.E. from Paris, 155 m. N.E. from Marseilles, 34½ m. N.E. from Cannes, and 15½ m. N.E. from Nice, is
[ MENTON,]
population 11,100, 16 miles S.W. from San Remo. [Hotels and Pensions.]—Commencing with those at the west end of the Promenade du Midi, near the Gorbio, and going eastward through the town to the Garavan. Those hotels with ² prefixed have a front to the sea and esplanade, and another to the Avenue Victor Emmanuel II. The asterisk signifies recommended. W signifies bottle of wine, and the price given that of the cheapest quality. P signifies pension or boarding-house. At the west end of the esplanade the ²H. du Pavilion; the H. St. George, 9-12 frs., W 1½ fr., by the side of the Borrigo; ²*P. Condamine; *H. et P. Londres. These 4 houses charge from 9 to 12 frs., W from 1½ to 2 frs. Near the Carrei and the Episcopal Church of St. John are the *H. Splendide, 9-12 frs., W 1½ fr.; the Parc, 8-10 frs., W 1½ fr.; and the ²*Russie, 9-12 frs., W 1½ fr. Now cross the Carrei, on which is a very sheltered promenade up the eastern bank. By the side of the Place (where the band plays), built over the mouth of the torrent, is the ²*H. de Paris, 10-14 frs., W 1½ fr. Same side, ²H. et P. d’Angleterre, 9-12 frs. Opposite, the H. Camous, 9-12 frs.; and the Banque Bottini. Situated in the busiest part of Menton are the *P. and H. Méditerranée, 9-12 frs., W 1½ fr. Next it the house agencies of Amaranté et Cie and Tonin-Amaranté; and a little farther, the Menton Bank of Biovès et Cie. Opposite, the ²H. Westminster, ²H. Victoria, and ²*H. de Menton, all large good houses, charging 9-15 frs. The H. Menton is patronised by Messrs. Cook. Nearer the harbour, but with a front only to the sea, is the Midi, same price. We now enter the eastern or most sheltered quarter, called the Garavan. The hotels are large and first-class, and charge from 10 to 20 frs., and wine from 1½ to 2½ frs. The most westerly is the H. Italie, and, about 100 feet up the bank behind, the principal house of the hotel. A little farther east, on the same eminence, is the *Belle-Vue. Near the Belle-Vue, and on
the same level, is the Villa Helvetia, a benevolent home for ladies not younger than 18 nor older than 40, who are received for 20s. a week, which includes everything “except laundress and fire in bedroom.” For conditions of admission apply to Ransom, Bouverie, and Co., bankers, London; Mrs. Seton Karr, 30 Lancaster Gate, Hyde Park; or Miss Mackenzie, 16 Moray Place, Edinburgh. Below, on the terrace along the beach, is Christ Church, and adjoining is the Paix, a well-furnished house. Then follow the *H. des Anglais, the H. et P. Santa Maria, *Beau Rivage, Grand Hotel, Beau Site, Britannia. Queen Victoria spent the spring of 1882 in the Châlet des Rosiers, about 200 yards from the H. des Anglais.
Inland, on the east side of the Carrei, in a warm nook, under the shelter of a high hill, is a cluster of large and small hotels, just behind the busiest part of the town. Of these the most prominent are the first-class houses of the *H. des Iles Britanniques (expensive), *H. National, *Orient, *Louvre, and Princes. Rather lower down are the Ambassadeurs, Turin, Venise, Malte, Alpes, 9-15 frs., W 1-2 frs.; the last five being less costly. Up the west side of the Carrei is the P. des Orangers, pleasantly situated. On the road down from the station, on the right or west bank of the Carrei, is the H. de l’Europe, 9-14 frs., W 2 frs. Almost adjoining is a second-class house, the H. and P. des Deux-Mondes, 6-7 frs. The above prices include service, coffee in the morning, and meat breakfast and dinner, but never wine, excepting the G. H. de Menton, whose price includes wine but not coffee.
Menton has certainly some very sheltered nooks, but this only renders the more exposed parts the more dangerous. The distinguishing feature of the neighbourhood is the abundance of lemon trees in the small valleys watered by mountain streams. The annual yield of the trees amounts to 30 million lemons, of which the minimum price is from 12 to 15 frs. the thousand.