The South of France—East Half

by C. B. Black

Menton: Bankers. Churches. Conveyances.

[Bankers.]—Bank of France, Maison Palmaro. In the Av. Victor Emmanuel are: Biovès et Cie, Credit Lyonnais, A. Bottini, and Credit de Nice. In 17 R. St. Michel, the Palmaro Bank and the English Consulate. House Agents.—G. Amaranté and T. Amaranté, 12 and 19 Av. V. Emmanuel; Willoughby, R. St. Michel. English doctors, chemists, and grocers.

[Protestant Churches.]—Christ Church, adjoining the H. de la Paix; St. John’s, near the Pont Carrei; Presbyterian, above H. Italie; Vaudois, R. du Castellar; German Church, R. Partouneaux.

[Cabs.]—One-horse cab—the course, 1 fr. 25 c.; the hour, 2¾ frs. Two-horse cab—the course, 1 fr. 75 c.; the hour, 3 frs. 75 c. A one-horse cab for the whole day costs 20 frs.; a two-horse cab, 25 frs. Donkey for the whole day, 5 frs.; gratuity, 1 fr. Boats, 2 frs. the hour.

Menton is situated round a large bay, bounded on the west by Cape St. Martin, and on the east by Mortola Point. This bay is divided into two smaller bays by the hill, 130 ft. high, on which the old town is built. The platform of the parish church, St. Michel, is reached by 95 steps in 8 divisions. All the streets about it are narrow, dirty, steep, and even slippery. The new town stretches out a great way along the beach. The public promenade (about 40 ft. wide) bends round the west bay from the town to Cape St. Martin. A kind of gloom pervades Menton. The strip of ground on which it stands is narrow, and so are the streets. Immediately behind rise great mountains with dark gray limestone cliffs, intermingled with deep green olive trees and stiff straggling pines. The valleys are narrow and sombre. The roads up the mountains are steep, badly paved, and are generally traversed on unwilling donkeys.

The pleasantest walks and drives are those along the coast, extending from Cape St. Martin to the Italian frontier, to which there are two roads, an upper and a lower. The former, the main road, crosses the bridge of St. Louis, while the latter skirts the beach to the famous bone-caverns. The débris found in these caves, like the shell-banks in the north of Scotland, consisted of the waste accumulation from the food of the early inhabitants, together with the stone implements they had employed. Four of the caves are above the railway, a little beyond the viaduct under the Italian custom-house, and two are just below the line close to the beach.

Cape St. Martin. Gorbio. St. Agnès.

[Cape St. Martin], 2 m. W. Tram from Garavan to St. Martin, 50 c. The tram stops at the N.E. corner of the cape. On the road northward from the cape leading to Roquebrune is, right hand, a Roman sepulchre, consisting of a centre arch with a smaller arch on each side, all that remains of the Roman settlement Lumone, mentioned by Antoninus. From this a straight road leads directly S. through a grove of large olive trees to the signal-tower in the centre of the peninsula. Beside it are the ruins of a nunnery, which was connected with the monastery of [St. Honorat] (p. 158). Afterwards the road leading westward joins the carriage-way, which sweeps round the peninsula. A stony path on the W. side, parallel to the road, extends along the coast by the rocks and cliffs (see [map, p. 185]).

[Gorbio], 2½ hrs. or 5 m. N. up the valley of the Gorbio, and 1427 ft. above the sea. Take the road E. from the Pont de l’Union, passing by the entrance into the Villa (Palais) Carnolès, and, traversing groves of lemon and olive trees. When about 1 hr. from the village the road

becomes steep, and pines take the place of lemon trees. Gorbio, pop. 500, occupies the summit of a hill rising from a valley formed by the stream Gorbio and by one of its affluents. The streets are narrow, steep, and roughly paved; the houses poor but substantial; and the little church, built in 1683, is dedicated “Soli Deo.” At the upper end of the village is a beautiful tulip tree. The path northward from the tree leads to Mt. Gorbio, 2707 ft., and to Mt. Baudon, 7144 ft. The rough stony road leading to the right or eastward from the tree ascends, in less than 2 hrs., to St. Agnès. It is easily followed, and unfolds lovely views. [St. Agnès], pop. 580, is situated 2180 ft. above the sea, or 330 ft. below the mountain peak, crowned with the ruins of the castle built in the 10th cent. by Haroun, a bold Saracen chief. A narrow path leads up to the top in 45 minutes, whence there is an extensive prospect.