A more interesting route to (5 M.) Bouzaréah is from the Quartier Bab el-Oued (Pl. B, 1), formerly the N.W. suburb of Algiers, inhabited chiefly by Spaniards. From the Boul. du Général-Farre or Boul. Militaire Nord (Pl. C, 1; p. [222]) we follow the Avenue de la Bouzaréah (Pl. C, B, 1) and the Avenue Beau-Fraisier, in the old suburb of Cité Bugeaud, to the Pont du Beau-Fraisier crossing the Oued M’Kacel. We thence ascend the fine Chemin des Carrières, passing near the blue-limestone quarries on the spurs of Mont Bouzaréah, then through a side-valley of the Frais-Vallon (p. [234]), with its luxuriant vegetation, and lastly mount in windings past the Hospice des Vieillards.
The village of Bouzaréah (1230 ft.; Hôt. de France, humble; pop. 2500), in an open site on the crest of Mont Bouzaréah (1335 ft.), the culminating point of the Sahel, is a favourite goal for excursionists in summer. A road leads to the N.E. from the village, past the Fort de la Bouzaréah, on the left, and the Christian Cemetery, on the right, to (¾ M.) the Observatoire d’Alger (1148 ft.). The roof of the observatory affords a fine view of the Bay of Algiers and of the hills of Great Kabylia as far as Cape Bengut (p. [254]).
From the Observatory we may descend either to the E. by the steep Chemin Sidi Ben-Nour, passing the fort of that name, to the Avenue des Consulats (see below), or to the N. by a steep and stony path to the Vallée des Consuls (p. [236]).
A road leads to the N.W. from Bouzaréah in ¼ hr. to the poor huts of the Village Arabe de la Bouzaréah, on the slope of a flat hill (1178 ft.), overgrown with cacti and dwarf-palms, where we have a splendid *View of the forest of Baïnem, Cape Caxine (p. [237]), the S.W. chain of the Sahel, with the ‘Tombeau de la Chrétienne’ (p. [238]), and Jebel Chenoua (p. [242]), as also of the Blida Atlas with the deep incision of the Chiffa Ravine (p. [215]).
From the Arab village the road descends to the W. to the (1¼ M.) Forêt de Baïnem, the largest wood (1250 acres) near Algiers. We follow the ‘Route Forestière Wendling’, high on the slope of the Sahel, with a fine view of the coast between Pointe Pescade (p. [237]) and Cape Caxine, at first through underwood, richly carpeted with flowers in spring. We then pass through the remains of a pine-forest to the (1¾ M.) Rond des Eucalyptus, a bifurcation in a small eucalyptus grove (straight on is the Route Forestière Mignerot leading to Guyotville, 3¼ M.; p. [237]). We follow, to the right, the beautiful Route Forestière Combe (2 M.), which descends through groups of cork-trees, pines, and eucalypti, past a ravine, to the Maison Forestière, whence it is continued by a eucalyptus and mimosa avenue down to Villas (p. [237]), on the Castiglione road, a station on the steam-tramway.
f. Notre-Dame d’Afrique and St. Eugène.
Tramway (No. 1, p. [218]) to the Hôpital du Dey; thence an omnibus every ½ hr. (1–4 pers. 1 fr. 20 c.; each addit. pers. 30 c.) to the church of Notre-Dame d’Afrique.—Tramway (No. 7, p. [219]) to St. Eugène. The terminus ‘Deux-Moulins’ is only a few paces from the station of the steam-tramway to Castiglione (R. 35).
The tramway through the Avenue des Consulats ends at the Hôpital Militaire du Dey (Pl. A, B, 1), which, with its gardens, occupies the site of a villa of Hassan Pasha (p. [225]). We follow the Boul. de Champagne, and then diverge to the right by the Route de Notre-Dame d’Afrique (½ hr.), a narrow road, shady towards evening, affording splendid *Views of the Bay of Algiers.
The large domed church of Notre-Dame d’Afrique (443 ft.), a pilgrimage-church for sick persons and mariners, founded by Card. Lavigerie in 1872, rises conspicuously on a spur of the N.E. slope of Mont Bouzaréah (p. [235]), above the Christian and the Jewish burial-grounds (see below). From the terrace in front of the church, where the blessing of the sea by the clergy every Sunday at 3.30 attracts many spectators, we survey the coast as far as the Pointe Pescade (p. [237]). Behind the church is the Hôt. Bompard.
The Vallée des Consuls, which has its name from the villas of the European consuls of the Turkish period, a shady and extremely fertile vale above St. Eugène (see below), affords charming walks. A pleasant road leads through it from Notre-Dame d’Afrique, shaded by gnarled old olive-trees. We may thence mount to the Observatory (comp. p. [235]), or else descend in 20 min. to St. Eugène; but the descent viâ Fort Duperré to Deux-Moulins (p. [237]) is very rough and fatiguing.