Bastille Day

The 14th of July (a couple of centuries ago) is, as you may be aware, the day when a few unhappy French decided to storm the Bastille, which kicked off that rather hectic period of history known as the French Revolution. It’s celebrated as national day in French, and is of course a public holiday as well. I’ve not actually ever been in France so far on the Fete National, actually. So to honor this tradition, we decided to go to Italy.

We did enjoy the “eve’s eve’s” fireworks at the seaside of Cagnes-sur-Mer. We needn’t have bothered, really, the fireworks were really rather rubbish. Hopefully the ones in nice on the eve itself will be nicer…

So, like I said, we decided to head to Italy on the 14th – it has, after all, been quite a while since our last visit. We didn’t really have much of a plan, other than wanting to have a nice lunch somewhere, and checking out the Hanbury gardens at Mortola (apparently rather impressive, and we’ve not gotten around to visiting them yet). So, off we headed after a reasonably lazy morning, heading for Bordighera (no particular reason, just thought it might make a bit of a change from the places we usually go to). After wandering around the rather uninspiring modern town centre aimlessly, unable to locate a cozy-looking restaurant, we ended up in a simple yet popular looking little eatery on an out-of-the-way little square, where we had some pretty decent pizzas.

Before heading back towards Mortola, we decided to head up the old town, which is located on a hilltop overlooking the modern town. Actually, we should’ve definitely had lunch there, the place being a typically charming Italian old town, with its windy, cobblestone streets and charmingly run-down houses. We passed by a couple of cozy-looking trattorias where I’m sure our appetites would’ve been amply sated… Oh well, perhaps next time…

After this little detour, we made our way back to Mortola, a small village located near the French border. It houses the famous Giardini botanici Hanbury. These impressive botanical gardens (apparently one of the most important ones in Europe) are located in rather stunningly on a small peninsula, overlooking the Mediterranean. The gardens were founded by one Sir Thomas Hanbury, an Englishman who made his fortune in India. Like a lot of his countrymen in those days (and even more these days, come to think of it…), he made his way to the French & Italian Riviera in search for more pleasant winters than what England can offer… Having travelled back and forth across the Riviera, he decided to settle down in Mortola. The gardens him and his wife founded are certainly impressive (even to one such as myself, who is not easily impressed by flowers, trees and such…), covering 18 hectares (and housing over 7000 species !). It took us a good 2 hours to cover the marked footpath across the gardens. Well worth the visit, even though gardens aren’t perhaps my favorite touristic attraction…

We then made our way back towards Nice, stopping in Menton for a well-deserved swim, making it to Nice well in time for the big fireworks. Unlike the evening before, we were not disappointed – the fireworks were very impressive indeed… A very nice ending to a great day out !