What should I say about Èze or Where should I begin…
Well, I woke up feeling refreshed and my cough had subsided as well. I wanted to spend today just as I did yesterday at Villefranche-Sur-Mer. I decided to go to Eze-Sur-Mer. For some reason, I thought Èze was on the opposite direction of Villefranche but when I got to the train station I realized that it was just two stops further than Villefranche. I had confused Èze with another town I had visited few years ago, so I was in for a complete surprise. Had no idea what to expect…
When I got to Èze, I found out from the tourist office at the train station that to get to the old town center, I can either hike the hill which would take an hour or more, or I could take the bus for which I’ll have to wait for an hour. Since the beach was few minutes away from the train station, I decided to just wait for the bus and enjoy the art of doing nothing by listening to the soothing sounds of the sea. It was kinda like a private beach because most of the people at the beach were from nearby houses.
When you are admiring nature, you instantly transcend into a state of tranquility, and an hour can fly by with a blink of an eye. Thankfully, I had turned on my alarm so I couldn’t miss the bus.
After a ten minute bus ride through the scenic lush hillscape, we were dropped off at the base of the old town. Seeing the entire town perched on the hill, I have to say it was a beautiful surprise.
I wanted to know more about Èze’s history so I googled up and this is what I found –
Èze has been described as an “eagle’s nest” because of its location overlooking a high cliff 427 metres (1,401 ft) above sea level on the French Mediterranean. It is so high that the light ochre church within (Notre Dame de l’Assomption built in 1764) can be seen from afar. An Egyptian cross inside the church suggests the village’s ancient roots, when the Phoenicians erected a temple there to honour the goddess Isis. It’s history is turbulent as it was conquered by Romans, Moors, French, Turks, … until in April 1860, Èze was designated as part of France by unanimous decision by the people of Èze.
I hiked up the hill to explore the endless Art Galleries and restaurants. The best part was meeting some local artists.
From spice vendors, palace homes turned into boutique hotels, and the gardens are waiting to be explored as you walk through the narrow streets which is like a maze and you are bound to get lost couple of times. Well, that’s always the fun part.
It was so easy to spend hours sitting outside artist studios watching them at work while admiring the greenery all around in this medieval town. One of the artist I was chatting with, told me that he was born here but moved when he was a young artist to live in big cities but has now come back home to retire. He just wants to create art in this magical place. I couldn’t disagree with him. Èze is a world unto itself where everyone knows each other. You’ll feel so isolated from the world but at the same time the flock of tourists during the day time makes it a lively city. Once they are gone as the sun goes down, it become a quiet and tranquil paradise again. The bus ride to Nice is only 30-40 minutes. Well, good things ain’t cheap, but this is definitely a great place for artist or creative minds to thrive.
After spending a day in Èze, I’ve to say that my creative mind was filled with so many ideas. I took the bus instead of the train option back to Nice Old Town center and found my way back to the Promenade to watch the sunset.
Want to try something cool?
Pick one white dot from this painting (May be from the eye). Keep on looking at that white dot for 30-40 seconds. Then close your eyes. Did the picture come to life for you? Who is in this picture? Let me know 🙂
