through the Riviera. Reserving March and April each year, we
discovered that the allotted three score and ten, seeing that we had
already come to half the span, would be inadequate. And there were
other parts of the world! So we decided to see what we could, eschew
the "day excursions," draw on the memories of former years, and let it
go at that. Grande Corniche and Moyenne Corniche would be explored
afoot on sunny days and gray; shelter would be sought at Menton; and on
the return to Nice, Monte Carlo and Villefranche would be the only
tramway stops for us.

To Ventimiglia, as if he foresaw what part of the Riviera would
eventually fall to France, Napoleon I was the builder of La Grande
Corniche. His engineers, planning for horse-drawn vehicles in an age
when time was not money, made the ascent easy by striking inland for
several kilometers up from the valley of the Paillon and circling Mont
Gros and Mont Vinaigrier. For the first two miles you have Nice and
Cimiez below you. Then the road turns, passes the observatory of
Bischoffsheim (who won posthumous fame by his having built the house
where Wilson lost the battle of Paris in 1919), and goes over the Col
des Quatre Chemins. Here begins the matchless succession of views of
the loveliest portion of the Riviera coast. Below you is the harbor of
Villefranche, between Montboron, which hides Nice, and Cap Ferrat
jutting far into the sea with Cap de l'Hospice breaking out to the
left. The sea is always on your right as you continue to climb.
Ancient Eze is on a lower hill midway between you and the
Mediterranean. If you have made an early start from Nice, La Turbie
will come most conveniently in sight a little before noon.

The only town of the Grande Corniche high up from the sea is on the
line given in ancient maps as the frontier between Gaul and Italy, and
it is evident that the Roman road followed here the route chosen by
Napoleon. For here the Senate raised the _trophaeum Augusti_ to
commemorate the subjugation of the Gauls and the new era of
tranquillity from invasion for the Empire. On its site one of the most
interesting medieval towers in southern France was the ruin par
excellence of the Riviera until a few years ago. It is now "restored"
so well that it leaves nothing to the imagination--a crime quite in
keeping with the spirit of the new age of the "movies." Its architect
wanted you to see at a glance just what it used to be. You feel that
h