Climbing Eze

43° 42.5' N 7° 20.2' E Bealieau sur Mer and Eze Village, France

Beaulieau sur Mer was the hardest marina experience so far. We’d set off early to get a start on the day and were told on arrival we weren’t allowed to enter til '1p.m, maybe 2'. This wouldn’t have been too bad if the rolling swell had relented, waiting made us green around the gills and we couldn’t kill the heat or nausea by diving in as there were Jellyfish aplenty. Once finally berthed we headed straight for the beach and flushed away the morning.

Beaulieau was pleasant, modern, clean and a bit upmarket. New York Herald proprietor James Gordon Bennet divided his time in Europe between Paris, his villa in Beaulieu and his rather flamboyant yacht Lysistrata. Known for his extravagance and eccentricity, he hated beards and playing cards and wouldn’t allow anyone on his boat with either. He once, on arriving at his favourite restaurant in Monte Carlo and being informed they were full, brought it and at the end of the meal gifted it to the head waiter. What a tip!

Captains folks messaged to say that we should head up to Eze Village if we got the chance, it only required a few minutes of research to decide that was a great plan. The oldest building in the village is the Chapelle de la Sainte Croix and dates back to 1306, the view seemed promising and we wanted the walk.

We left first thing to beat the heat, it was 1400ft up a very old stone path. It was fairly steep and ramshackle underfoot, a couple of viewpoint stops were welcome but in all it wasn’t a difficult climb.

I’d recommend climbing it providing you don’t have dodgy ankles, dodgy ticker or dodgy footwear. It makes the view more rewarding and I’d suggest climbing up is easier than descending due to the loose ground.

For that very reason, after calling my mum from the top to wish her a happy birthday and exploring Eze for an hour or so, along with a few busloads of tourists, we joined the majority and caught the bus back down to the boat to cast the lines off and head to the bright lights of Monaco.

Charlie x