Just to the east of Nice, there is a pair of towns called Eze. Eze Sur Mer is located right on the sea, as its name suggests, and Eze Village is set high in the hills, about 450 meters above sea level. The two are linked by the Nietzsche Path, so named because of a legend that claims famed German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche would walk the path every day when he was at the French Riviera.
Recently, Erin and I decided to test the short trail. We took Nice’s Bus #100 from Promenade des Artes to the Eze train station, which lay just 25 meters or so from the path’s starting point. The walk was a bit strenuous, and the sun didn’t help by beating down on us from straight above all day (I suppose we could have chosen to hike at any other time than noon), but we made it to the top in about an hour, and sweating profusely.
The trail ends at Eze Village’s medieval old town, which was fascinating to walk around. It wasn’t a castle, but it certainly felt like a large, single structure on top of the hill. Inside were many small winding streets and staircases, with entrances to hotels and restaurants cutting away on either side. And the view of the sea was protected – unless you were a guest at one of the hotels, or willing to pay €6 to enter the gardens at the top, you couldn’t get much of a glimpse of the sea. This added further to the feeling of being inside a fortress.
There is also a perfume factory in the town of Eze Village, but we decided not to fight the crowds brought in by the cruise ships, and saved that for another trip. Still, check out that view!
Getting back to Nice was easy enough; we took bus #82 from Eze Village directly to Nice’s Vauban station. Eze made for a great day trip from Nice, though I’d recommend getting an earlier start than we did to avoid the midday sun and the cruise ship crowds.
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The Wildly Ordinary Life 
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