La Turbie is probably not on many bucket lists, but if we had such a list, it probably would have been there. It is the site of the Alpine Trophy--the monument given by the Senate and People of Rome (SPQR) to the Emperor Augustus, celebrating his subjugation of the (count 'em) 49 Alpine tribes, early in the first century, thus improving travel between Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul. It became a bit of a semi-obsession with us as we drove by it several times over the years, never able to find a parking place for our camping-car rigs, vowing some day to return and see it. That day came finally on April 25th, as we took Tram #1 to the Nice Vauban bus station and then bus #603 up to La Turbie, a mountain-side town overlooking Monaco and the Mediterranean. Mountain-side towns, we have learned, often have traffic-flow and parking issues, especially if they are a millennium or two old. But we made it to La Turbie and saw the Trophy that day, and had a nice lunch, too, and here is our story.
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After a half hour's ride (depending on Nice traffic) the bus lets you out
right at the La Turbie Mairie (city offices) |
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A block or so downhill and one of the town's several overlooks reveals a great
view of Cap Ferrat, indeed the bit of it we hiked earlier in the week |
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To get to the Trophy, we wandered through the oldest remaining
bits of the town
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Literary and other quotes on many of the houses; the hostel in town
only gets 2 stars, according to travel writer Dante Alighieri |
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| Vicki exploring |
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| Interpretive signage...we must be getting warm |
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| Although easily distracted by parapentes in the sky above |
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Now we are at the overlook right by the Trophy; but the view of Monte Carlo
is pretty compelling |
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| The twin-towered Casino right there in the middle |
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| Even Monaco gets cruisified |
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| Toward Menton and then the formidable Italian Riviera... |
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| And there's the Trophy, or what remains of it |
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| Model of what the Trophy looked like back in the day... |
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In the Middle Ages, the Trophy became a quarry for the building of this
church as well as, probably, many of La Turbie's other older buildings |
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| Interior of said church, a St. Michael's brand |
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Interesting largely for this model Roman soldier thrusting
at an imaginary Christian...rather, probably, it's St. Michael
thrusting at the (imaginary) dragon*; in one of the little side
chapels |
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Undoubtedly it's all explained in the town's annual Easter dress-up
as Roman soldiers, persecuting dress-up Christians, maybe even
crucifying a couple or three...or maybe just some dress-up dragons |
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Now back up on La Turbie's main drag, which is actually the
Roman Via Julia Augusta, later improved and renamed la
Grand Corniche by Napoleon I...admiring the bicycle route
map on the wall of a building...the Tour de France undoubtedly
comes this way... |
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| We had a fine lunch at this Michelin-red resto Vicki had found |
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| Remains of a leek and cheese tarte we shared |
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| My mussels |
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| Her steak |
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| Remains of the shared caramelized apple tarte |
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After lunch, we wandered a little more of the Via Julia Augusta/
Grand Corniche, noting again the verticality of the place |
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| And noting some of the humongous plants the Mediterranean climate affords |
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And having a last look at the great Alpine Trophy...J'y suis alle;
j'ai fait ca...veni, vidi, imagines cepi...** |
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Beautiful tile map of La Turbie in the Mairie...which we had occasion
to visit more than once to inquire where TF the 2:50 bus was... |
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Very much to our inconvenience and chagrin, the 2:50 bus never did show...but riding the 4:50 back to Nice at least afforded us this view of the high snow-covered Alps in the distance |
*yes, there is a St. Michael and the dragon story...look it up
**been there, done that; I came, I saw, I took pictures
