Eze

During the time that our friends were visiting we decided to venture out to the mountain-top medieval town of Eze which we had heard was gorgeous yet touristy. True to form, we had to return shoves and hang on to one another to even make it onto the bus. It was about a 25 minute bus ride along the Moyenne Corniche road, which is a road that appears to be perched right on the edge of the mountaintop. We had absolutely amazing views of Nice and VilleFranche as we headed east.

Leaving the bus, we followed the pack up the hill and in through some massive stone gates into the fortified town of Eze. Why fortified? Poor Eze had the bad luck to be part of the House of Savoy from 1388 on (this small kingdom was often at war with France). Consequently, they protected their city with a double door or a "postern". Again, poor Eze… In 1543 the Turks and their French allies seized the village and in 1706 Lousix XIV ordered the walls of the city and castle to be razed. However, it wasn't until 1860 that Eze became officially French.

Immediately upon entering the postern, the girls were entranced with the 'little windows' into the walls… I’m sure it never crossed their minds that their purpose was actually survival. To them, they were the best peekaboo windows ever. The twisting, turning little streets were captivating and beautiful. Once we reached the top we decided to visit the Jardin Exotique, which is the elaborately planned summit garden covering the ruins of the former castle. We were amazed to discover not only the huge amount of succulents and cacti here, but also some gorgeous goddess statues set in strategic points throughout the garden. At the top, we sat in the ruins of the castle and just stared in awe at the view.

Along the way I became very excited about the Chateau labeled on the map as the Chateau de Chevre D'or. My amazing French suggested to me that this meant the Palace of the Golden Goat Cheese and I couldn't wait to investigate. Sadly, I finally realized that this just meant "Palace of the Golden Goat." My kids reminded me that this was still very cool and we googled it when we got home. Apparently it all comes back to the legend of the golden goat (sigh...) that appears time and time again in stories in Southern France and revolves around a fight between a hero (trying to hide his gold in a cave) and myriad horrific beasts and finally, his gold turned to dust, he escapes and leaves his riches behind. Lo and behold, a small goat enters the cave and becomes covered with the gold powder. The story goes that the goat is still living in the mountains and it will lead the good and faithful towards fortune.

A funny story about the bridge shown in the photos... "Devil's Bridge". A citizen of Eze, a shephard, promised the devil a soul (of whomever first crossed the bridge) if he would build the massive bridge. He did and the devil sat eagerly waiting on the other side. The shephard then threw a stick onto the bridge so that his dog would run after it, his dog thus claiming the prize, and the devil left in disgust!