Fairly early start in order to catch the bus to Cagnes-sur-Mer Station. We decided to take the train to Cap D’Ail to visit the Villa les Camélias and have a nice meal overlooking the Mediterranean.
We arrived at the station in plenty of time only to find a train delayed by 15 minutes. When we managed to board we found a packed carriage and had to stand. We continued to stand until we arrived at Nice-Ville where a high proportion of the occupants disembarked. Maggi and I grabbed seats while the train refilled with new passengers.
We left the train at the deserted Cap D’Ail station. The station is surrounded by large villas built between the 1890’s and the outbreak of the 1st World War. We walked a few hundred metres to the entrance of the Villa Les Camélias. The house belongs to one of these magnificent luxury mansions from the Belle Epoque.
The gardens are relatively small for such a large home. The entrance to the museum is at the back of the house and you pass by the small swimming pool (not open to the public). We were greeted by a friendly man who spoke no English. He took our money (€5 each) and gave us a gadget so we could have a commentary about all the different aspects of the house.
The first floor is dedicated to a history of Cap D’Ail, with newspaper cuttings, photos etc describing the town’s growth and establishment in 1908 as a separate commune with police station, post office and train station. Before 1908 the town had been part of the commune of La Turbie, which is high above the Cap. The development of the Cap was greatly accelerated with the arrival of the station which was part of the line between Nice and Monte Carlo.
The second floor featured an exhibition by the artist Haydée Otero. You can find out how top buy her pictures from her web site.
On the top floor they ahave a permanent exhibition of RAMIRO ARRUE a Basque artists who I had never heard of. For some reason I didn’t take any photos of his work although I found several of the images very attractive.
After going around the villa we met up with a woman who ran the shop. She was extremely enthusiastic about everything about the place. She then showed us the the pianola and how it worked. Maggi even had a chance to operate the device with its pedals.
When we left the villa we walked along the rocky sea front in the sweltering heat and arrived at the restaurant that I had booked called Les Pinedes. The beautiful location was not matched by the quality of the food. We had a couple of ordinary starters which we shared and a boring main course. Not a place I would return to.
Following our lunch we returned to the station and picked up the next train back to Cagnes. Again it was packed and I had to stand until we arrived at Nice. At Cagnes we just missed the bus and I ordered an Uber that took us back home and cost just €12.