PICTURES. A day in Beaulieu-sur-Mer: Monaco Tribune takes you
Beaulieu-sur-Mer is a small town on the Côte d’Azur, located between Nice and Monaco. We spent a day there and take you, in photos, to discover this tourist place, between leisure, history and escape.
Well arrived at Beaulieu-sur-Mer station. From Nice or Monaco, allow 10 minutes by train to reach the city and two journeys per hour. Without any reduction, the place in the TER costs 2.30€ from Nice and 2.70€ from Monaco. A few meters from the station, the city’s tourist office welcomes you. (Plan to be found at the end of the article).
The morning in Beaulieu rhymes with market. From Monday to Saturday, various producers set up shop in the market square, near the station. Accessible between 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. (hours not fixed), the market benefits from a few additional traders on Saturdays, for example a cheese dairy and a butcher/charcuterie stand.
Direction the Port de Plaisance, one of the two ports of the city. It is here that several restaurants rub shoulders, 13 to be precise, among the 32 businesses that make up the port enclosure.
We have lunch at the African Queen, the view of the moored yachts and the blue sky. The establishment is very famous, being regularly represented by many celebrities who have made it successful: Sylvester Stallone, the Rolling Stones and Jack Nicholson. Beaulieu has many restaurants, mainly focused on French, Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. At the African Queen, it takes 40 to 50 euros per person for a dish, a dessert, a drink and a coffee to finish the meal.
There’s nothing like a digestive stroll in the Jardin de l’Olivaie. A space of 6000m² where you can sit in the shade of a hundred olive trees, on a “kikuyu” lawn, typical of this place. Located above the Port de Plaisance, it is one of the city’s two gardens, along with Square Verdun. The Jardin de l’Olivaie is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in spring/summer and until 6 p.m. in autumn/winter.
On the other side of the city, the Baie des Ants beach offers fine sand and almost turquoise water. The singing duo Souchon-Voulzy even gave a title to this place, “La Baie des Fourmis”, located under the gardens of the Casino and La Rotonde. A funny name she got from mounds of dead grass on the shore that once formed. It took the form of an anthill and fishermen passing by renamed it ” Bay of Ants“. It also gives a breathtaking view of the villa Kérylos.
There it is, Villa Kerylos. Designed by the archaeologist Théodore Reinach and the architect Emmanuel Pontremoli, the villa Kérylos invites us to the heart of Greek antiquity, between decorations and comfort, on the model of a noble house on the island of Delos from the 2nd century BC. JC It is open to the public all year round, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer and until 5 p.m. the rest of the year. Admission costs €11.50 and is free for minors and 18-25 year olds residing in the European Union. Guided tours are offered.
Beaulieu is also a city of leisure. As we leave, we pass in front of the city’s Casino. In 2014, it reopened its doors after having been placed in compulsory liquidation in 2010. After major works, the place has now become a gaming casino, a performance hall, a restaurant and a cinema.
A few meters further, two very beautiful buildings sit enthroned, near the seaside. The Bristol, a former palace designated by many princes, princesses, kings and queens and now transformed into apartments; La Rotonde, a large circular room with glazed apses, serving as an additional living room for Le Bristol and which served as a hospital during the 1before and the 2SD world War.
Beaulieu is a city on the rise. Behind the city center, hundreds of stairs take you to the top of the town. This is part of a hike, the “Little Africa” loop, which lasts 1h30.
One of the best views of the hike. Let’s take advantage of the view to do a bit of history. Namely that Beaulieu-sur-Mer has been an independent town since 1891, being under the supervision of Villefranche so far. The first mayor of the city is Hippolyte Marinoni. He remains only 19 days in this position but distributes the money to the commune until his death. He financed a school, the station, the sewers and part of the port. The town is also linked to Anglican history, especially since the construction of the Anglican Church of Saint Michael in 1903, consecrated by the Archpriest of York.
The return of the walk is done in the middle of the villas, of the Belle Epoque architectural style. Dozens of them stand on the hills of the city. The Belle Epoque period (1870-1914) marks a change for Beaulieu-sur-Mer making the small hamlet an attractive town.
Our beautiful day ends here! The end of the hike takes us directly to the city center, a few meters from the station.
Map of Beaulieu-sur-Mer: