Some of the incidents I’ve seen around the Côte d’Azur over the past week have brought out my protective
side again when it comes to visitors. I know there isn’t much I can
personally do about what people choose to do, but sometimes you simply
feel the need to say something.
Whether this is your
first visit to the region or you’ve been here many times before, there
can always be a learning curve. The Côte d’Azur has its own quirks, its
own roads, its own transportation systems and, in some cases, risks that
may not be immediately obvious to someone arriving here on holiday.
I’ve
also been having conversations with friends lately about whether there
seem to be more visitors here this summer or fewer. What’s the mood like
out there? Are certain places noticeably busier than usual? Are we
seeing different types of travellers or people exploring areas they may
not have visited before? Those are the kinds of things locals tend to
talk about.
So this isn’t really about rules. It’s
about awareness. More importantly, it’s about making sure you have the
best possible experience while you’re here.
A few
days ago, I left the beach in Èze and was at the train station when five
young women realized they were standing on the wrong platform for the
direction they wanted to travel.
There was a very
simple solution: take the tunnel underneath the tracks and walk to the
other platform. It would have taken about a minute and they almost
certainly would have had enough time to catch their train.
Instead, in a combination of panic and giggling excitement, they decided to run across the railway tracks.
There
are signs in both French and English, accompanied by images, warning
people not to do exactly what they were attempting. The platforms
weren’t particularly busy, but those of us who witnessed it immediately
started shouting at them to stop.
Then, as they were
scrambling across the tracks wearing sandals, with a couple of them in
heels, a train coming from the direction of Monaco began approaching the
station.
The train immediately sounded its horn and attempted to stop. It was quite alarming to witness.
Two
of the women barely managed to get themselves onto the platform while
the others turned around and scrambled back toward the platform they had
just left.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt.
But
they were understandably shaken by what had just happened, and so was
everyone else watching. What had begun as five friends trying to catch a
train could have ended in an absolute tragedy.
And that is the point.
Sometimes the difference between a great holiday story and a horrifying one is a decision that takes only a few seconds.
That
same morning, there was also a news report — which the people involved
subsequently shared on Instagram — about a couple who had rented a
scooter. It was their first time in the area and they weren’t familiar
with the roads. The evening before, they were involved in an accident
between Monaco and Menton on the Moyenne Corniche.
The male driver was injured and the female passenger was also hurt, although thankfully not as seriously.
Again, it was a wake-up call.
One
of the things friends and I sometimes talk about when discussing
visitors is how, for some people, the moment they step off the plane
it’s almost as though the word “VACATION” has been stamped across their forehead.
And sometimes that holiday mentality seems to come with a strange sense of invincibility.
Perhaps
it’s because you’re excited. Perhaps you’re relaxed. Perhaps you’re
somewhere beautiful and you simply don’t want to think about anything
going wrong.
But accidents don’t care whether you’re on holiday.
And the Côte d’Azur is not a theme park.
The
roads can be narrow, steep and winding. Traffic behaves differently
from what you may be accustomed to at home. Scooters are everywhere.
Trains move quickly. Cyclists share roads with cars, buses and
motorcycles. And some of the most spectacular places in the region are
spectacular precisely because of their terrain.
I’m not saying this to frighten anyone or discourage people from coming here. Quite the opposite.
I
want people to come. I want people to explore. I want them to rent the
scooter, ride the bicycle, take the train, discover Èze, wander through
Villefranche-sur-Mer, explore Cap d’Antibes and have that glorious
French Riviera experience they imagined before arriving.
But do it with your brain switched on.
Would you do the same thing at home?
Would
you cross railway tracks rather than take a pedestrian tunnel because
you were running late for a train? Would you jump on a scooter in an
unfamiliar city and immediately tackle roads you’ve never driven before?
Would you get on a bicycle after not riding one for years and suddenly
weave through unfamiliar traffic because you were determined to live out
your French Riviera fantasy?
Hopefully not.
Another thing I see regularly involves bicycles.
Renting
a bicycle is a fantastic way to experience this region. Imagine picking
one up in Nice, cycling around Cap de Nice and continuing toward
Villefranche-sur-Mer, perhaps stopping along the way to unpack a little
lunch at the beach on Saint Jean Cap Ferrat.
You see the image: flowing summer dress, baguette sticking out of the basket, sparkling Mediterranean beside you.
It’s practically a French Riviera postcard.
But there’s another side to that postcard.
If
you haven’t been on a bicycle for years, suddenly renting one and
heading into traffic on unfamiliar roads is not necessarily the carefree
adventure you imagined.
Then you hear an ambulance racing up the road.
Sometimes you don’t need much imagination to figure out why.
No
helmet. Riding in and out of traffic. Unfamiliar roads. Drivers
behaving differently from those in your hometown. Ignoring basic traffic
rules. And perhaps a little too much confidence that nothing is going
to happen.
Then, suddenly, there’s a damaged rental
bicycle, a broken leg, serious cuts or a head injury — and that dreamy
afternoon on the Côte d’Azur has turned into an emergency-room visit.
Obviously,
this doesn’t happen to every person who rents a bicycle. But it happens
often enough that locals aren’t necessarily shocked when they hear
about such an incident or the sound of another ambulance.
None of this is intended as a lecture.
It’s a reminder.
Please
take precautions. Please pay attention to your surroundings. Please
understand that beautiful surroundings don’t eliminate real-world risks.
Have
the plan to live out your French Riviera dream. Rent the bike. Explore
the coastline. Take the train. Discover the little villages. Have long
lunches. Swim in the Mediterranean. Sit in a café and watch the world go
by.
Just do it wisely.
Because
those of us who live here genuinely want visitors to have an incredible
time. We want you to discover the places we love, make wonderful
memories and, most importantly, leave wanting to come back.
The goal is for your French Riviera story to be “What an incredible trip.”
Not “You won’t believe what happened to us in the hospital.”
Come enjoy the Côte d’Azur.
Just remember: you’re on vacation — not invincible.
