Overwintering in Nice, France

[chuckr]

Greetings to all from sunny hot but hurricane free Trinidad

we sail a 2001 jeanneau ds40 and she has longed to see her home country - so we thought what the heck we will sail her across the pond in may of 2013 arriving in the south of france around late september

our current thoughts are to winterover in Nice and then continue our journey around the med in the spring --

we will be going back to the usa to visit family in Oct but can not spend to long as they can only put up with us for so long - so we should be back in November --

Beside the Schengen Agreement - which we will have to figure out how to deal with -

has anyone wintered over in Nice? Any thought or recommendations would be appreciated.
And we are not the rich americans -- we are full time cruisers and have been out going on 6 years now

thanks to all and cheers

just our thoughts and opinions
chuck patty and svsoulmates
in trinidad for hurricane season

 

[tcm]

Nice port itself probably not a great idea for smallish boat- it’s not particularly sheltered from swell even in summer months and i dunno how many visitor berths they have/offer.

Possibly better options lnclude Villefranche marina very close, and St Laurent du Var, also close in other direction.

None of these ports are especially gosh wow wonderful, but they’re nice enough, and they do have that proximity to Nice airport. SLDV you can even see the planes land ...

It is notoriously difficult to “book ahead “ at southern french marinas... the difficulty being that even a year ahead, as you’re demonstrating, lots of people ring and say would you have a space, and how much and blah blah... and then they might turn up, and might not. So they tend to prefer people who actually turn up - and there’s plenty of those. It’s also une bonne idee a parler a leur langue, un petit peu...

 

[MASH]

Plus, if you're American and not rich you may find marina prices in Nice eye-watering. I think you'd find them eye-watering even if you were rich, and esp. so as you may not be used to European rip-off pricing in which the Nice area is right in the front row, along with some of the S Italian ones. Don't imagine Nice is warm in winter either, it gets bloody cold there. That entire area (Marseille to Monaco) is stuffed full of gucci-wearing pseuds who think they're important because they've got stacks of money (cos you can't live there if you haven't). Scenery great, people awful, no culture. Horrible superficial, self-obsessed place imho.

 

[jordanbasset]

As you will be spending the winter on the boat I would have a look at places further South, maybe Southern Spain. Weather will be much better and you can find some very cheap places to overwinter. Cartagena and Almerimar are popular and very reasonably priced.
The other place to consider is Gibralter, which is not part of Schengen. More British than Britain, English is the first language and it may be a different experience for you. Again reasonably priced, or alternatively a short distance away is La Linea in Spain itself.

 

[MASH]

What is the problem with Schengen as a matter of interest? Surely it makes no difference to visitors from the US?

GibraltAr is a strange place, as said above more British than Britain but in a rather creepy way - not unlike parts of Belfast I thought. I suspect you might get get island fever there fairly quickly, it's very inward looking but you probably don't have to stop in one place for too long. There should be plenty of berths free in winter and if you pick your times there will be lots of nice sailing days to move from one place to another. Many people cruise the Med through the winter and particularly in the E only use marinas as boltholes when really big blows come through. Close to the foot of mountains (like Nice) can get cold and windy due to the katabatic effect but elsewhere it can be pleasantly mild, though with plenty of rainfall from time to time. Great skiing on some of the islands too - Crete, Cyprus, Corsica.

 

[stearman65]

Nice

The main problem with Nice Marina if living aboard is the aircraft noise & pollution.
Stearman65

 

[TQA]

What is the problem with Schengen as a matter of interest? Surely it makes no difference to visitors from the US?

.

Same rules as Schengen apply to US visitors. Max of 90 days in any 180 day period.

See CLICKY for more detail.

 

[tcm]

Hummm...

Marina prices in southern france over winter are similar to those in southern uk. The marinas of Nice, Port de Cannes and Villefranche are muncipally run, so the notion of rip-off doesn’t really apply.

It will be a great help if you can speak French, or have a go at speaking French.

Nice is located in one of the most historically and culturally rich regions of the world, with the natural harbours along this southern French coast attracting all the med voyagers, explorers and traders such as the Phoenecians and Greeks. This is the route through which the Romans passed to conquer Gaul and Britain, and hence towns such as Cimiez, Arles, Frejus and many others all have Roman buildings still intact. Peace in the area was celebrated by the roman-built Trophee des Alpes high on the hills above Nice towards the Italian border.

Wilder medieval times forced the reinforcement of unique higher-altitude defensive enclaves, the “vilages perches” or perched villages, of which Eze, St Paul de Vence and Roquebrune are example of several in this area, world famous tourist attractions tho perhaps best visited out of season.

Napoleon started his long march north after landing on the Cote D’Azur after escape from Elba, the Route Napoleon threading its way up through the Martime Alps.

In the 1800s, the riviera climate (sea shore protected by mountains behind) was attractive to those seeking to avoid disease, especially consumption/TB , the killer of that century. The very first “resort” hotels were here, not for the seaside but for the climate - so you’ll see that the older places like Hotel Westminster in Mention face inland, not out to sea. Only later was the region a summer resort as well.

Royalty and artists spent time in this area after the arrival of the railways in the 1860s. Queen Victoria didn’t spend her last 50 years mourning in Buckingham palace, but spent months at a time in Nice with an entourage of 60 to 100 staff. Hotels began to anticipate the fact that many of the (related) crowned heads of Europe would spend winter in this area.

The nearby town of Menton is just one that boomed with the railways, at one time employing 50 English-speaking doctors, the cemetery a testament to the saying that one “lived in Nice, played in Monaco, died in Menton”

The long quayside in Menton, the Quai Gordon Bennett bears testament to another famous resident, an American whose arrival in Europe brought about the modern news industry, the telegraph being the internet of its day. Bennett started all sorts of newsworthy pranks whilst based in France- car races, motor boat races - hence the governing bodies for these are French.

A fairly high density of museums cover the works hereabouts of Picasso in Antibes, Cezanne in Arles, Matisse in Nice, and many more.

These days a fabulous coastal train service gives rapid access all along the coast to Marseiles in the west, Italy in the east.

The government is keen to protect the area as useable ands accessible to all, not just a few. So the larger and wilder developments haven’t been permitted in later years. There’s definitelty a high-roller ambience in some places, but choose carefully, ask around, and you’ll find bargain restaurants and free entertainment to last many seasons.

The area is relatively wind-free in summer with the prevaling wind listed as F2 variable. Hence it might be an idea to ask on the YBW Motor Boat forum where several hereabouts keep boats.

 

[telford_mike]

lots of interesting stuff

Lovely bit of history, thanks

 

[Mrnotming]

Also,
Adventure guide to
Provence & the Cote d'Azur.
Hunter Publishing Inc.
130,Campus Drive,
Edison NJ

I have it on Kindle app.but would prefer to also have a physical copy for next year.!

Good luck with crossing!

 

[chuckr]

thanks to all

thanks to all on your thoughts and input --

we are still planning and the real decision date is sometime in may when we decide which way to turn when we are in either antigua or st martins

cheers and enjoy the holiday season coming up

chuck patty and svsoulmates
in trinidad for hurricane season