ANYONE who’s followed the Northern Ireland soccer team around Europe will know that glamour fixtures are hard to come by. It’s an endeavour that, often as not, involves hauling oneself to inhospitable corners of the continent and huddling in the cold to watch between one’s fingers.
Norn Iron’s trip to Nice this summer will be nothing of the sort, however. The Côte d’Azur is about as glamorous a location as you can get and will be worth the trip for football fans and their sun-seeking entourages.
On June 12, the day before the Republic take on Sweden in Paris, the doors of Nice’s spanking new Allianz Riviera Stadium will welcome fans to cheer on the Green and White Army in their first Euro 2016 match against Poland.
Even though it doesn’t look it from the outside, it’s a small venue – 35,600 capacity – by international standards.
According to the stadium’s PR people, it’s also a very eco-friendly construction that used a huge amount of timber, which is not immediately obvious until you look closer, and the considerable wind power that funnels down through here from the north, as well as the solar power from the Riviera sun.
There is crowd segregation to keep rival fans from getting too touchy-feely, but one can wander from section to section within one’s segregated area; a welcome feature that isn’t present in every stadium, making for a very open, convivial atmosphere with the pitch at an intimate distance.
Oh, and don’t leave the stadium without visiting the very impressive National Sports Museum downstairs and the huge new shopping centre out the back.
The city of Nice itself is also not to be missed. The birthplace of the father of the Italian Republic Giusseppe Garibaldi has only been part of France since 1860 and you could hardly dream a more perfect combination of France and Italy into existence.
The layout is a mixture of 19th-century grandiose grid-patterned streets, the alluring old town (Vieille Nice), the port and some modern bits that fill in the rest.
Highlights include the very long beach-front promenade (Promenade des Anglais) which has more than a hint of California about it, the superb flower market on the Cours Saleya, where every possible spice, herb, foodstuff and product under the Provencal sun is available, and one of the most charming, authentic confectionary shops you’ll ever see – Maison Auer, opposite the Opera House.
Eating out offers you the full range of possibilities, ranging from Michelin-star L’Aromate to very affordable pizzerias. Culture-wise, the city’s superb modern art museum (Musée d’Art Moderne) is a must-see, with its brilliantly perverse creations by Yves Klein (a man who claimed to have invented his own hue of blue and who used naked models as paintbrushes – what’s not to like?), Christo and others from the School of Nice of the 1960s.
If you are tempted to follow an artistic trail, then you’re in a blessed part of the world. You could start by visiting the chapel that Henri Matisse designed from scratch just down the road in Vence – a unique and simple place of worship by an atheistic worshipper of colour.
If you really want to chase the cliché dream of the Riviera and visit Saint Tropez, be prepared to sit for hours in slow-moving traffic that clogs up the only road in and out of the famous resort all summer long.
You should also be prepared for the fact that even though there is a spacious marina adjacent St Trop, money evidently still dictates that you can park your oversized boat in the little old harbour, obscuring the view around what must have been one of the most gorgeous little fishing villages on the Mediterranean back in the 1950s – before Brigitte Bardot breezed into town and changed everything.
To get a more satisfactory flavour of the spirt of the Riviera, hang about in somewhere like Mandelieu-la-Napoule, where you’ll get the full dose (harbour and marina with plenty of unfeasibly-large yachts to ogle at, little beach, castle with art museum, good range of seafront restaurants) without too much traffic or fuss.
We stayed at an apartment complex that was right next door to the oldest golf course on the Côte d’Azur (appropriately named Old Course), where you can play in the shade of century-old giant 'parasol' pine trees, with the sandy beach just off course, as well as marinas literally left, right and centre.
For popping over to Cannes (only 7km away), my advice is to take an electric bike. In France, they’re not as limited by speed as they are at home (in theory, they can go up to 100kph). Even on the foldable small-wheeled types, we glided effortlessly into the Croisette at 42kph, zipping past semi-static traffic in dedicated cycle lanes, knowing that we wouldn’t be paying hourly rates to park.
Another great idea is to head west from here about 30km to the foot of the Esterel mountains. En route, keep your eyes peeled as you pass by Théoule-sur-Mer for the freaky-looking Palais Bulles (Bubble Palace) that was commissioned by designer Pierre Cardin.
The volcanic Esterel rocks might remind you of Australia or Wyoming, but they represent a gorgeous piece of wilderness sitting virtually right on one of the busiest stretches of coastline in Europe.
Following discreet signposting and with the use of a local map, you can follow marked trails up to the heights. It’s very doable for anyone with a pair of boots who’s halfway fit and the multiple effect of the blue sky, red rock and the Mediterranean before you is just stunning.
You’re on the Côte d’Azur but in the heart of nature. In other words, it’s a win-win situation – no matter what the result on the field of play.
FACT FILE
:: For accommodation close to the stadium, try the 4-star Servotel (www.servotel-nice.fr; +33.4.93.29.99.00). This place is a massive favourite for visiting football teams, with its open-air swimming pool, spacious car parking, easy access and superb breakfasts.
:: If you want to stay in more charming surroundings of Nice itself, a good option is the central Hôtel Windsor (www.hotelwindsornice.com; +33.4.93.88.59.35) – a quirky superior 3-star hotel with pool out the back and each room designed by a different artist.
:: In Mandelieu-la-Napoule, we stayed in the Irish-managed Mimozas Resort Cannes (www.mimozascannes.com; +33.4.93.48.54.00) – having just undergone a major facelift, it offers high-end living and impressive cuisine, all around a lake close to everything you could possibly want in life.
:: EasyJet flies to Nice Cote d’Azur Airport twice a week (Tuesdays and Saturdays from April to October) from Belfast International Airport.
:: For further information on everything to see and do in the region, see www.visitcotedazur.travel.
