OUR COUNTRY LIFE 



discover a wonderful expanse of fragrance and bloom 

 in February, that is an achievement — that is La Mor- 

 tola. Not tucked away in an inaccessible corner of 

 Europe, but on the great highway between France and 

 Italy, close to that nightmare of the tourist, Ventimig- 

 lia, is the most attractive bit of landscape on the Med- 

 iterranean. And we knew nothing of it except possi- 

 bly its name, for Baedeker conscientiously recommends 

 it to the traveler. 



One year however we were fortunate enough to find 

 ourselves on the French Riviera during February, bask- 

 ing in the glowing sunlight of that sheltered coast. On 

 the heights above the closely built streets of Nice, away 

 from the shops, the clang of motor cars, the thronging 

 multitude, rises the pleasant suburb of Cimiez, a col- 

 lection of villas and hotels, each in its graceful garden. 

 From here in two short hours, over the famed Cornice 

 one may arrive at a stone gatehouse in the middle of a 

 long iron fence banked with bamboo and pepper trees, 

 carob and wild olive. 



Opposite it small houses rise one above another in 



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