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Follow
the Footsteps of Queen Victoria on the Riviera. 5.
1895-1899
Nice On
her first two visits to Nice in 1895 and 1896 the Queen stayed in the
Grand Hôtel in Cimiez above Nice. On her next three visits she stayed in
the Excelsior Hôtel Regina, Cimiez, which had been built with her needs
in mind. She travelled with a staff of 100 and took over the whole west
wing. A
highlight of her visits was the Battle of the Flowers on the Promenade des
Anglais in Nice, where she loved to throw flowers at the young army
officers. She
invited Sarah Bernhardt, considered by many British to be an immoral
woman, to perform for her. In
the afternoons the Queen usually drove out from Cimiez in her carriage and
among the places visited were Villefranche and Beaulieu. The Queen always
gave alms to beggars and especially to the funny old one-legged beggar,
Charles Alberique, who was on a cart drawn by two dogs, who tried to keep
up with the royal carriage. Church
services were usually held in a chapel in the hotel, but on her first
visit she attended the Holy Trinity Church in Nice. Her coat-of-arms hangs
inside the church. It is at 11 Rue de la Buffa and is still an active
Anglican church. It has an interesting cemetery. The
Grand Hôtel and the Excelsior Hôtel Regina are at the top of the
Boulevard de Cimiez. The Grand Hotel was turned into a hospital and the
Excelsior appartments. The splendid Belle Epoque Excelsior building can be
seen well from the outside. In front of the Excelsior is a statue of the
Queen erected in 1912. |
Queen Victoria Statue, Nice Photo by HJ Nelson, 1999. |