The Chemin de Nietzsche switchbacks above Èze-sur-Mer

From the eastern edge of the medieval village a stone path drops off the rock and switchbacks down to Èze-sur-Mer, four hundred metres below. Nietzsche walked it while composing part of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and the sign at the top still says so. The upper third is the photographic part: bare limestone, umbrella pines, agaves growing out of the wall, and the sea filling everything beyond the edge.

What it gives that the village cannot is depth. Inside Èze the lanes are a metre wide and every frame is close; here a couple can be small against the drop, walking a path that visibly goes somewhere. Early morning light comes across the sea and up the face, which is unusually flattering for a cliff — everything is lit rather than raked.

Go down, not up. From the village it is a descent, and a session that walks fifteen minutes down and back is comfortable; the full path to sea level takes about forty-five minutes one way and is a real hike with loose stone underfoot, not something to do in a dress and good shoes. Midday flattens the rock and gets hot fast in summer — this is a first-hour or last-hour spot.

Practical: proper shoes are the whole requirement, plus water in summer. There is no railing and the drop is genuine, so keep back from the edge and keep gear on the inside of the path. After rain the polished limestone is slick. And the trains at the bottom mean you can walk down and ride back up the coast if the day is going well.