On May 6 we took the same bus that travels up the mountainside to Peille, but exited twenty minutes earlier in the picturesque village of La Turbie.
At an elevation of 1150 metres (3770 feet), the village overlooks the Principality of Monaco and while it looks like a long way, it apparently takes about ten minutes to drive from La Turbie to Monaco.
La Turbie was settled by the Romans more than 2000 years ago, but the village exudes a lovely charm showcasing its more modern past that is an eclectic mixture of medieval, classical and baroque styles.
Both John and I agree that nothing compares to quaint, narrow, pedestrian-only streets and La Turbie has an abundance of them. Every few feet there was another image to capture for posterity.
It was impossible to get a photo of the entire front of the church (seen above) from the narrow street in front, but we were able to get a pic of the rear of the church from the street leading up to the cemetery.
The piece de resistance in La Turbie, however, is the Roman Trophee d'Auguste (back left below). It dominates the village skyline. (As an added bonus the top portion of the church is visible!)
Built to honour Emperor Augustus, the Trophee d'Auguste was originally 49 metres (160 feet) high and topped by a giant statue of the Emperor.
Sadly, the Trophee d'Auguste and surrounding gardens are closed Monday, but we'll return on our next visit to get a closer look.
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| Entrance to the Trophee d'Auguste |
We walked up a slight incline and through the multi-layered cemetery in the hopes of getting a better view of the tower, but to no avail. Still, the panorama of the surrounding countryside was worth the effort.
I really loved this old doorway that we stumbled upon near the end of our exploration of La Turbie.
Last, but certainly not least, we stopped for lunch at La Terrasse owned and operated by a delightful French/Australian husband and wife team, Helen and Jacques Barraja.
Next time we return to La Terrasse we'd love to sit outside on the patio, but on this visit it was a tad chilly and quite windy so we opted for a table inside.
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| Photo courtesy of TripAdvisor |
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to La Turbie and look forward to returning in the future.
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