‘In the daytime it is impossible to keep the flies out of your mouth, nostrils, eyes, and ears. They crowd into your milk, tea, chocolate, soup, wine, and water; they soil your sugar, contaminate your victuals, and devour your fruit; they cover and defile your furniture, floors, ceilings, and indeed your whole body.’ The Nice Carnival, or Battle of Flowers, has its origin right back in the time of the floral games of the Greeks of _Nicæa_. THE UPPER CORNICHE ROAD The advantages of the upper road over the lower are in the finer scenery and in the absence of dust and trams; but as the return journey gives one a double opportunity, it is easy to go by one and come back by the other. On the upper road one passes above the romantically situated village of Eze, which makes a perfect picture in its setting of pines and its background of sea. This eagle’s nest was occupied by the Romans, and later by the Saracens, whose ruined castle is still visible on the top of the rocky height. A little farther on a bend of the road brings La Turbie in sight. Above the roofs of the houses and the church tower rises the massive ruin of the huge trophy of the Emperor Augustus, put up in the year 12 B.C. to commemorate the defeat of forty-five Ligurian tribes. Part of the present structure is medieval, for the vast monument was at one time incorporated into a stronghold, which was no doubt partially built of the stones of the magnificent Roman work. From La Turbie the views along the coast embrace practically the whole of the French Riviera, for one can see the Estérels away in the west; down below are Monaco and Monte Carlo; to the east are Cap Martin and Mentone. A funicular railway goes down from La Turbie to Monte Carlo, but this is of minor interest to the motorist. The road descends to the coast past the picturesque old village of Roquebrune, with its ruined castle on a mass of brown conglomerate rock, and joins the lower road near Cap Martin. If one goes by the coast road, one passes through Villefranche, with its sheltered bay, much frequented by French warships. The old town is eminently picturesque, with its foreground of brightly painted boats in the harbour, protected by an old tower belonging to the days when corsairs were continually dreaded. There are curious old streets, with supporting arches and dark passages, typical of the Ligurian method of building. Beaulieu is little more than a scattered collection of pleasantly situated hotels and villas. It was here that the late Lord Salisbury had a house. MONACO