The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-15
FROM A MONTGOMERY ROY AT NICE.


 The following extract from a ie..er written at Nice by Master James win cox to his parents, MT. and Mrs. James S. Wilcox, will be read with interest py his friends in Montgomery: ~
 Nice France. May 30. lyoz'
 At last we have reached a place Whete the sun shines. and where warm weather is sure thing. Nice is beautifuiy situ- ated. as you know. on the snithern coast of France. Mountains surround It on every siae exett'- une when is poloe. E .u by the beautiful blue Mediterranean. we left Paris on the 2Sth at o'clock. Went straight through, sitting up all night. to Marseilies, at which place we arrived at 4:45 a, m There is very little to see at Marseilles, outside of the cathedral. Notre Dame. This place of worship is built on one of the highest points about the city, From 1t we got very beautiful aud most extensive view of the whole city and harbor. We ascended the hill by means of an inclined railway. which is in- clined at an angle of about 30 degrees from the perpendic liar. After our visit to the cathedral. we took a car ride through town and then left for Nice at 1:45 p. m. All the afternoon we sped through valleys full of cherry orchards and olive groves. It is a great place for figs also. Occasionally, through gaps in the mountain ranges we saw the sea in the distance. We reached Nice at 945 D. m. On the first morning we were here, we took walk up a neighborng noun tain to get a view of the city. and I never saw anything half so beautiful. We are stopping a the Hotel Beau Rivage. which is situated on the beach, and we go to sleep every night to the music of the breakers. It Is the prettiest. most pie turesque. most foreign, most attractive place I ever visited. In the afternoon of our first day here, we took trolley car for Vile Franche, little port about four miles distant. A French fleet of sixteen ships happened to be stationed there. We went on board and were shown all over tho flagship St. Louis. It was very in teresting The next morning the whole fleet sailed. We saw them from Nice, far out on the horizon. Yesterday we went to Monte Carlo, but they would not let us in the gambling rooms because we wore our knickerbockers. It was a very pretty place, as 1 begin to think all places are around here. Today. we took another trolley ride out to another suburb called Cimiez. We did not stay there long, however, as we had to get back to second breakfast. I am writing this letter on top of the mountain we first visited. Nice lies stretched at our feet like q map Blue mountain ranges stretch away to our right and on some of the highest peaks, monasteries stand out, with windows all aglow by the setting sun. On our left lies the blue Medterra- mean. If stop and listen I can hear the songs of the returning fishermen, min- gled with the roar of the waves and the ringing of, the church bells. On the summit of this mountain one feels as though he were in dream. The murmur- ing of the frs, famed by the sea breezes and the sound of the falling water of an artificial cascade, blend together and form music sweet to my ear. The water for the cascade is brought from a moun- tain twenty-five miles distant. The city has 9 peculiar custom of firing a cannon at F o'clock each day and before the echoes of the shot have died away the bells of all the churches in the city be- gin ringing. This continues for about ten minutes and is most impressive I think We will leave Nice tomorrow morning and will probably go through to Rome without stopping at Geneva as we former. ly expected.