Curiosities and travel insights
The attractions of this area are even broader
“Plush” palms?
You can find palms of different species that look like stuffed animals; they actually have the stem (called the stipe) completely covered with dry leaves that are not removed to protect them from the weather and harmful insects such as the red boll weevil. Cutting leaves that are still green, in fact, increases the risk of entry through the lesions of pathogens; on the contrary, within the crown of dry drooping leaves live many “antagonistic” insects that are predators of phytophagous insects.
Where can I see them?
At the Hanbury Botanical Gardens in Ventimiglia and the Villa Thuret Botanical Gardens in Antibes.
A cactus that can be stroked
Called Cleitocactus colademononis or also cattail, native to the Bolivian Andes, particularly Santa Cruz, it blooms between late spring and early summer with beautiful red tubular flowers. Its long, fluffy thorns hide other short, thin thorns underneath and serve as protection from heat and animals, but if you stroke it the right way, you take no chances.
Where can I see it?
Araucaria cunninghamii
Where can I find monumental trees?
In the three gardens you can find very old trees of heritage interest, such as:
- Araucaria cunninghamii, native to Australia, planted by Daniel Hanbury, Thomas’s older brother, in 1872, at Hanbury Botanic Gardens
- Cupressus dupreziana, at the Val Rhameh Botanical Gardens
- Arbustus andracnoides and many others, at the Villa Thuret Botanical Gardens.
Your tour to discover the two Rivieras cannot be missed:
- Villa Ormond (San Remo)
- Villa Piacenza Boccanegra (Ventimiglia)
- Balzi Rossi Prehistoric Museum (Ventimiglia)
You can also go hiking:
- along the Corbusier trail (Carnoles – Cap Martin – Principality of Monaco) on the facing Cap Martin – Roquebrune MPA (for more information visit the following site)
- along the Cap d’Ail shoreline trail on the overlooking Malà Marine Reserve (for more information visit the following site)
- along the Nietzsche trail up to the exotic gardens of the medieval village of Eze (for more information visit the following site)
Or visit the other villas of the Belle Epoque:
Some of these gardens have been redeveloped in a joint network through the Jardival project.
