WHAT and where is the Riviera?
It is the sunniest, warmest and driest district on the Continent of Europe. It lies along the northern shore of the Mediterranean.
It has no defined limits, but is generally understood to extend from Hyères, some sixty miles eastward of Marseilles, to the neighbourhood of distant Leghorn (or Livorno), so that it is partly in France and partly in Italy.
The inland boundary is fixed by the highlands of the hinterland, for the climate which makes the Riveria is the offspring of sheltered, sunny lowlands, and as the high ground is nowhere far from the sea, the Riviera is but a narrow strip.
A Playground of the World
There was a time when the Riviera was regarded chiefly as a health resort, visited almost solely by those suffering from bronchial or pulmonary troubles and able to flee from the rigours of an English winter. Reports of the beauty of the country, the charm of the climate, and the cheapness of living drew to the favoured region many who had not the excuse of sickness for their visit.
