On April 23rd, the new guide “111 Places in Nice Not to Miss” written by Anne Lombardo will be released. A guide filled with anecdotes that will reveal Nice to you in a new light.
Anne Lombardo, aged forty-four, is currently a marketing manager at a communication agency in Nice. She started her career as a journalist specializing in tourism before venturing into blogging in 2012 with a blog dedicated to Nice. Following the success of her blog, she was offered the opportunity to write this guide.
Nice is not limited to the famous Promenade des Anglais or Place Masséna. This city hides many treasures, with its numerous secrets and extraordinary stories. Through “111 Places in Nice Not to Miss,” you will be able to explore beyond the usual paths and discover the city of Nice from a different perspective. We met Anne Lombardo, the author of the book.
Can you give us a brief summary?
“It is not a traditional tourist guide as we all know, but it is a guide that will highlight one hundred and eleven places, one hundred and eleven chapters, each illustrated by a photo. The idea is therefore to present places differently, with anecdotes, historical facts, and to slightly stray from the beaten path. Initially, I made a list which I revised and corrected each time because there were many changes. And I made many discoveries, met many people. I realized that there is a lot in Nice, sometimes hidden behind a simple monument. I really tried to find an unusual angle and provide information that few people know.”
How did you come up with the idea of writing this guide?
“In fact, it was a German publishing house that handles the collection. It launched this collection of guides called ‘one hundred and eleven places’ during the lockdown and offered me in June 2022 to see if I was interested in writing the edition dedicated to Nice. I accepted the challenge and embarked on writing this guide, which took me about a year and a half.”
How did you select these different places?
“In this guide, there are plenty of quirky places filled with anecdotes and to find them, I read a lot. I spent a lot of time at the library to gather information from magazines, history books, and archives as well. But I also had many exchanges with locals from Nice, including a Niçois named Michel Bozzano, a former carnival maker who shared many anecdotes with me. So, there was also a lot of oral transmission. It really allowed me to enrich and go beyond the archive readings. The research work was very long, but it was fascinating.”
If you had to introduce us to three unusual places, which ones would they be?
“It’s difficult to choose because out of a hundred, there are really many and I loved them all. I discovered so many things, but I can mention, for example, the City of the Blind in Valrose. This story struck me because Samuel Goldenberg, a Titanic shipwreck survivor, created a hospice with his wife to help visually impaired people. I can also tell you about a church in old Nice, very well-known by locals, the Church of the Annunciation, but all Niçois know it under the name of Sainte Rita Church. There’s also the Palais d’York, for instance, one of the first hotels for travelers in Nice.”
When and where can we find the book?
“It will be released on April 23rd in many bookstores in Nice. It will also be available at Fnac and Cultura, and also for online purchase. On April 27th, at the bookstore ‘La Sorbonne Brouillon de culture,’ one of the oldest bookstores in Nice, my first signing session will take place.”
