The house sits at the end of a cul-de-sac close to quiet woodland. Footpaths go down through the woods to the beach, which is about a 2.5 km hike. For those young and fit it's about a 30 minute walk down the hill. It adds another dimension to the holiday to be able to leave the car at the house and hike along the banks of the River Loup and under the coast road to the sea.
In the other direction the road heads inland to the neighbouring valley, which is a modern, built-up area with shops, a Casino supermarket and bakeries. It gives the house an advantage in that you can sit by the pool and have drinks looking out over woodland and think you are in the middle of nowhere, but if you need to grab some baguettes for dinner the shop is around 1.5km, or a 5 minute drive away.
It is also fairly well placed to access the A8 motorway, which makes getting into downtown Nice easy. We did the trip in 20 minutes door-to-door outside of rush hour. Parking Sulzer is the most convenient, modern and safe place to park, with an elevator that comes right up into the Cours Saleya for the flower market and old town Nice.
The property has a husband and wife couple who live next door and look after the garden, deal with trash, etc. They are both very helpful and very friendly. The wife speaks good English.
The house itself is a gem. Very large, and undergoing the sort of renovation that becomes a labour of love rather than a building project. There are parts of the house that are locked off, presumably for the use of the owners, but plenty of space remaining over 3 floors for guests to enjoy. The kitchen is extremely well equiped and the appliances are new.
The pool, pool deck and pool house are new. There is an outdoor table with sun shade where we ate most evening meals. Close by is a gas grill. Inside the pool house is another kitchen, fridge and all the outdoor plates and utensils.
My lasting impression of the house is the quiet, good taste in which it has been decorated, and the expense that has been put into the renovation. All the windows and doors looked new, and were hand-painted hardwood with traditional fixtures. All the windows open. The furniture is well made . The bed linens and towels are all new, crisp and white. It seemed that all rooms had air conditioning, operated by remote control. Small vents in the ceiling blew conditioned air, and best of all, silently.
The key question is always, would I go back? The answer is yes. I miss it already.