From the archive record
Landing at Nice airport an dthe aerial view of the Cote D'Azure. The Côte d'Azur (French pronunciation: [kot daˈzyʁ]; Occitan: Còsta d'Azur; literally: Azure Coast), often known in English as the French Riviera, is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from the Italian border in the east to Saint-Tropez, Hyères, Toulon or Cassis in the west. This coastline was one of the first modern resort areas. It began as a winter health resort for the British upper class at the end of the 18th century. With the arrival of the railway in the mid-19th century, it became the playground and vacation spot of British, Russian, and other aristocrats, such as Queen Vict