There is something you notice quite quickly when you live
on, or even spend an extended amount of time on, the French Riviera:
being outdoors is not simply something people do here; it is a way of
life.
Look around the Côte d’Azur and it becomes
difficult to miss. Cyclists are climbing the hills above the coastline,
runners are following the Promenade des Anglais, swimmers are heading
into the Mediterranean, tennis players are using courts tucked into
neighbourhoods and resort towns, yacht crews are preparing for another
day on the water, hikers are hitting their strides into the hills and
mountains, and football (soccer) and athletics are taking place
throughout the region.
Seemingly forever the French Riviera has developed into far more than a destination for beaches, luxury hotels, yachts and glamorous events. It continues to become an increasingly important international sporting destination especially for marathons, with cycling, tennis, sailing, football, athletics, swimming, running and numerous other sports benefiting from something the region possesses in abundance: the ability to practise sport outdoors for much of the year in spectacular surroundings. That combination is difficult to compete with.
Outdoor Living is Part of the Culture
People sometimes make comparisons between homes on the Riviera and homes they may be accustomed to in North America. An apartment here can sometimes seem surprisingly small to someone coming from a North American sized apartment or house, particularly when they are accustomed to having substantial living rooms, large kitchens, garages, gardens and extensive private outdoor space. That comparison, however, can miss something important about life here.
Obviously,
this is a generalization and there are enormous differences depending
on where someone lives and what they can afford, but many people who
live on the Riviera simply spend a considerable amount of their lives
outside their homes.
Why sit inside when you can
meet a friend at a café? Why spend an afternoon watching television when
you can walk along the coast, hike through the hills, swim in the
Mediterranean, take the train a few stops and explore another town, or
simply sit in a village square and watch the world go by?
People aren’t simply walking from one place to another; they are more active. This is one of the things that makes the sporting culture here so interesting. Sport doesn’t necessarily feel like something that has been added to everyday life. Instead, it feels as though sport is an extension of everyday life.
The geography helps
enormously. You have the Mediterranean on one side and mountains and
hills on the other, meaning you can cycle along relatively flat coastal
roads or challenge yourself on serious climbs, swim in the sea, hike
through the Alpes-Maritimes, sail offshore, play tennis, run along the
coast or participate in organised athletics.
Then
there is the weather. While the Riviera certainly has rain, wind, cooler
periods and the occasional miserable day — amongst the 300+ days of
sunshine — the climate allows outdoor activity over a much longer period
than many parts of Europe and North America, and that matters
enormously to sport.
A Region Where Sport doesn’t have to Wait for Summer
One of the reasons the French Riviera works so well as an international sporting destination is that there isn’t the same sense that sport has to be squeezed into one particular season. Cycling can continue through much of the year, running doesn’t require a narrow summer window, sailing is possible for long periods, tennis has obvious advantages in this climate and swimming in the Mediterranean can extend well beyond what many visitors might expect.
The region also has the infrastructure and sporting associations to support it. There are clubs, associations, facilities and communities for an extraordinary range of activities, and you don’t have to be a professional athlete to participate. In fact, that may be one of the most important aspects of the Riviera’s sporting culture. International sporting events might bring elite athletes to the region, but the same environment encourages ordinary residents to get outside and participate themselves.
There is something wonderfully French about the idea of joining an association or club and becoming part of a local community through an activity. The sporting culture isn’t necessarily about competition or achieving some extraordinary physical goal; for many people, it is simply another way of building a social life while doing something that is good for their physical and mental wellbeing.
The World’s Athletes Already Know the Secret
The international sporting calendar has increasingly reinforced what residents have understood for years. The Côte d’Azur hosts or attracts major events and athletes across a remarkable range of disciplines. Tennis has an obvious presence through the Monte-Carlo tournament, while cycling has become deeply associated with the region’s spectacular climbs and roads, with Nice and the surrounding area increasingly featuring prominently in major professional cycling.
Sailing is practically inseparable from the identity of the Mediterranean coast, while Monaco has established itself as one of the world’s great sporting stages through Formula 1, athletics and other international events. Marathons have also become increasingly visible, particularly around Nice and the Promenade des Anglais, where the combination of a spectacular coastline and a relatively forgiving climate makes the setting almost absurdly attractive for major road races.
Then there is football (soccer). The region has its own professional football culture, but football is only one part of an enormous sporting ecosystem that includes swimming, rugby, golf, martial arts, gymnastics, ice sports, water sports and countless recreational activities. And yes, despite the Mediterranean climate, you can even find hockey and figure skating associations here, something I find particularly amusing given that I’m from Canada.
My Own Relationship with Sport Changed After Moving Here
Growing up in Canada, sport was a small part of my childhood. I played hockey and, where we lived, figure skating was also something we were encouraged to take to help develop balance and skating ability. Then I became a teenager and, like many teenagers, I suddenly decided that organised sport was boring to me. Swimming was the exception.
As an adult, I continued to walk a lot and eventually became interested in cycling, but moving permanently to the Côte d’Azur changed my relationship with being active in a way I never really expected. My walking increased substantially, partly because of curiosity and a great deal because walking became one of the best ways to discover where I lived.
The Riviera rewards walking. You can leave one town and find yourself in another, follow a coastal path, climbing into the hills is where I became an avid hiker, it’s a way to discover a viewpoint you didn’t know existed or simply wander through streets you have passed dozens of times without really noticing them. Then there is swimming. I swim almost daily beginning in the spring and push it as far into autumn as I possibly can. For me, the Mediterranean isn’t just scenery; it has become part of my routine, and that is the difference between visiting somewhere and actually living somewhere.
The Unexpected Fitness Holiday
One of the things I regularly notice on social media is visitors talking about how much weight they lost during a trip to the Riviera or anywhere in Europe. Sometimes they credit the food, particularly when comparing what they eat here with what they normally eat at home, but I suspect there is another explanation that is just as important: they moved — a lot.
People who come here for a holiday can easily walk thousands of additional steps every day without deliberately deciding to exercise. They walk to restaurants, along the waterfront, through old towns, up and down stairs, to train stations, through markets and between villages. They hike, explore and wander because walking is often the easiest way to experience the place. Some visitors probably return home wondering why their feet hurt so much, while others return home wondering why their clothes suddenly fit differently. In the end being pleasantly surprised with themselves.
The irony is that many of them haven’t necessarily been “working out.” They have simply been living, temporarily, the way people here often live.
Sport Becomes Social
There is another reason the Riviera’s sporting culture continues to grow, and it has less to do with exercise than it does with community. People who move here can sometimes arrive without the social networks they had in their home countries. Making friends as an adult isn’t always easy, particularly when you’re building an entirely new life in another country.
Joining a sports association can change that. You aren’t simply joining an activity; you are joining a group of people who have something in common. A cycling club can become a social network, a swimming group can become a regular part of your week, a tennis club can introduce you to people, a hiking group can take you to places you may never have discovered alone, and a sailing association can become a genuine community.
Suddenly, the person who arrived knowing almost nobody has somewhere to go, people to see and something to look forward to. This is one of the less obvious attractions of life on the French Riviera. The sport itself is important, but the people you meet through it can be even more important.
You Don’t Have to be an Athlete
Perhaps that is the biggest misconception about the Riviera’s sporting culture. You don’t have to be particularly athletic, you don’t have to own expensive cycling equipment, you don’t need to run a marathon and you certainly don’t need to swim five kilometres. You can simply walk, take the stairs, go for a swim, join a hiking group, rent a bicycle, play a casual game of tennis, walk to the next village or explore a trail.
The point isn’t necessarily performance; it is participation. The extraordinary thing about the Côte d’Azur is that the environment itself encourages participation. Nature is constantly inviting you outside, and once you begin responding to that invitation, being active can stop feeling like something you have to force yourself to do.
Perhaps the Greatest Benefit has Nothing to Do with Sport
This is ultimately why I think the sporting identity of the French Riviera is so interesting. Yes, there are economic benefits. International competitions bring athletes, spectators, teams, sponsors and media attention, while major sporting events provide another reason for people to visit the region outside the traditional luxury-tourism narrative. But the more important benefit may be what happens to the people who actually live here.
Being outside and physically active can improve physical fitness, but it can also change how connected people feel to their surroundings and to other people. There is the mental benefit of sunlight, fresh air, movement and simply getting away from four walls, along with the social benefit of meeting people and the psychological benefit of having routines and activities that give structure to your week.
I personally know people whose lives have changed significantly after adopting this more outdoor-oriented way of living. Some have told me that, with appropriate medical supervision, they have eventually been able to reduce medications such as antidepressants or blood-pressure medication as their overall health and wellbeing improved. That isn’t an argument for replacing medical treatment with sunshine, swimming or hiking; it is an observation about what can happen when people fundamentally change how they live.
And perhaps that is where the French Riviera has something particularly powerful to offer. Nature doesn’t necessarily cure everything, but it can change the conditions in which we live. It can get us moving, get us outside, introduce us to people and make us feel connected to the place we call home. It can remind us that being healthy isn’t only about what happens inside a doctor’s office or a gym; sometimes it is about walking out your front door.
On the Cote d’Azur, that door might lead to a Mediterranean coastline, a mountain trail, a village, a tennis court, a cycling route, a swimming spot or a café filled with people you have come to know. Perhaps that is the real secret behind the region’s reputation as an international sporting destination.
The French Riviera doesn’t simply provide somewhere to play sport. It provides a lifestyle in which being active feels like the most natural thing in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment