Taxi Nice — Levens

Levens is a perched town at 600 metres altitude on a plateau overlooking the Var valley, offering one of the most spectacular panoramas in the Nice hinterland. The village is best known for the Saut des Français, a vertiginous roadside promontory where, according to legend, French republican soldiers were hurled into the void by the Barbets (Niçois royalist resistance fighters) in 1793 during the Revolutionary Wars. The belvedere offers a 300-metre drop view into the Vésubie gorges, a truly dizzying spectacle. The village itself is charming and authentic, centred around its large square shaded by centuries-old plane trees, the true heart of local life where residents play pétanque and drink coffee. Levens is the birthplace of André Masséna, one of Napoleon's marshals, nicknamed the 'Beloved Child of Victory', whose birth house can still be visited. The baroque Church of Saint-Antonin, the chapels of the White and Black Penitents, and the old village lanes form a harmonious architectural ensemble. Levens is also renowned for its olive trees and olive oil production, as well as for its hiking: the Levens plateau offers easy trails with sweeping views of the Mediterranean on one side and the Alps on the other. The journey from Nice climbs rapidly from the Var valley on a winding road offering increasingly spectacular panoramas.