Photo taken during our visit to Eze Jan 07

There's a path from the coast to the village called Nietzsche's Path; a local web site, in quaint English says:

When he arrives on the coast called Azur yet, the mental of Nietzsche is very bad. His books are sold badly, he comes just quarrel with Wagner and reject by Lou Andréa Salomé.

On the French Riviera, Nieztche will find the creative emotion necessary to write, "here, I grow on the sun as the plants grows there" he writes. And in a letter to Peter Gast he adds :"...This splendid plenitude of light has on me, a miraculous action".

Eze in particular by the path which takes from Eze station at the seaside to the village, will play a dominating part in his work. If it's proved that Nietzsche remained in Nice during his stay, an oral tradition also affirms that he stayed in Eze Seaside, on the site of the old post office.

According to some people, he would have also slept on several occasions in the village.

In Eze, the philosopher very sensitive to the influence of the climate and the landscapes, regenerates himself. Like many writers, he needs to walk to create." "I could, without having the concept of tiredness, be in the mountains during seven or eight hours of continuation". I slept well, I laugh much. I was in a perfect condition of patience."

nieztsche path

There, in the middle of olive-trees, euphorbia and holm oak, in the middle of this wild nature, with the Mediterranean in the background and the silhouette of the village. Nietszche composed some parts of Thus spoke Zarathoustra that he qualifies as "the decisive ones".

"The next winter, I found in Nice the third Zarathoustra - and I had thus finished", he writes adding : "This decisive part which have the name "Old and new tables" was composed during a laborious walk from the station to the Moorish village, built in the rocks."

http://www.eze-riviera.com/village/ang/path_nietzsche.htm