Castel Plage

This guide to Castel Plage in Nice opens on an overnight storm in May 2010 that hit the Riviera's beach clubs as the Cannes Film Festival gathered nearby, and follows how the restaurant's exposed position on the rocks below Castle Hill left it especially vulnerable. It traces the debate among restaurant owners over whether to keep rebuilding on ground the sea kept reclaiming, and the club's own history back to 1980 as successor to the old Bains de Police. Look around the terrace for the small collection of Riviera art scattered among the tables, including pieces by Ben and Arman.