Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Tram Tuesday - Le Cannet

I have received a complaint - from a member of my own household, no less. The complaint was something along the lines of : "Enough already with the French Riviera trams!" If you happen to feel the same way, know that this is the last Tuesday of French Riviera trams, at least for the foreseeable future.

How can you not love these cards that transport us back in time to give us a glimpse of daily life in the beautiful Le Cannet though? I especially like the first two, because they appear to have been taken in sequence.


Here are a few closeups of the two cards.

The same man seems to be on both cards along with the young men who are probably up to some kind of mischief.

The trams that traveled to Le Cannet would have been part of the Tramway de Cannes system. The Cannet line opened in 1899. By 1907, the Tramway de Cannes also linked with the Tramway de Nice (TNL). Early service on the Tramway de Cannes was uncomfortable and apparently plagued by accidents. There was a particularly nasty accident in 1913 where several tramcars plunged into a ravine, killing 18 and injuring another 25. In that same year, newer more modern tramcars were purchased, including #30 shown above. Still, with an assortment of cars of different vintages and low power, the system was especially vulnerable to competition from bus lines. Tram service ended in 1933.
Here are a few more views of trams in Le Cannet.

The card above shows an open car, which would have been a fun ride, except perhaps on dangerous curves over steep ravines. This card also shows the Pension des Heliotropes. I would love to stay there, and, while I think it is still there, I don't think it operates as a pension anymore. Here's a listing from a 1943 paper that seems to indicate that the pension and all of its furnishings are being sold.



3 comments:

  1. They do appear to be in sequence, and the camera-shy round tower wants to hide behind a tree no matter which angle you shoot from... The tree on the first card also looks like it would block passage of the tram- perhaps since noted 'terminus', it didn't need to get past the tree, but the tracks and overhead lines seem to continue on the second card. (And just for the record, it wasn't technically a 'complaint', merely an observation that you have lots of great tram cards, so the saturation bombing of Cote d'Azur ones seemed kind of excessive- maybe our cool rainy weather was making you long for sunnier climes...)

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  2. Any tram postcard is usually a winner in my book. Don't pay attention to the "peanut gallery". Haha. I like the looming round structure above the tree in the second postcard.

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  3. I can never see enough of these Riviera cards...

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