After the holidays, many of us living in northern climates long to escape the cold, gray days. Agatha Christie’s characters, especially those with a little money and no regular job, felt the same way. The Riviera was a favorite winter destination for decades, but that was changing during the 1920s.

Agatha Christie refers to the Riviera in several novels such as The Man in the Brown Suit, Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective, and of course, The Mystery of the Blue Train which I wrote about last year. In that book, Katherine Grey is standing in Cook’s and she thinks:

The man with whom the clerk was engaged was also going to the Riviera. Every one, she felt, was going. Well, for the first time in her life, she, too, would be doing what "everybody did."

The Mystery of the Blue Train was published in 1928 and although Katherine may not have known it, by then the Riviera was not where “everybody” was going in the winter.

The French and Italian coast boasts more sunlit hours than London and a milder climate. The Alps protect the Riviera from north winds and the shallow Mediterranean Sea warms it. In the early 1800s, English patients choking on coal-smoked smog found their breathing improved during a winter on the Riviera. Soon, all sorts of people with the means were flocking to the coast.

Queen Victoria herself spent many winters along the Mediterranean, basically bringing her entire working court with her. Russian Czars and Czarinas and other members of European aristocracy did the same, along with lesser nobles and those with no titles but plenty of money.

The Riviera was a delightful place during winter in the mid- to late-1800s. The days were bright but crisp so one could wear the fabulous furs and elaborate clothing of the time without overheating. In fact, by Easter, wealthy patrons abandoned the Riviera, deeming the weather too hot and stuffy.

No one visited during the war years, naturally, and money was tight for Europeans after World War I. But the American dollar was strong, bringing many thrifty Americans to the coast. Artists and poets found the Riviera cheap during the off-season, after the winter crowd went home. People like Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway and Coco Chanel threw off Victorian clothes as well as Victorian morals to work on their tans and transform the Riviera into a summer playground.

Christie refers to these shifts in the Riviera's popularity in "The Soul of the Croupier," a short story from The Mysterious Mr. Quinn, published in 1930. She writes:

Every year regularly, on the second Sunday in January, Mr. Satterthwaite left England for the Riviera...In the month of April he returned to England...This morning he was frowning...he missed the usual leaven of the élite—his own people …All sorts of people come here now who could never have afforded it before…All the young people—the people coming on—they go to these Swiss places...But there were others that he missed, the well dressed Barons and Counts of foreign diplomacy, the Grand Dukes and the Royal Princes...the beautiful and expensive ladies...

Mr. Satterthwaite is a bit of a snob, but he also admits to getting on in years and not keeping up with changes in fashion. He realizes that wintering on the Riviera is a trend that has passed.

Travel today is even more common and less expensive than it was a hundred years ago, offering so many options for escaping the cold. Wintering on the Riviera is considered a “low season” bargain now, although it’s still pricey if you’re considering it.

As much as I like seasons and snow, too many gloomy days in a row can be tough to face. Like Katherine Grey and Mr. Satterthwaite, I wouldn’t mind trading a few weeks of winter for a little sunshine sparkling on the sea!