DH and I LOVE Italy and Southern France. So many times we speculate about where we would want to buy if we could afford a little vacation place. France or Italy. Italy or France? So, now I'm wondering if there is a sweet town straddling both countries that might be a wonderful place to visit and satisfy our love of 2 countries??

We'd like a train to be convenient. I love art. He loves history. Eating is also a good thing.

I have more French language than Italian but Italy has my heart....any suggestions?

You don't need a town straddling the border - anyplace within an hour of the border either way would make a very easy trip. And if you lived there you would end up larning both languages out of necessity.

NICE !!

We liked Nice very much but were thinking of something a bit smaller. On the other hand, we didn't see much local stuff in Nice, cigalechanta. Any good neighborhoods?

In the old town and there are plenty of good Italian restaurants and the natives speak both French and Italian.
The Nice olive oil Alizari is one of my favorites.

Menton is closer to the border.

We didn't get to Menton on our trip. It looks good on paper!

i don't think it exists. If it's on the French side, it's totally French. If it's on the Italian side, it's disappointing.

Nice

Stu Dudley

If you like off the beaten track places, head for the Roya Valley : Saorge, Breil sur Roya and Tende on the Bevera.

<i>i don't think it exists</i>

Menton or a village that straddles the border?

Nice

Will check those out Pvoyageuse, thanks.

StCirq, you may be correct. Why do you say it's disappointing on the Italian side?

Pv, I looked at the 3 you mentioned and I thank you.


How about nearer the water. Know I didn't mention that at first but I think we'd be happier closer to la mer.

Nice or Genoa as closest big city?

Big vote for Menton. We stayed there a week in November a couple of years ago and loved it. We were back about a week ago in warmer weather and also loved it. It may be a bit more French than Italian but the influence is unmistakable. It's a bit sleepy but still has plenty of things to do. There's also a heavy duty British presence which I understand is credited with keeping prices there among the lowest on the Riviera. It's climate is also considered best on the Riviera. Lovely markets. Two harbor areas. Lots to recommend it.

I've always noticed when crossing the border from France into Italy along the Med that the scenery is almost immediately somewhat shabbier, same for the roads and dwellings. I KNOW the Italian economy has been in a boom for a lot of the recent past, but it's unmistakeable that things aren't as well cared for or kept up.

I haven't crossed from France into Italy anywhere else in recent years so can't comment on that.

StCirq: Does it also seem that the Italian area is not so highly promoted as other areas in Italy? How many people make that area first choice, or as I, even know the names of the towns.

Julie, thanks. Just the kind of info I'd hoped for.

I did get out the atlas and found some more names on the Italian side: Ventimiglia, San Remo (both familiar) and Imperia and Alassio.

Back to the internet!

I have never seen a town that is both Italian and French, in name or feel - even Ventimiglia, right across a river from France is thoroughly Italian and Menton, on the French side so so French.

Perhaps a place like Tende, which i have not explored? But thankfully French towns are still French thru and thru and Italian Italian thru and thru

I think Aosta is an interesting village which straddles cultures and also food of two different modern countries. You are IN Italy, but the main square has the "Hotel de Ville" as the Mayor's admin office...and everybody I came in contact with spoke native fine French even though you are in the Repubblica Italiana.

This bilingualism comes from the fact that the valley was earlier part of the Savoy dukedom (La Savoie , old HQ= Chambery) and as such was a French-speaking people. Access from the north is either from Mont Blanc tunnel from France, or French speaking Switzerland.

Another quirk of the peace treaties of Europe is in the Alto Adige (SudTyrol)in northeastern Italy where you have real Italians with names like Dieter Neuman who speak Italian with a German turn. Fun to visit like north of Bolzano( Bolzen). You get both spaghetti, konditorei and sauerkraut equally well done. Fun to see the effects of redrawn borders over time. Ciao, Rouss

I've never found the towns on the Italian side of the French/Italian border to be of much interest and San Remo seemed particularly unappealing. We were just in Tende and found it wonderful. But it is a little small and would not seem to hold the same interest as Menton, nor would it be easy to get from Tende to other towns to extend your experience a bit. The roads around Tende are very slow going with lots of hairpin curves. We weren't there long enough to provide a real feel for how multi-ethnic it might be. It seemed more like a mountain village than like either a French or Italian village.