wanderer

I initially thought that we would not have enough to keep us occupied for a week long trip to the Cote d'Azur (our first trip there).

Now our week has grown to 11 days - albeit one is a full travel day (night) on the plane from Boston, and 2 on either end are travel days in and out.

I've just also realized that my itinerary is 9 days long, and we will only have 8 full days there. So.... I need some help "trimming".

We will be going in May, staying at Le St. Paul in St. Paul de Vence. Our interests are small villages, no glitz (we have no interest in Monaco or Monte Carlo), shopping, cafe sitting, eating, and just meandering. We're also not big nature buffs or hikers.

I'd love some suggestions here on what to cut. I've listed each day with the towns we most want to see listed first. We thought the day we fly in we'd just check in, get a bite to eat, wander around St. Paul, nap (yes, we know that's a "no no&quot and take it easy, so I have nothing planned for that day. Our flight on the day out leaves at 10am, so we will no time that day. The itinerary is not in any specific day order.

Day 1 - St. Tropez/Ramatuelle/Ste. Maxime
Day 2 - Antibes/Juan les Pins/Cap d' Antibes
Day 3 - Grasse/Mougins/Valluris
Day 4 - St. Paul de Vence/Biot/Haut de Cagnes
Day 5 - Vence/Gourdon/Tourettes sur Loup
Day 6 - Nice/Villefrance
Day 7 - Cap Martin/Eze/St. Jean Cap Ferrat/Beaulieu sur mer
Day 8 - Menton/Roqueburne/Peillon/La Turbie
Day 9 - Cannes/Frejus/St.Raphael/Port Grimaud

My inclination is to cut Tourettes sur Loup and Gourdon, and put Vence in Day 4 in place of St. Paul and see St. Paul the day we arrive.

Would love to hear people's favorites and not so favorites - did you go somewhere not worth it, or not see something you wished you had?

wanderer

p.s. We are not museum people either. Rather be outside wandering through the streets, admiring the architecture, etc.

artlover

I'm not familiar with all the places you've mentioned, but can tell you that if you like small villages, Gourdon is a charm.

I'm not sure what you plan to do and see in Cannes or St. Tropez, but IMO they both border on "glitz."

Judy

I tend to agree with artlover...keep the Vence, Gourdon, Tourettes sur Loup day. Based on your preferences, I'd lose day #9.

Surlok

I tend to agree with Judy and Artlover: I would drop your day 1, and day 9.

Also, unless you're going in Summer, when days are loonger, I wouldn't plan such a tight schedule. I 'd rather leave some room so that, if you want to spend some more time in a place, rather than rushing to see another village, it woudn't ruin all of your plans.

Tourettes is not to be missed!!

adrienne

Hi wanderer,

Absolutely keep Tourettes-sur-Loup; it's a charming town and won't take up much time. I bought two lovely watercolors there on two different trips. It's very close to Vence. I recommend lunch at Chez Gran'mere - the Exotic salad or Couscous with brochette.

I would drop Nice (large, noisy city; only the old part is of much interest unless you want to see some of the museums) and replace it with the Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, very near Villefranche.

I also recommend skipping Grasse. If you want to go to a perfumery, there is a Fragonard shop and perfumery with tour on the road between Mougins and Grasse. You'll avoid all the Grasse tour bus traffic and parking problems.

Unless you're going to Peillon for the Canavesio frescoes or for a fabulous meal at Auberge de la Madonne I would skip Peillon. It's difficult to find and will take a lot of time getting there. I would NOT recommend driving there after dark - it would be very hazardous. Menton, Roquebrun, and La Turbie will fill up your day. If Peillon is a must see my notes give the following directions: Exit 55 from the Autoroute, follow the signs to Sospel and take the D2204, D21, and D121.

I've read Vence is a lovely town but the only experience I have there is the Matisse Chapel, open Tuesdays and Thursdays, closed mid-day. It was an experience I would like to repeat one day and would highly recommend making the effort to see it. A short lecture on the chapel is given in French and is only translated if a tourist offers to do so. If you need more info on the chapel let me know.

Biot is another favorite of mine; the walled village, not the glass blowing. There are many places for lunch here and lots of shops, some sell inferior pottery. The one I particularly like was Faience de Biot which specializes in blue and white ceramics. They are located away from the main shops, to the left as you enter the town. Gallerie des Arcades is a great place for lunch.

Day 7 - when you mention Eze keep in mind there are two towns called Eze. It looks like you have the one on the water in mind since you're combining it with Beaulieu and St-Jean. The one you want is Eze Village (the perched village) and it's off the Moyen Corniche, not Eze-sur-Mer.

I would also keep the Esterel Corniche, where the ochre mountains almost touch the blue sea and you drive between the two. A wonderful drive. I also enjoyed Frejus.

Day 2 - Antibes, Cap d'Antibes, and Juan les Pins won't take a full day. You might combine this with the Esterel Corniche and Frejus.

Regarding the nap - I'm always in favor of an afternoon nap the day I arrive. I find it helps set my internal clock and without it I need three days to recover from jet lag. The nap allows me to recover the first day.

Underhill

By all means cut day 9 and use the time elsewhere--and I'd be inclined to cut day 1 as well. The traffic into and out of St. Tropez is hideous, and in the town itself there's not all that much to see even if you can see through all the other tourists.

Nice, on the other hand, has a great deal to offer: the old town was made for rambling, with interesting shops and restaurants and cafés for watching the world go by. The Promenade Anglais is delightful on a warm day, and the port is fascinating. I would suggest driving the Middle Corniche to Monaco and back for some spectacular scenery.

Vence has a delightful old town, but you don't need much more than an hour or two to wander around. St.-Paul also does not require a large amount of time, as it's very compact. So both of those on one day would work well.

The full day you have allocated for the Antibes area is just right, especially given the traffic in the region. There's much to see, and the daily market in old Antibes is fascinating.

Day 9 gives you a lot to cover; I would and adding the time to Day 8 and Day 5.

Underhill

Something went wrong when I tried to finish my previous post. So I'll try again.

Day 9 gives you a lot to cover, and Menton is a traffic nightmare of St.-Tropez proportions. So I would suggest skipping that trip and spending more time instead in Nice and environs and the Cannes/Mougins area, perhaps visiting the charming little town of Valbonne.

Another nice spot is St.-Laurent-du-Var, which has a nice selection of restaurants and cafés bordering the port.

Finally, I second others' votes to keep Gourdon and Tourette-sur-Loup. They're very different from each other but quite enjoyable and picturesque.

We have spent a fair amount of time in the area of your itinerary and have friends who live near Grasse. So if you want restaurant recommendations, let me know. Also, you might want to consider staying at hotels in two different areas to save a lot of backtracking to St.-Paul every night

wanderer

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. We had St. Tropez and Cannes because they sounded like they had some great streets to wander, but more importantly they had an antiques market, which we really want to see while we were there.

If I cut these, are there any other towns that have such a market?

Everyone has mentioned the traffic. We will be going last part of April, first part of May. Will traffic really be horrendous then?

If I were to do 2 hotel locations given this itinerary, what would you suggest as a 2nd? We are set on staying in St. Paul.

andy

wanderer== I am probably the only one that loves St Tropez from all the previous posters..I could have spent a week there just wandering around the streets..

It is charming with lots of shops and cafes to wander among..I personally would not cross St Tropez off my list..


Here is a link on Antique Markets:

http://riviera.angloinfo.com/information/1/brocvar.asp

http://www.departures.com/wg/wg_0902_sttropez.html

http://www.rivieraby.com/events/manif.htm

http://www.provence-service.com/calendar.htm


We are also into antiques and that makes up more than 1/2 of our vacationing when we drive in an area...

Have a blast~

wanderer

OK - We have CUT!! Here is what we have cut - please anyone tell me if I will be sorry to miss any of these places:

Menton, Juan les Pins, La Turbie, Peillon Frejus, St. Rafael, Ramautelle, Ste. Maxime, and Grimaud.

Cannes and St. Tropez are still up for discussion. Perhaps if we can find antiques markets closer, we will cut St. Tropez since that is the farthest away, and spend more time in some of the other villages people mentioned - I especially like the looks of Valbonne.

Please comment on the NEW itinerary (not in any day order yet) - if these groupings make sense as far as distance and not overloading any one day.

Tourettes sur Loup/Gourdon
Biot/Antibes/Haut de Cagnes
Mougins/Cannes
Nice/Roquburne
Villefrance/St. Jean Cap Ferrat/Eze Village
St. Paul de Vence/Vence
Grasse/Vallauris
St. Tropez

adrienne

Hi wanderer,

You originally had Beaulieu on your itinerary. I would keep it for the Greek Villa. It's very close to Villefranche so I would include it on day 5.

OReilly

Hello Wanderer:

I was on the Cote d?Azur in early December for a couple of days and stayed at the Hotel St. Paul in St. Paul: Wonderful small hotel with pretty rooms, friendly service and a great restaurant.

I took a leisurely drive along the coast to Menton, stopping at various points along the way. I would recommend spending a couple of hours in Menton; here?s the town?s website (I particularly loved the cemetery:

http://www.villedementon.com/uk/index.htm

I then took a side-trip to the lovely hill town of St. Agnes, which is definitely worth a detour:

http://www.villedementon.com/uk/agnes.htm

I intended to drive back along the Cornich superior, but it was too dark.

The following day, I spent a couple of hours exploring St. Paul ? it is very small and very lovely but apparently gets very crowded in tourist season, so I suggest you take your tour early in the day. I then spent several hours wandering around Nice.

I hope to return again in a couple of weeks, so I am grateful for this assistance in planning. I have attached links to some of my photos to get you in the right frame of mind.

Have a wonderful trip J

Regards ? Ger

Road to Menton:
www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=e6u...1&y=al9vg8

Menton:
www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=e6u...=1&y=q8ssw

St. Paul:
www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=e6u...&y=-uflx2t

Nice:
www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=e6u...0&y=o6hyq8

Underhill

Wandered,

Your revised itinerary looks quite good, although I would try to squeak in a little more time for Nice. Also, if you hit St.-Tropez early in the morning (meaning arrive around 9:00) you can dip into and out of the town without too much traffic. Then you could continue along the coast to Le Lavandou, a very scenic drive, and up to the charming town of Bormes-les-Mimosas, one of our favorites in the area.

Have you checked out the bonjourparis site? There's a lengthy thread on Provence.

OReilly

Wanderer: Sorry, those photo links don't work! If you want to see the photos, I can send an invitation to your e-mail id.

regards Ger

wanderer

O'Reilly -
Yes, I would like to see the photos. Can you send me your email so I can send my email address?

One question for everyone - in looking at my maps, Roqueburne does not appear to make sense with Nice. Is there another spot to put this?

I also need to find where I can get a Michelin 82 (I think it is 82, but may have been 84) map. It is mentioned in my Michelin Green Guide of the French Riviera, but none of the bookstores I checked have it nor the Viamichelin web site.

OReilly

Wanderer:

send me a note to [email protected] and I'll send you the invitations to view the photos.

Re the maps, I use Map 245 (also listed in the Green Guide) for Provence & Cote d'Azur and available at bookstores. See the front of your guide (Maps and plans) - The two digit series (it is map 84) provide greater detail on the Cote d'Azur. They are probably available locally at bookstores and gas stations.

regards ... Ger

sandi

Wanderer -

The Michelin #245 (Yellow) has been replaced with the #528 (Orange)

As to the Nice/Roqbrune - makes no sense as between the two are Cap Ferrat, Eze Village, Villefrance, Monaco, then Roqbrune.

Also Biot and Valluris are practically next door to one another.

When we planned our first trip years ago, I started from the Italian border, (in fact even making the market in Ventimiglia on first Fri morning) then working back from there.

So it was Menton - Roqbrune and hilltowns between; then Monaco to Nice and towns along the base corniche; then Nice museums and hilltowns; then Nice to Cannes towns along the coast; then Cannes up into the hill - etc. etc.

This way there was no backtracking except, of course, to return to hotel (stayed in Monte Carlo with unbelievable hotel rate at The Metropole - for every 2-days, 1-free day). The only stop we actually passed on was Grasse, as we decided to spend time on the beach in Cannes.

We travelled first week in June, few tourists, beautiful weather, little problem with parking, rarely used the Peage (super highway) and if we didn't have time for a particular stop - big deal! One day we even made a stop at end of that day that was on itinerary for next day - wow! Hey, it's your vacation, keep it uncomplicated.

Underhill

I've had good luck getting Michelin maps for France through the Barnes and Noble web site.

For your exploration of Nice you can buy a city map at the tourist office on the Promanade Anglais as you head toward Vieux Nice or at the gas station in the same area. Having that map makes it much easier to navigate the maze of streets in the old town and the rest of the city.

gracejoan

For maps, call Michelin..they are in Greenville SC. They will also send you a brochure with all maps, atlas etc.
864 458-6691.