FRENCH RIVIERA: What do you love MOST about it?
 

I'd love to hear what you fodorites love most about the French Riviera! What's your favorite town, village, view, drive, experience...

Great question, dina4. I would like to plan a trip there, too.

I like the Riviera, but it's bumper to bumber in July/August. I prefer the up hill locations.

We'll be there in June. Hoping traffic won't be as bad?!
Cigalachanta, what are your favorite "uphill" locations?

Dina, St Paul-de'Vence, Tourrettes sur- Loup. What a wonderful location at the Loup as you dined over looking the perché village of Gourdon at the Auberge des Gorges du Loup. In Vence (st-Paul) for one night stay, all that art under your roof and by the pool. It's been my later birthday present now thee times for one night. It's also so I can re-visit , the Maeght Foundation
and watch the boule players across the road wheree Yves Montand stayed at the place I love , The Colombe D'Or. Yves And Signoret Married there.Go to tht P.O. and walk uptairs to s th photos of what I'm saying.

Jeez no edit, sorry I hope you uderstood.

Hey, cigalechanta

We'll be staying in St. Paul de Vence for 3 nites (April 17-19). Our first time there. Any other recommendations?

I like the drive up the Roya Valley. Beautiful alpine scenery.

St.Paul de Vence, must be a beautiful place. I am yet to visit that village.

I can recommend the coast line between Nice and Cape d'Ail. Villages, places I liked are Villeneuve-sur-mer, Villa Rotschild (at Cape Ferrat) and Eze- Village.

I lived in Toulon for 6 months and absolutely loved it. It has mountains on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other - what is there not to love? I had a great time in St. Paul de Vence, Cannes, Nice, Monaco and went to Grasse for their perfume - have a blast!

We'll be based in St. Paul, too!

Anyone know about how bad the traffic is in on the lower road in late June?

Thanks for all your favorites! More are welcome!

We loved Villefranche-sur-mer. The whole area is just beautiful though so you will enjoy it all!

We are thinking about a quick visit there in July after Italy. We did this two years ago and it was a perfect vacation, ending that time in Paris. If we go this year we will leave Paris out.

Have a wonderful trip!

I meant VilleFRANCHE-Sur-Mer !

I love the art (lol) and the small towns and villages--Antibes (Picasso Museum),St. Paul de Vance, Mougins,Villefrance sur Mer, Vailauris (Picasso chapel), Gourdon. Love Nice too. Don't care for Cannes and Monaco.

Thank you for all your valuable advice!

Villefranche-sur-mer seems to be a popular favorite. I will research that town more. Did you love the beaches or shopping or ambience??

Artlover--just curious, what didn't you like about Cannes and Monaco?

Also, don't mean to obsess about the TRAFFIC I live in L.A. and can't help it), but people keep mentioning it. Will it be horrible in late June? Should we avoid certain places?

Thanks again,
Dina

What I lvoe most about the Côte d'Azur is finding a place to sit and just spend hours looking at the azure Mediterranean.

Dina, Tourrette sur Loup is a lovely village with wonderful craft shops. The Gorges du loup is a beautiful sight. The nearby Perché village of Gourdon has a chateau that has two museums and a panoramic three tiered garden.

I also love Villefranche. It is small but convenient for traveling up and down the coast by train. You really don't need a car there. I went to a language school there for a month. I did not want to come back home. I cried. I planned on going back to visit next April.

Just referring to what kappa said, the coast line between Nice and Cap d'Ail is great. We were along the Riviera end of August- September. We did the usual Menton,Nice,Monaco,Cannes and some of the smaller villages,Villefranche-sur-mer etc. We were used to driving considering we had lived in europe for years but the big cities (Nice) still kind of a pain but well worth the effort. Not sure where you are staying but we settled on a nice quiet b and b about 20 mins north of Nice in Gattieres. Nice big house with 4 bedrooms only, all have patios which overlook the neat little town of Gattieres. Great breakfast onthe patio overlooking the pool and town. and very reasonable. http://www.escale-azur-gattieres.com/index.htm
It's just about 9 km from St. PAul de Vence which is also a great town.

If you like modern art, I loved the Foundation Maeght near St. Paul de Vence. Great site, great building, great art. One of the best museums I've ever been to.

There was a report on the Fodor's home page about the Cote d'Azur, with lovely pictures of the path around Cap d'Antibes.

dina, the end of June traffic will be bad but not unbearable. I've been to St. Paul a number of times (including my honeymoon ;) including once during June. June 16-24 there is an advertising conference in Cannes and La Colombe D'Or is a popular place to stay and/or dine during that period.

St. Paul is a lovely place from which to explore. I agree with kappa, the Ephrussi Villa in Cap Ferrat is wonderful. You ofcourse should visit Nice. Go food shopping in Vence on market day. How long will you be there?

Other places we visitd: The Musée Peynet.
This museum is about humor and is named after my favorite French Humorist who did a series of books about his two characters, "The Lovers," by Raymond Peynet.The ChateauMusé Grimaldi, the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-Sur-Mer,
The Chagall in Nice and the matisse in Nice.If I had only a choice of one to visit, FOR ME it would be the Maeght Foundation where we met Boris Yeltsin.

Dina4, St Paul is lovely, as is Tourettes sur Loup.

Include Antibes in your list of places to visit, as well its Picasso Museum. There's mostly ceramics on display, featuring mythologic themes most of them. Some paintings, lithos and a few sculptures, too.

Antibes itself is quite lovely.

We've stayed in St. Paul two years ago, in mid June. We didn't encounter really bad traffic, unless once, on a Sunday afternoon, I guess.

Monaco didn't get to me either. The Corniche drive is very scenic, but Monte Carlo itself is kind of blah, well organized, very clean, but blah compared to the lovely French villages. Cannes is kind of blah, too, but then, it's just how I seee them ( and as Artlover does.. hehe..)

Nice, OTOH, is interesting. Much to see and do there, as Mimi just suggested.

Wow. Thanks so much everyone for all the great tips!

We only have 3 days, so I really need to sift through all this good advice!

Cigala, can't believe you met Boris Yeltzin!

Mariana, we'll be doing the reverse of your previous trip: Paris, Fr Riviera, then Italy....

Mclaurie, Sounds like we'll be there during that advertising convention, so I'll be sure to book a meal at the Columb d'or in advance.

Thanks again,
I really appreciate all your helpful information!
Dina

It's a spectacular coastline. Riding the upper and lower coniche is a must.

I especially know what I don't like about the Côte d'Azur: the huge traffic jams in July and August. And finally arrived where you have to be... no place to park the car. One exception: Monaco, which is one huge underground parking lot.

I will add something: Perhaps the most beautiful coastline is the Esterel coast between St. Raphael and Cannes: Bizarre red rocks, green vegegation and blue water. The winding road is for travelling slowly (30 to 40 km/h) and offers lots of places to stop.
Traffic will be okay by end of June. It starts mid-July and is worst during August. End of June will be very sunny, warm, but not hot and not humid, with nice water temperatures for swimming.

Dina, June is not too bad. We're always there early July, and even that is fine. It only starts to get really busy after the 14th of July. If you have only 3 days, go to Nice and visit St Paul de Vence and/or Villefranche from there. Don't bother with Monaco or Cannes on such a short trip.

Thanks everyone.

So glad to hear the traffic won't be bad in June!
The Michelin Guide has driving times for the 3 corniches from Nice to Menton that I found interesting:
Upper -- 3 hrs
Middle -- 2 hrs
Lower -- 6 hrs!!!
I'm assuming the middle corniche must be the less scenic & less congested?

The middle (moyenne) corniche is the fastest. However, you can make each one easily within one hour. Usually you go on the grand corniche in one direction and on the moyenne back. But you can easily change from one corniche to the next by using one of the small connecting roads with the hairpin curves you know from the movies.
I do not agree with Tulips. Distances are so short that you can easily reach everything within an hour. If you drive the corniches you practically are in Monaco. Visit the castle, maybe the oceanographic museum. On the grand corniche, visit La Turbie. On the moyenne, the village of Eze.
On another day, take the autoroute (yes) to Frejus and drive back on the corniche d'Esterel through Cannes back to Nice. It's so easy.

Visper: Any problem parking car at that Gattierre Guest House. I expect the spring rates are in the vicinity of 85E's from the web pages. How are the rooms, size wise, etc. Would appreciate anything wlse you can share about it...
Stu T.

Go in early September. The coast empties out on August 31. There is then no traffic, except within the cities and large towns, there is no problem getting a hotel room or most restaurant reservations, and the weather is still great.

dina, email me at hotmail for the pictures.

Traveler- each one in an hour? How could Michelin be so off? Do you think they're taking taking traffic into account?

AJ - We're already booked for June. No choice there.

Cigala- I just emailed you. Thanks!!!

I went backpacking in the south of France when I was still a graduate student about 10 years ago.

My favorite memories were: tasting the fresh apricots, raspberries, and currants/cassis (all of which I've never had before) at a farmer's market inside the courtyard of a church in Aix-en-Provence; ham & brie on baguette (which I've never had before either) from a deli; fruit tarte tartin (fruit tarts); cafe au lait served with a little piece on chocolate on the side (I felt soooo cosmopolitan); and lots more of wonderful memories.

I was a little country boy with very little exposure to the outside world so this was such a treat. Every little thing was new and amazingly beautiful, from the fields of lavender and sunflowers, to the cheeses and breads and pastries. :-)

I even went to a topless beach in Marseille and Bandor, which was mind blowing.

I meant that (for me at least) Monaco is not worth a visit if you're only there for three days. The Corniche, definitely! Or splash out on lunch at the Chevre d'Or in Eze.
6 hours to Menton sounds very excessive; only if you have bumper to bumper traffic all the way.

My albums from the trip of this November.

We did all mostly by bus and a bit by train, extremely cheap.

Eze-Villages
http://photobucket.com/albums/b388/k...%20Nov%202005/
*Bus No.82, or 83? from Nice Bus terminal to Eze-village via Moyenne Corniche, hiked down 45min to Eze-Mer and took the bus back to Nice, Bus ticket €1.30 each way.)

Villefranche-Sur-Mer
http://photobucket.com/albums/b388/k...%20Nov%202005/

Cap-Frerrat (La Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild) & Beaulieu-Sur-Mer
http://photobucket.com/albums/b388/k...%20Nov%202005/

*We did Nice-Villefranche by 7 minute train, then walked all the way from Villefranche to Cap-Ferrat to Beaulieu Port side, took a bus (No.100)back to Nice.

Antibe (loved the Piccaso Museum, esp. the terrace garden with sculptures (not by Piccaso).
http://photobucket.com/albums/b388/k...%20Nov%202005/
*both ways by train

Thanks again, everyone!
Kappa, your photos are amazing!

Dina

Kappa, I two loved your photos. You took yours at a different angle than I on the terrace . I like them alot. Thanks.