Thanks everyone for your wealth of ideas! You have given us much to think about and plan accordingly.

Thank you

Gourdon is not worth it. The chateau is closed, and I am not sure that the garden is still open. The rest of the village is just one tourist store after another. There are many villages in that area that offer views that are just as good.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...57624404539441

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...57624404539441

I think that Tourrettes also offers nice views toward the Mediterranean.

I'm thinking of doing the Gorges du Loup circuit, which seems to head from Gourdon south to Chateauneuf, then across to Pont du Loup and back up north.

Then Tourettes is to the East.

Are there better routes around the Gorges?

San Remo is not really worth it. See photos from our trip: http://in-luxembourg.blogspot.de/200...i-sanremo.html.

We would recommend Menton - it is a real jewel: http://in-luxembourg.blogspot.de/200...ur-menton.html

I'm going to have a car but thinking about taking the train to Monaco and Nice one evening.

When I check online (sncf.fr goes to raileurope.com), the round-trip from Cannes to Monaco is $12 each way or $24 total.

But can I stop at Nice for a couple of hours and take a later train on this ticket?

Or do I pay segment to segment? If I pay segment to segment, it looks like double the price, because the Nice-Monaco segment is $11, almost the same price as Cannes-Monaco.

It can't be this prohibitive to train along the coast and visit one town, take a later train and continue on?

Or is there some kind of a pass? Or is it just expensive on raileurope.com and it would be better to buy at the train station?

You do not want to be on RailEurope, where the prices are jacked way up. Stay on the French site, or choose an English-speaking country that is not the USA (like Antarctica). Or just buy them at the train station.

I've never taken a train along that route, but IME you can't just buy a ticket from A to C and plan to hop off at B and then get back on. Your tickets are for specific trains at specific times.

I found info about Carte Isabelle:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/201...avel-in-france

Hop on and hop off for 12 Euro for the day, good for Frejus to Ventimiglia, from 6/1 to 9/30.

Updated fare is now 14 Euro according to this French site:

http://www.ter-sncf.com/Regions/paca...I=tcm:27-76682

I'm suprised no one has mentioned beautiful Bordighera in Italy instead of San Remo.

We are considering taking a day trip from Nice to Bordighera at the end of the month, flitinfilly. Do you have any specific suggestions on where to do or eat a nice lunch?

ttt

DebitNM, Sorry I missed you in time for your trip - I really don't as it was 1992 and I have no idea where we ate (we were at Villa Elise for a week). Let me know if you found anything - I'm headed that way the end of November! Grazie!

We walked to the water but it was pretty deserted. There weren't many places open. I will find the name of the place that we stopped at; it was good.

flirtinfilly: Consider taking a bus at nice and going to Cap Ferrat; you have a bus stop just in front og villa ephrusi; a true marvel(also consider end of november is not the best season to see the gardens); but in a nice day you will enjoy the most beautiful views and you can have a marvelous lunch or tea in the garden or inside the villa.Enjoy!