We fell in love with the French Riviera, also known as the Cote de Azur, during our weekend visit. What an incredibly beautiful place. The combination of deep blue sea, sunshine, mountains, vibrant flowers, quaint villages, French food and comfortable surroundings captured us completely. A weekend wasn't enough time to truly enjoy such a special place.
We stayed in the pretty hilltop town of Cagnes-sur-Mer where, in the center of the town square, the Chateau Grimaldi castle was built in 1309. Our rented house was just across the street:
We loved the place, with it's old wooden beams,
comfortable furniture,
and gorgeous terrace overlooking Nice.
The terrace got a lot of use as a place for snacks,
and for watching the sunrise.
We lived the life of local villagers for two days, spending time outdoors on the square eating pastries over cafe au lait in the mornings and enjoying bistro food in the evening.
The view from the square, looking north, was breathtaking.
We visited other nearby mountaintop towns built during the Middle Ages, including St-Paul-de-Vence, which is known as an artist's village and is full of cool art galleries, picturesque scenery:
interesting outdoor sculpture:
and where even the cobblestones were artistic!
We hiked up through the tiny perched mountaintop village of Eze, capped by a botanical garden with views south to the sea:
and north to other mountains beyond.
But, as people who love the water, the seaside was the amazing draw. We drove along the coast ooh-ing and aah-ing all the way and stopping at beautiful seaside towns and villages. Some, like Menton at the Italian border, are not well known but are full of charm.
In Menton, we saw this Jean Cocteau mosaic at the entrance to a museum of his work.
Other towns, like St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, are familiar to readers of celebrity magazines as hangouts for the rich & famous.
But perhaps the best known seaside locale we saw was Monaco.
It was so fun to see the famous casino, the winding roads used for the dramatic annual Formula 1 car race, the fanciful gardens, and the many many many enormous luxury yachts in the Monte Carlo harbour.
D kinda looks like he belongs there, doesn't he?
We had such a great time that we are already talking about going back again next summer. Anyone want to join us?!?
We fell in love with the French Riviera, also known as the Cote de Azur, during our weekend visit. What an incredibly beautiful place. The combination of deep blue sea, sunshine, mountains, vibrant flowers, quaint villages, French food and comfortable surroundings captured us completely. A weekend wasn't enough time to truly enjoy such a special place.
We stayed in the pretty hilltop town of Cagnes-sur-Mer where, in the center of the town square, the Chateau Grimaldi castle was built in 1309. Our rented house was just across the street: 
The terrace got a lot of use as a place for snacks, 
We lived the life of local villagers for two days, spending time outdoors on the square eating pastries over cafe au lait in the mornings and enjoying bistro food in the evening.
We visited other nearby mountaintop towns built during the Middle Ages, including St-Paul-de-Vence, which is known as an artist's village and is full of cool art galleries, picturesque scenery: 
interesting outdoor sculpture: 
We hiked up through the tiny perched mountaintop village of Eze, capped by a botanical garden with views south to the sea: 
But, as people who love the water, the seaside was the amazing draw. We drove along the coast ooh-ing and aah-ing all the way and stopping at beautiful seaside towns and villages. Some, like Menton at the Italian border, are not well known but are full of charm.
In Menton, we saw this Jean Cocteau mosaic at the entrance to a museum of his work. 
Other towns, like St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, are familiar to readers of celebrity magazines as hangouts for the rich & famous.
But perhaps the best known seaside locale we saw was Monaco. 
D kinda looks like he belongs there, doesn't he?
We had such a great time that we are already talking about going back again next summer. Anyone want to join us?!?
1 comments:
please please please take me!
Post a Comment