Riviera Dreaming

It was during the 19C that this part of the south of France was put on the map with the arrival of wealthy British, Russian and even French visitors who came to “winter” on the Riviera. These visits became a habit and gradually the towns and fishing villages in the area adapted to the new inhabitants. Soon, towns such as Cannes, Nice, Menton and Monaco were home to magnificent villas, flamboyant casinos, and splendid botanical gardens – and the idea of the French Riviera was born.

Ok , that's the tourist guide from the official website blurb, but this shows loosely where Lynda and I came yesterday -- we started from our hotel in Cannes, and meandered along the coast line ending up in Menton just east of Monte Carlo.

I am afraid that the pictures on this blog are going to be primarily about Yachts - big yachts and villas and big buildings and sunny view , rounded off with of course one or two food pictures -- no apologies for all that , it's just the thing that we are doing. I know our style would not suit everyone as we do not dwell too long in any one place but we hope when we set up any of the trips that we have plotted routes that allow us to see what we want to see and enough time to learn a little or enough about the place , the culture and the prominent residents and what makes a place tick -- so if its somewhere in Switzerland its probably its watches -- get it -- tick - ah well-- back to the Riviera.

 

 

The one thing about the Riviera that you need to learn very quickly is that everything has a price and that price may not suit the majority of peoples budgets -- in most cases you need fairly unlimited ones.

Charges for car parks in Cannes appear at first glance that you have just made a purchase on the car park , and the price to enter the beach might be what you would expect to pay for a beach bed for the whole summer elsewhere.

Still , I guess its like a person buying a Rolls Royce -- if you gotta ask the price it probably means that you cant afford it.

 

So NICE is nice but it is undergoing a fare old makeover at this moment -- not sure if they will be ready for the main part of the summer but as everything in business and construction tend to shut in August in this part of the world you would hope so. And the traffic is pretty constant and at no more than 20 MPH at any time unless you are a Fench / Italian driver and then it is what ever you can manage to do .

So after Nice comes Monte Carlo or Monaco or what ever name it is given today. Anyway , having never been here before and certainly therefore never driven here before, it was quite an eye opener for me to find that the sign posting is ridiculous -- no warnings and very little in the way of clear directions to the places you might wish to see . There is a quite unique underground road network under the city , including roundabouts, that leave you with very little choice and options , so immediate decisions need to be taken which might not always suit.

 

 

 

Forget what you see in the Monaco Grand Prix racing once a year, your gonna be very lucky to get down to the marina and to the tunnel that Louis Hamilton seams to own, first time.

 

It is very high rise once you get back one street from the marina and there is a huge amount of development currently underway

 

And while you might like to dream of stopping in the Casino Royale during your stay , if you are on any kind of a budget then we would definitely recommend that you go round the headland to Menton in the next bay.

 

Of course it is very glamorous -- we saw at least 3 ladies driving very smart Lamborgini's in the space of 100 metres -- see I have forgotten about those old yards -- but I think the further you go back in the city the more likely it will be cramped and a bit shabby.

 

So Menton it was for us last night at the Hotel Riva Art & Spa and we had a great stay.

 

 

So we had a promenade along the front and found plenty of eateries adjacent to the sea and the food and wine was perfect. 

There was even a bit of sport that Lynda spotted with a Brit couple sitting next to us that I hadn't seen-- certainly hadn't spotted the shirt on the guy. And in her inimitable way , Lynda casually butted into their conversation as we were leaving and said to the guy how much more fun it would have been if I had been wearing a Chelsea top. Strange way people react to things as he didn't seem to be too impressed -- but then what Gooner would be.

 

 So as 5the sun was setting from our balcony and we were having a really devent cup of coffee she went and ruined the whole thing by absolutely thrashing me at Kaluki - hey but what the hell, I still got to go to bed with this champion.

Sweet Dreams.