France

Our 7-day trip to French Riviera was not just a holiday but a rejuvenation for all the 5 senses. Markets loaded with fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers, umpteen numbers of restaurants that one is spoilt for choice. The beautiful enchanting temptress in the form of patisseries of France, ice-creams with crazy flavors like Violette & Cactus. Freshly baked bread and biscuits. Streets full of paintings and sketches by the local artists! Bright ceramic Knick knacks. People cycling, skating or just sitting looking at the world go by. Of course! It was the French Riviera so over and above all, the beautiful Mediterranean Sea which never left our sight. It followed us when we would walk, ride a bus, take a train. Or just sit by a cafe.

Tempting Patisserie

Display of jams!!

Crazy flavours to try 🙂

The sound of the gentle lapping of the waves or the waves getting wild and breaking across the rocky walls. The brilliance of the blue sea sometimes reflecting the color of the sky would always draw us to the shores. Streets lined with palms, olive trees, apricot trees, Lemon trees. Setting sun throwing its soft red and golden glow on the baroque architecture heritage. We just couldn’t get enough of it!

Waves going wild in Antibes!

Azure Mediterranean Sea @ Cap Ferrat

Principality of Monaco

Heart of the trip was Nice, with its beautiful alleyways of the old town, from where it leads us to the glitz & glamour of Cannes and Monaco. Sometimes it took us back to medieval times in the town of St Paul de Vence. Someday it would take us to an adventure of meeting the green fairy at the absinthe bar in the town of Antibes…. Game of fragrances at the perfume capital of Grasse. Walking and admiring the lemon groves lined parks and intricately designed floors and steps at the France- Italy border town of Menton. Soul of our Cote’d azure trip was the beautiful 7 km walk along St Jean Cap Ferrat where we lost the track of time. The lovely island of Sainte-Marguerite where the infinite sea is dotted with tiny white sails. Watching the yachts docked at the ports. Trying our beginner’s luck at Monte Carlo casino, the excitement of touching a baby shark at one of the oldest oceanography museum at Monaco.

Lemons @ Menton!

Medieval town- St Paul de Vence

Grasse- Perfume Capital of the world!

Nice is a good place to make your base when you are traveling around the Cote d’Azur as there is good public transport. We traveled around the Cote d’Azur using the fantastic and a very light on the wallet public transport which cost us just €1.50 per person each way.

Bird eye view of Nice town from Castle Hill

Perched on top- beautiful village of Eze

Cannes!

We stayed at Villa Saint Exupery as this was right in the heart of Nice. It was a stone’s throw away from the beach and the Old town. It was a few minutes’ walk for us from the Bus stop which took us to and from the Airport.

Public transport for getting around
Airport-Hostel-Airport: Bus 98/52
Nice -Monaco-Nice: Bus 100
Nice-Menton-Nice: Bus 100
Nice-Eze-Nice: Bus 112 and Bus 82
Nice-Cannes-Nice: Bus 200
Nice-Antibes-Nice: Bus 200
Nice-St Paul de Vence-Vence- Nice: Bus 400