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Stylish & Slow Adventuring – A Travel, Fashion and Lifestyle Yorkshire Blogger

EXPLORING THE FRENCH RIVIERA WITH MARCO POLO GUIDES* | QUEENBEADY

July 1, 2018

Dress Primark (similar) | Sandals Birkenstock

Ah, alas. I am home from a wonderful trip to France and it’s put a ginormous spring in my step (despite walking a grand total of 50 miles whilst there!) It really was a whistle-stop tour at the beginning of trip being based in and around Paris, but we managed to fit in 4 nights of “down time” on the French Riviera at the end of our adventure. Having been to Nice, Cote d’Azur before I was excited to explore further along the coast but I didn’t have a clue where to start. Needless to say, it was going to be just as action packed as the start of the holiday because there’s so much to see and do there. Luckily, Marco Polo Guides came to the rescue with a fabulous travel guide on how to get the best out of our trip!

Villefranche-Sur-Mer

As one of the deepest and largest bays on the South of France and a 16th century town, you find that Villefranche-Sur-Mer acts as the port for most major cruise ships travelling the Med in the summer months. It didn’t put us off as it acted as a great seaside base for us whilst we explored the area.

We found the most gorgeous Air BnB that I could not stop instagramming, it had incredible views over the bay which allowed us to dream about owning our very own yacht and being able to sail around the Med every year (alas, this will never happen!)

It was perfect for that “getaway from it all” experience without being too far away from the action. The centre of Villefranche-Sur-Mer (french for little village by the sea!) had winding, cobble streets with the cute Juliette balconies filled with fauna overlooking the tourists exploring. We found Wednesday was the busiest day for getting around as that’s when most cruise ships came in to dock, which is when we escaped to head to Eze.

It was actually very peaceful walking through the streets for the rest of the week, it almost felt like we were the only people holidaying there. There was plenty of restaurants to choose from, however, we only had one late lunch whilst we were there (as we cooked most nights at our villa.) We had some delicious Mussels Frites on the harbour (some of the tastiest I had ever eaten.) It is definitely worth trying the seafood whilst you are here because it is so darned tasty. I ask you to find better seafood anywhere else!

There were a couple of ice cream parlours (which sadly don’t rival Italy’s gelato but it certainly came close!) to whet your appetite if you needed a cool break. We stopped every time we went passed, trying different flavours each time.

TOP TIP: When looking for somewhere to stay Villefranche is a great base for hopping on and off the train (whilst not being too far away from the airport for your return flight home.) I would recommend staying in a Villa with a pool as the beaches are more pebbly here. Also, avoid the town centre’s on Wednesday’s and Saturday’s – use them as relax day!)

Eze, Medieval Village

The thing with the French Riviera is that unlike any other beach destinations there really is a wealth of things to do besides lazing by the pool. Luckily (or unluckily as we found with the heat) we didn’t have a pool to stop us from exploring further than our Air BnB villa.

We only scratched the surface with a few of the places we visited on the list.

If you hop on the train from Villefranche-Sur-Mer, you can take the train heading towards Menton (last stop) you will find Eze only two stops away. (or four stops if you are based in Nice.) and it takes about 5 minutes or so to reach it. I’d recommend using the trains and not the buses as it just so incredibly easy and it takes the route around the coast so it is so very picturesque.

I’d decided a long time a go I had decided I wanted to go to Eze, there’s a little snippet in the book about this cute French, Medieval Village in the top of the mountains overlooking the bay. Now, it also does warn that you need to be very fit to climb to the top, little old me tried her hardest and after 15 minutes of trying (in my Birkenstocks I might add!) a pair of locals saw I was struggling, took one look at my shoes and wiggled their fingers at me, exclaiming “non, non, non.” As I puffed and wheezed looking up at my very fit & healthy husband who hadn’t even broken out in to a sweat, the decision was made I would head back down with the prospect of another 45 minutes of climbing uphill as there was no way I was going to be able to make it all the way up.

As I headed back down, Mr C kept going up and the photos he sent me along the way made me twinge with jealousy as it was one place I would have loved to got to. Little did I know there was a local bus that went up every ten minutes from just outside the railway station where we had gotten off the train.

Why did no-one tell me this sooner? (I guess it just gives me another excuse to go back!)

If you are fit and healthy and don’t mind a two-hour walk, round trip to the medieval village my advise is wear good footwear (as you can see from the photos, it becomes quite rubbly and unfortunately as Mr C was walking up he saw a group of friends who had taken a fall on the rocks and had to help their friend down. Not ideal.) Make sure you also go early in the day so you aren’t in the blazing heat! It gets so, so, so hot on the South of France.

The views are to die for and worth heading up. (I’m actually kicking myself as I write this post.)

To feel like it hadn’t been such a wasted trip we had a stroll on the quiet, pebble beach of Eze. It was so peaceful and the water is so clear! So, at least I got to dip my toes in the sea if nothing else?

TOP TIP: Make sure you grab the bus to Eze Village – save you legs, your lungs and your time by doing so.

Nice

It really is nice in Nice. When we went back in 2016 we absolutely fell in love with Nice. Not for the historical sites or steeped, rich history (although, yes, it does have this!) it was a city you could drink and eat to your heart’s content without feeling too bad about not doing the whole “tourist thing.” As we were travelling with Mr C’s cousin and girlfriend they hadn’t been so we wanted to take them to the old town and meet some friends we have over there.

Once again we hopped on the train, this time towards Cannes, and it was two stops on (make sure you get off at the second Nice station!)

After a few beers we decided we were brave enough to try the local delicacy of snails, so we ordered a plate of escargot smoothered in garlic butter, and I’m not ashamed to say I wasn’t offended, in fact they were quite tasty (some may disagree with me!) but we gave it a shot and ate like the locals!

When in Rome, eh?

We managed to time it just right (read: wrong if you don’t like crowds) as that day was the start of 48 hour no noise limit curfew! This meant everywhere could play music as loud as they liked. We also managed to arrive just as France started to play a match in the World Cup (last time we came, France were in the finals of the Euro’s and they lost – sombre mood that night!)

As we spent a late afternoon / early evening there we basically just got tiddled. But, if you want to read in more depth what there is to do in this welcoming, gorgeous city you can read all about our earlier trip here. 

TOP TIP: If you want to blow the budget by not blowing it entirely, head to the Hotel Negresco’s famous carousel inspired restaurant “La Rotonde” – they do a set menu which won’t make you balk (too much!)

 

Monaco

The last full day before we headed home we were reading through our Marco Polo Guide to see what we could do on a rather overcast day (typical!) and as we flicked through we decided we wanted to go to Monaco based on the fact that it’s one of those places you just have to see, whether you love it or hate it!

Once again we hopped on the coastal train, and headed up towards Menton. Monaco is about 4 or 5 stops along to get to but the screens are very clear with where the train is heading. And for 6 euros each we had a return ticket. (it’s definitely a lot cheaper to travel in France in comparison to the UK, just don’t get caught out too much with French transport strikes like we did at the beginning of out holiday!)

As we read more about what there was to do Mr C discovered the Musee Oceangraphique. Prince Albert I was a passionate oceanographer, and his scientific results are on display in the magnificent building that towers 278.ft above the sea. There are over 4000 species to be found and provided sa good few hours of viewing pleasure, from sharks to sea turtles, from stuffed polar bears and preserved octopus, there really is everything from the weird to the wonderful.

The view from the rooftop café genuinely makes you feel like you’re in some crazy movie set. As the day was a little grey (but still warm) the seas were violently crashing against the cliffs and it was hard not to feel like you were going to get blown away in to it. But, it was absolutely stunning and calming despite how dangerous it looked.

Make sure you do follow google maps to the museum, it’s easy to think you can outsmart it but there’s a reason why it’s telling you to go where it’s telling you. The museum costs 14 euros to enter, but for a days worth of ogling, it’s pretty cool.

We didn’t explore too much further than the museum other than wandering around a little bit outside of the Royal Palace and a few cobbled streets. And despite the main bay of Monaco looking like a posh version on Benidorm it was somewhere I was glad to see, especially after watching it time and time again on the Forumla 1.

TOP TIP: Monaco isn’t as expensive to eat and drink as you’d think, in fact, it was cheaper than Nice. We shared a pizza, and had 1 diet coke and a beer and it came to 22 euros (which in the grand scheme of things is very cheap in this area!)

I’m already checking SkyScanner every 5 minutes for cheap flights back to the Cote d’Azur! It really is somewhere I could easily retire to (or you know, buy a house for long weekend breaks!) There’s still even more to explore so that’s my excuse with why I need to go back.

Have you ever been to the South of France? Was it a relaxing break or did you do a lot of sightseeing?

Bee

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*This post was in collaboration with Marco Polo Guides – all adventure and exploring done by us!

 

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