Menton, Cap Ferrat, Villefranche-sur-mer

The wonderful thing about France is that there is always a bakery right down the street – no matter where you are. We started our day with coffee and croissants, made with the pure butter and more butter – perhaps the best ever – or at least the best in a long while. Then, by high speed road, we ventured into Menton, parked beside the Mediterranean Sea while we walked in to explore the picturesque town.

Jean Cocteau, a dramatist, converted this fort by the sea to a museum

Up narrow passageways and alleys to the Basilica St. Michel, off the square paved with stones in the design of the Grimaldi coat-of-arms. Along the pedestrian walkways, we discovered a purveyor of products made with Menton lemons. Menton’s climate is tropical in nature and citrus fruits flourish.  On the buy list were lemon confiture and limoncello, the degustif best served ice cold from the freezer.

Our source for lemon confiture and limoncello in Menton

A singer serenades us at lunch

Since we are a group that travels on our stomachs, next stop was lunch of Mediterranean-style pizza, ever so thin crust, and a carafe or two of cold rose at L’Olimpo, a sidewalk cafe also in the pedestrian area. During lunch, we were serenaded by an accordianist, and then by a singer.  Lunch does take a while in France, after all.

Trumpet flowers in the median at Menton

After a swing up harrowingly narrow roads up to Eze, a dramatic “village perche”of ancient buildings rising up 1,400 feet above sea level. After winding through the principality of Monaco, playground of the rich and famous, we drove along the “corniche” to reach Cap Ferrat and visit the Musee Ephrussi de Rothschild, a fabulous villa on the Riviera.

The beautiful villa of Beatrice Ephruzzi de Rothschild

A gazebo in the garden

It was completed in 1912, designed and built by 19-year-old Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, and left, upon her death in 1934 to the Institute-de-France as a museum. The furnishings and decorations in the villa, with endless views of the sea, are exquisite. The multiple gardens are arranged in rooms or themes, but almost all have spectacular views of the Med. Continuing on along the coast, we scooted through Villefranche-sur-mer, packed to the gills with tourists from two cruise ships docked in the harbor and passed on the opportunity to join them in wandering the town. We arrived back at our hotel in Nice about 6PM, agreeing to meet later for a glass of the wine we had purchased in Menton on the terrace of the hotel before dinner.

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