Easy hiking trails in the French Riviera
Palm trees, beaches, speedboats: these are the things the Riviera does well. Christmas, not so much. That does not mean that the people over here ever give up trying, but that they do so, with mixed results. Take, for example, Christmas Markets. In the Friench Riviera, any such event always has that unmistakable air of…
Most of the parcs departemental in the south of France lie hidden in the back country. Off the top of my head, I can name only two that you are ever likely to see “accidentally“, passing through by car or by train, and these two could not be more different. The Esterel (with its red…
People like to travel because we are all looking for something that lifts life fleetingly above the level of repetitive routines and rhythms: something that takes us beyond the drumbeat of everyday life. We search for the hardest possible break from daily routines that our budgets and time schedules allow: for new sceneries and experiences,…
Savannah, jungle, farmland: most landscapes on Planet Earth fall into one of these categories. They are quite frequently separated by dozens or even hundreds of kilometres But on Mont Vinaigrier in the outskirts of Nice, you can visit all three of them within a couple of hours: arranged in a neat vertical stack and sprinkled…
River walks are popular, and it is easy to understand why. There is always a variety of scenic motives on show (inland and water landscapes). Villages, boats and other elements of river (bank) traffic provide a constant stream of entertainment. Plus you can concentrate on the sights because the trails are always easy to follow….
Borderlands are special places. Even small towns freely mix cultures and languages in a way which you would normally associate with airports or the great cities of the world, and are characterized by an attractively easy familiarity with diversity in its many guises. But borderlands are also no strangers to violent conflicts, and even along…
A practice-oriented post today… … featuring our travel tips for your first French Riviera visit Never forget that most current residents were not born here either so have also been first time visitors at some stage and were, in all probability, as confused as you must be when you take the coastline train, faced with…
This week, we are bringing you more lush Mediterranean Dreams from the French Riviera Garden Festival: having visited the western section of the Festival des Jardins de la Cote d’Azur last week, today we present the remaining six gardens in Nice and Menton as well as all the other news from the festival. Flamboyant theatrical…
Two years ago, the French Riviera Garden Festival premiered to considerable national and international acclaim. Over five weeks in the spring, 500,000 visitors attended the 5 exhibition sites, and a press corps of 150 journalists from more than 30 countries generated content (nearly 250 articles and radio / TV programmes) with an “advertising value of…
Six weeks ago, we finished our walk down the most celebrated stretch of the French Riviera in the place where the Promenade des Anglais, while continuing down the Bay of Nice, becomes the Quai des Etats Unis. “To the casual observer,” I finished the post, “this is a mere change of name: a barely perceptible…