After a few days at the Hotel du Clos, we drove a couple of hours along the Grande Corniche, with fabulous views of Eze and Monaco and out to sea towards Corsica. Our destination – Menton, the lemon capital of France, situated at the very Eastern end of the French Riviera and within jogging distance (even for me) of Italy.
If ever a place was my spiritual home then this is it – an almost perfect blend of Provence and Liguria in Italy – with a bustling and beautiful old town; a warm, shallow sea perfect for swimming; great food; a superb market; tangly old streets and magnificent people watching.
We all just LOVED it. (Except for the jellyfish, though on the plus side the Minx can now say ‘jellyfish’ in three languages.)
We stayed at the Hotel Napoleon on the waterfront – wonderfully located with great views of the old town from its balconies. The hotel itself is very pleasant, comfortable, well-equipped and modern, though no great shakes from a design perspective (hence I forgot to take any pics of the interiors) and had excellent breakfasts. Next door was sweet little chapel marking the pilgrim route from Rome to Santiago.
The best bit though was the luxurious private beach club, fully equipped with comfy loungers, a great restaurant and bar and handsome beach boys.
The Minx particularly appreciated the SELF. SERVICE. GELATERIA (help yourself to icecream, toppings, sauces and flavourings and then pay by weight at the end) next to the beach.
I, on the other hand, hugely appreciated the mesmerising view behind me, while we were at the bar watching England crash out of the football…
I showed the picture of your lovely view behind you, to my 20 year old daughter, and she gave him the two thumbs up!!
i’ve only ever been to menton passing by on a train but it looks like the kind of place i’d love to make a spiritual home too. my grandfather is piemontese, so the idea of lemons and strong black coffee in a place like that i must be hardwired for!
lucky you – it looks like a lovely relaxing time!
That is a VERY nice view indeed. 😉
You have taken some truly beautiful photos of Menton. So glad you loved it. I do too!
Jilly
http://menton-daily-photo.blogspot.com
Hello. I came across your blog via a “sock knitting” search. Your entry from 2008 where you ventured into sock knitting came up and aside from the beautiful pictures you took (that yarn is beautiful!), I related to your post very much since just tonight, I decided it was time I attempt to make socks (after almost 7 years of calling myself a knitter). A few failed “toe up” attempts later, I’ve gone the “cuff down” path and met with success! All this to say, it is very exciting, as you say. And now, reading your latest blog entry with those beautiful photos of your trip, I am definitely going to come back here and visit. 🙂
Glad everyone’s enjoying the ‘view’!
Mlle P, where in Piemonte is your grandfather from? My mother and all my Italian rellies (whom I was partly in Menton to visit) are from Cuneo.
Jilly, you are SO lucky to live there. Everyone rush to check out Jilly’s fabulous Menton photoblog. Though to be honest I defy anyone not to take good pictures there, it’s one of the most photogenic places on earth.
Whitt, thanks for the all the compliments. I’ve made several pairs of cuffdown socks but have yet to experiment with ‘toe up’. Come and be my friend on Ravelry (mirrormirror) if you’re on there…