I'm sitting here writing this post in a very messy office with the knowledge that I've got a half unpacked suitcase in the bedroom and a tonne of washing to do. It's safe to say I've well and truly got the holiday blues. So what better way to make them even worse than look through all the photos of what I was doing this time last week and write about what an amazing time I had?!
If you follow me on Instagram (and if you don't, here's a shameless plug) or if you've simply read the title of this blog post then you'll know that I recently spent a week and a half exploring the French Riviera. One of my close friends was getting married out there and seeing as we hardly ever get a holiday we decided to make the most of it and stay on after the wedding. It was so nice - it made me realise how long it's been since I've really relaxed and felt like I had nothing to do but explore, eat and enjoy myself (and yanno, get a load of blog content obviously). I'll be writing more in depth posts about my favourite places that we visited, but I wanted to do a little round up of the places I'd really really recommend visiting if you're in that area
Antibes | Antibes was our base for the whole trip mainly because my friend got married there at the beginning of the holiday so it made sense for us to be close by, but we couldn't have wished for a better place to base ourselves. Antibes is everything you'd want all in one place and it's the perfect mix of relaxing seaside and lively bars.
We stayed in the old town, which is a maze of bars, cafes and cute little boulangeries plus a huge covered market selling fresh fruit, olives and spices among other things. It's easy to feel like you live there after a couple of days of wandering down to the boulangerie for breakfast before going out for the day then pottering around the harbour or going to the beach in the evening.
A small pebbly beach surrounded by the town walls quickly became our favourite and there was nothing more relaxing at the end of the day than nipping down there for a swim and a book reading session. I'll write more about Antibes in a future post, but one of my absolute favourite things we did there was walk the cap of the island, which reminded me a little of Kings Landing in Game of Thrones for some reason and was just so picturesque (plus helped justify the large amount of carbs that were consumed everyday).
Eze | Eze was the place I was most excited to visit and was probably my absolute favourite. It's a little medieval village sat atop a mountain with the most stunning views across the Mediterranean. The winding streets are so pretty to walk around and there's an exotic botanical garden at the top, which if you're a plant lady like me will have you in your absolute element. We sat and had lunch and some wine with the most amazing view and I'd highly recommend paying a little more to eat at Le Chèvre D'or because it's so worth it for the view alone and it's only about €5 more expensive than eating further inside the village.
Monaco | Monaco really surprised me. We went there just for the experience and because we thought it might be interesting and possibly even a little bit funny to see all the flash cars and yachts, but I absolutely loved it. The whole place looked a little like a Disney set, there were some stunning views and some interesting things to see and do as well. The palace is worth seeing and as it's on top of a hill you get some good views from up there too. We also went in the Monte Carlo casino, which was fascinating. You can just go into the entrance hallway, which in itself is impressive, but we chose to pay to go into the main casino out of curiosity. We sat with glasses of wine feeling like we were in a James Bond movie and watched rich people gamble all their money away. Monaco is definitely an experience I'd recommend.
Menton | Menton was a funny one because when we got off the train there it looked and felt like a run down British seaside resort in the 1980s. Give it a chance and walk five minutes round the corner though and you're faced with the most stunning beach front with lots of colourful houses going all up the side of the mountain. There's plenty to see as you're wandering around the old town and apparently there's a very picturesque cemetery at the very top of the hill, but it was so hot on the day we went that we decided to forgo that walk!
Saint-Paul-De-Vence | St Paul was a little like Eze, in that it was a walled medieval village on top of a hill, only it was a little inland. The views weren't quite as stunning, but the actual streets were so pretty - window shutters galore, which are now my new favourite thing and it was the perfect place to just wander around, take some pictures and enjoy some lunch. There were also lots of little cute art shops that we treated a little like galleries, probably to the annoyance of the owners who would have taken one look at us and decided we weren't buying anything...
So that's my top five of the places we visited - well done if you've made it this far through the post. I thought I'd add a few tips on the end for if you're visiting yourself that you might find useful.
Public transport is incredibly cheap. We bought a hop on/off weekly train ticket for pretty much everywhere along the coast for €25. How amazing is that?! The bus is a flat rate of €1.50 and we used that to get to the top of Eze (you can climb up the mountain if you want though) and also to St Paul because the train didn't go there.
The best thing you can do is wander. I think this with any holiday really. I love just wandering around and discovering pretty places and the French Riviera is perfect for just that.
If you're going in summer, stay somewhere with air conditioning. This was our only regret of the holiday. Our Air BnB wasn't air conditioned. After a long day of wandering round in the sweltering heat, the last thing you want is to arrive back to an equally sweltering and stuffy bedroom.
Have you ever been to the French Riviera? Where would you recommend?
Amy x
