French Riviera Travel Guide

French Riviera Travel Guide

Juan-les-Pins, the de luxe Hotel Provencal.
There are, however, less swank and equally beautiful resorts along the Riviera. St.-Tropez, St. Raphael, Juan-les-Pins, all with wonderful beaches, many with fine hotels and small pensions. Or try some of the smaller fishing villages such as Villefranche, Cap Ferrat and Cap d'Ail. Many hotels reduce rates as much as 20 per cent in winter for American tourists.
From Nice three roads lead to Monte Carlo and the Italian frontier. They are the Basse (low) Corniche, Moyenne (middle) Corniche, and Grande (high) Corniche. Each one runs on its different level out into the hills. From each you get that famous view of the Riviera.French Riviera Travel Guide At Monte Carlo there is the Casino, the most famous in the world. This is an enormous ornate building, marbled and mirrored with crystal chandeliers everywhere you turn. There are several hotels at Monte Carlo, most famous of which is the Hotel de Paris. There are the Metropole, the Hermitage, the Mirabeau, the Monte-Carlo Beach, any of which is first rate. Along the entire Riviera there is wonderful golf, fishing, swimming and boating. It is a yachtsman's paradise, but it is fun for small boatsmen, too; there are water skiing and underwater fishing. In the winter there is skiing about 25 miles inland from the beaches. 

   French Riviera Travel Guide   Nice, the capital, is partly Italian in character, and all the year it has a varied and lively existence of its own, regardless of visitors. The alleys of the old town contrast with the resplendent hotels along the Promenade des Anglais. Cannes is smaller and smarter than Nice, and more particularly devoted to visitors. In summer it is overcrowded; in winter it remains exclusive and aristocratic. Menton, a town of lemons and palm-trees, has an old-fashioned elegance, and many sedate hotels adapted to quiet English tastes. Some of the smaller resorts are pleasant - Juan-les-Pins, St Jean-Cap-Ferrat, and the ports of Villefranche and Antibes.Monaco, one of the world's smallest independent states, has a population of 23,o00 on not muchmore than 2 sq. m. Its ruler, Prince Rainier, and his wife, Princess Grace, live in their castle above the old town. There are no customs or frontier formalities with France, and French coinage is valid, but you must use Monegasque postage stamps. Within Monaco's frontiers lies Monte Carlo, now mainly devoted to business. The Casino no longer draws the elite of Europe, but is amusing to visit.