So much of my initial impression of the French Riviera was
set by my favorite author, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I’ve always imagined la Côte d'Azur in its full glitz and glamour of the Jazz
Age, a sophisticated place where high society retreated to and where the beautiful
and the damned vacationed.
However, the French Riviera I saw was quite the
contrary. For the most part, the
atmosphere was provincial, full of tourists and families with children on summer holidays, and most of the clubs and discothèques filled with retiree reliving
their youth … a bit like the Key West.
I realized a lot of the image that I and most tourists have of
the French Riviera are that of the past, an illusion of the bygone era that
symbolized something that reality couldn’t quite live up to … another Hollywood
concoction glossed over in Technicolor.
The truth of the matter is that aside from the few highly publicized glitzy events liked the Cannes Film Festival, the region serves as a popular vacation spot for hordes of tourists and retirees.
The truth of the matter is that aside from the few highly publicized glitzy events liked the Cannes Film Festival, the region serves as a popular vacation spot for hordes of tourists and retirees.
Nevertheless, what makes the French Riviera intriguing isn’t
the illusion of glitz and glam, but the provincial charm behind this facade:
the beautiful outdoor market in Nice, the wonderful little cafes and
restaurants in Cannes and Saint Tropez, the unforgettable drive and the view of
the coastline, and the quaint little villages along the way.
It truly is a lyrical landscape filled with spectacular
cliffs overlooking the bright-blue sea … hence, appropriately called la Côte
d'Azur (the blue coast), and its beauty far exceeds anything that anyone, even my favorite author, can write about.
Beaulieu sur Mer
a breathtaking drive along the coast of
the French Riviera leads into this charming village
Canne
Grasse
Nice
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Roquebrune Cap Martin
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Saint Tropez
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St Paul de Vence
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Tourrettes sur Loup
Vence
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Recommended Hotels & Website: Côte d'Azur Tourism, Hotel Bellaudiere (Grasse), Hotel le Victoria (Grasse), Auberge de Seigneurs (Vence)
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