Well, I am so in love with France – the language, the people and the country itself! So in September 2011 I visited this part of France with one of my best friends Michi.
I’m so sure that you all know something about the Côte d’Azur but to begin with I want to give you some basic geographic information.
The Côte d’Azur is the Mediterranean coastline all the way from the French-Italian border down to St. Tropez and Toulon. In English it is also known as French Riviera.
In our French class we were talking about the different regions of France. So, the Côte d’Azur is located in the region called “Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. The capital of this region is Marseille and this city is in fact one of the two cultural capitals of Europe this year.
We flew from Vienna to Nice, where we stayed at a hotel for 9 days. Nice was our starting point from which we travelled to a lot of amazing cities all situated on this coastline.
What can I say about Nice? It is an outstanding city! I really loved it. The sea is crystal blue and I remember thinking to myself “This is paradise!”.
When we finally found our hotel we were surprised of its great location. Just 5 minutes away from the main square called “Place Masséna”. The Place Masséna is a two-minute walk from the Promenade des Anglais, old town, and town center.
The Promenade des Anglais is always bustling with humanity. There are tourists relaxing in the royal blue chairs lining the shore. There are local people roller blading, biking or jogging along it. Vendors sell crepes and drinks on it.
The port is also stunning, especially in the evening. We went for a walk on our first evening and the light was so beautiful. I took quite a lot of pictures. But it is never that beautiful on a photo than it is in that one particular moment. You can’t capture it with a camera I think.
On the next day, we went by bus (1 € per direction) to Monaco. Incredible city! I am sure all of you know the famous casino at the rotary. We insisted on sitting in a café directly next to the casino (we wanted to feel rich for just one second haha). I drank the most expensive coca cola and I ate the most expensive ice cream of my life there!! While we were sitting in the very first row and watched all these luxurious cars passing, two men walked up to us and wanted to take a picture with us. Guess they thought we must have been VIPs :P
The next days we visited Antibes and Cannes.
Antibes is a lovely small town next to Cannes. You walk through narrow alleys and discover the charm of this old city. There are many bathing beaches with lots of people but still it is beautiful.
Personally, I have to say that Cannes was the city I didn’t like that much. I can’t really explain why, I just didn’t come under its spell. It is a busy tourist destination and known as being host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. There is the famous festival theater named “Palais des Festivals et des Congres. Then there is the promenade called “La Croisette” where you can find lots of expensive boutiques. Guess what? Haven’t bought anything there ;)
On another day we went all the way down south to St. Tropez. It is not that impressive as you might think it is. In fact it is a small very old town and if I didn’t know that there party the most famous people of the world, I wouldn’t believe it. The port is of course beautiful and you get to see many impressive yachts – like everywhere else ;)
The last city we have been to was Grasse. I wanted to go there because I had that special picture in my mind of it being small, charming and beautiful. And the city fulfilled my expectations completely. Perfume is sprayed in the alleys and it smells just so good!
Those were my impressions of the Côte d’Azur. It is totally worth a visit!:)
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen