Impressions of the French Riviera / Côte d'Azur

I've been spending the last few days on the French Riviera, hence the brief hiatus from this blog, and was hoping to share something sooner, but being the forgetful person I am, I somehow managed to misplace my camera cable (this is why one shouldn't pack after midnight). In any case, I hope you're prepared for the ridiculous amount of photos I'm about to present here, because this was my first visit to the region and I couldn't help but snap away like a maniac.

Sunset view of the Cannes beach.

Most of the time was spent in Cannes, Nice, as well as a short trip to Monaco, to get a feel for the Côte d'Azur.

Cannes

Best known for the annual Film Festival and a popular getaway for the wealthy jetset, I was actually expecting this former fishing village to be a bit of a pretentious tourist destination. In fact, it is a very charming little town and despite the fact that the waterfront boulevard 'La Croisette' is lined with luxury hotels and expensive designer boutiques, you'll find a lot of decent-priced eateries and regular high street stores one street along. Of course I still saw a fair share of designer-clad ladies, usually accompanied by a small toy dog and too much collagen/botox in their faces, but I also saw plenty of hipsters, students and local residents who pretty much sported the 'effortless chic' look. For a bit of the fishing village charm, the old part of town is lovely to stroll along. Just be careful when you head past the old port filled with luxury yachts... it took a lot of physical effort on my part to pry my significant other away from these sailboats.

View of Cannes from above, with the old port towards the front.

Most of the yachts along the marina were pretty amazing.... many of them were 4 storeys high and bigger than the villas in the area.

View of Le Suquet (Old Town) and the old defensive walls near Musée de la Castre.

The old Cannes castle now housing the Musée de la Castre and the Chapelle Ste-Anne.

The Palais des Festivals et des Congrès where the annual Cannes Film Festival takes place. The Allée des Stars with over 200 handprints of movie stars who attended the festival can be found in front of the building. Above, Spike Lee's handprint.

Luxury shopping along the waterfront at La Croisette (above) and the seaside promenade next to it (lower left). High street shopping on rue d'Antibes (lower right).

Nice

The capital of the French Riviera, Nice is much larger than Cannes, yet manages to retain a certain resort charm, mainly thanks to the Italian feel of the baroque architecture and a beautiful seaside boulevard. I found it to be slightly less relaxing compared to Cannes: there is more traffic and the shopping streets are less picturesque - in fact, shopping is something I wouldn't even recommend you do here, unless it's olive oil or other foodie fare you're looking for. My favorite spot was the area around the port, allowing a fantastic view of the open sea. The narrow streets in the old town are cute as well, although they're also filled with tacky tourist shops... but it's the best place to go, if you want to enjoy a bit of Niçoise cuisine.

Place Masséna.

One of the many smaller streets in old Nice.

The beautiful port of Nice.

Partial view of the coastline and the monument aux morts.

The waterfront boulevard of Quai des Etats-Unis leading to Promenade des Anglais.

The Russian Orthodox Cathedral, one of many structures built for the Russian aristocrats who settled in Nice in the 19th century.

Monaco

Before I went, the mere mention of Monaco and it's famous Monte Carlo district conjured up images of a prestigious resort, filled with yachts, large villas, big winding roads (that's the Formula 1 influence) and an ultra-chic population, along with a glamorous royal family (who didn't love Grace Kelly aka Princess Grace?). Some of it is true, but what I wasn't prepared for, was the fact that it's so densely populated. I have since learned, that Monaco is the most densely populated sovereign country (yes, it is its own country, the smallest in the world following the Vatican City), which is mainly so popular because its citizens enjoy no income tax, making it a tax haven for rich business people, celebrities and other notable figures - Karl Lagerfeld is a proud resident. Like many other areas along the coast, Monaco is quite hilly - in fact, navigating it can be very tricky. Because half the town is spread out on the mountainous range, they've actually installed various public elevators which will take you from one level to the next. I'm also guessing that a lot of the people living here are old or suffer from some type of heart condition... I spotted at least 8 public defibrillators during my journey and these were even prominently marked on my tourist map. Very suspicious... but then again, if I had seen Karl keel over somewhere, I would have been able to rescue him within a second.

View of Monaco-Ville and Monte Carlo from the top.

Just to give you an idea of how densely populated this place is...

Palais du Prince - home of the Grimaldi royal family, including Prince Albert and his sisters, Princesses Caroline and Stephanie. The back still shows part of the 13th century fortress.

The port and part of Monaco-Ville and La Condamine.

This is how steep some of the areas are and why you'd need to get an elevator to access the upper levels of town (by foot).

Avenue and promenade named after Princess Grace / Grace Kelly.