We began our week-long French adventure in Paris, a city we’d wanted to visit together for over ten years, but being 8,000 miles away from one another had always made it difficult to actually plan and pin down. After two nights in Paris we then flew down to Nice, and picked up our hire car and drove to Monte Carlo via Villefranche-sur-mer. The drive was the most stressful drive I have ever driven, and it traumatised me a little so Caitlin had to drive the rest of the way to Monte Carlo after we’d explored Villefranche, haha.
Days 1-3: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Villefranche-sur-mer is the perfect stop-off point between Nice and Monaco. It’s the prettiest town I have ever seen, and is filled with colourful buildings and cobbled streets. We ate lunch by the harbour and had the most incredible beef carpaccio and carbonara, before wandering the town and taking plenty of photos. You only need a couple of hours here to get some food and have a wander, and there are also some adorable shops with super cute vintage poster style postcards!
After a swift check-in at Hotel Metropole where we spotted Thierry Henry sitting in the lobby, we were shown to our extravagant suite and quickly popped open the bottle of champagne waiting for us! It was the night before the dreaded due date day, and so we drank the bottle, got dressed up, and went to Monte Carlo Casino.
Although the casino was incredible architecturally, it felt really touristy and we were slightly disappointed by it (although the drinks are cheap there!), so we decided to get a taxi and go to a bar recommended to us by the hotel concierge. Finding a taxi in Monaco was *hard*, there were none around so we had to go to a nearby taxi rank and call the number to ask one to pick us up.
It was a weekday so everywhere was disappointingly quiet, but alas, we had a drink at the bar, and then decided we were hungry and wanted chicken nuggets. Somehow we managed to walk in heels – stopping off for photo opportunities at random points along the way – and find a McDonalds, where we ordered burgers, nuggets, chips, and milkshakes.
Our extravagant day of excess continued when we walked along the ocean-front, found it was all boarded up due to building work (you literally couldn’t see the ocean), found out that the marina was also closed off due to preparations for the yacht show the week after, and so went to the cafe opposite Monte Carlo Casino and ate a huge mountain of banoffee ice-cream sundae.
Afterward we strolled across the road to the famous Hotel Cafe de Paris for a drink on the gorgeous terrace, and ended up staying there all evening drinking champagne and cocktails, and eating the most expensive sliders and fries we have ever eaten whilst staring out at the sun dipping below the Cote d’Azur. It was bliss, and the perfect Monte Carlo experience.
Days 3-5: Cannes, France
Enroute we stopped off at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat to visit the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, which I highly recommend! The views are absolutely breathtaking, and the villa itself is fascinating and oh so pretty. It’s very cheap to enter the villa, and you’re even treated to a huge and rather impressive fountain show in the gardens if you time your visit well!
After visiting Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild we then drove along to Paloma Plage, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat’s most famous beach. We soaked up the rays, enjoyed a delicious lunch of avocado and quinoa salad, calamari, and fresh bread at the beach-side Paloma restaurant, and just relaxed. It was the perfect day and one of the highlights of our trip.
We finally arrived in Cannes late in the afternoon and checked in to our hotel, Hotel Martinez. We had a gorgeous sea-view junior suite, and I literally want that entire bedroom in my future dream house (with the view and everything). After unpacking and getting settled we decided to go for a wander down the Croisette to look for somewhere for dinner. Naturally we gravitated towards the busiest restaurant, a pizza place called Vesuvio. The waiting staff were a little sour but the pizzas were great and it was proper old-school Cannes! We finished the evening with an apple tart that Cannes is apparently famous for, and then got an early night after our busy day in the sun.
Eventually we were feeling a little peckish, so wandered down the Croisette to Barrière Le Majestic for lunch at Fouquet’s. We dined in style, sipping on crisp white wine, and feasting on grilled octopus and steak. We completed our meal with the most moreish desserts possible, and then waddled back to The Carlton’s beach club to soak in the sun some more. As if we hadn’t eaten enough, a couple of hours later we each treated ourselves to very overpriced gelato! Every holiday needs gelato!
After getting showered and changed we opted for cocktails and an Absinthe fountain at the hotel’s bar, Le Jardin du Martinez, and then more cocktails across the road at the famous La Chunga. Sadly it was a Wednesday evening in September and everywhere was closed, so when we arrived at Baoli Club and got over-excited about there being no queue, the security man laughed in our faces and told us the club was completely empty. Dammit. So we headed back to the hotel and went to sleep, haha!
Day 5-6: Nice, France
Like the drive from Monaco to Cannes we decided to stop off enroute on our way to Nice. We only had one night in Nice, but neither of us were too fussed about rushing around a city and really wanted to spend our precious time exploring the beaches along the French Riviera instead. We drove to Antibes and found a nice little beach called Plage Keller. It wasn’t as relaxing or photogenic as Paloma Plage, but it was still much nicer than the main beach we drove past.
We had an hour of sunbathing and then wandered up to the fine dining restaurant on the beach, César, for one last fancy lunch. We enjoyed the fresh bread coated in butter and olive oil, and fresh tuna tartare and crispy calamari.
After lunch we drove the final stretch to Nice, and arrived just as the sun was dipping below the horizon. Our final dinner was a sumptuous three course affair with cocktails at Calade, the rooftop restaurant at the beach-front Radisson Blu, which overlooks the Cote d’Azur.
It was the perfect end to a perfect week.
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Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
