When I return from a vacation I always want to recollect what I was doing the week before. For example: a week ago I was visiting the beautiful island of Saint Honorat!

But let’s start with the beginning.

I never thought about visiting the French Riviera, mainly because of preconceptions concerning the cost of living. But this trip will serve as a lesson not to judge things before getting to know them. We left Bucharest on a very gloomy October Sunday and in less than 3 hours we were admiring the palm trees on the French coast. The first thing that comes to your mind is that you want to live here, especially when you come from a country with temperate climate.

Cannes is considered a fancy and expensive city mainly due to the film festival that gathers each year movie stars and not only. Thanks to our hosts I have found out in no more that 2 days that Cannes can fit every budget or taste. We visited a lot of hotels and I won’t describe here each of them. The Croisette is where the rich play, which means it’s the boulevard that has the sea on one side, and the luxury hotels and stores on the other. This needn’t have to worry the untrained traveler, ’cause a photo in front of the designer stores will be worth a 100 likes. And window shopping hasn’t hurt anyone, at least not to my knowledge. For a little guided lesson, I advise you take the train and put on the headphone: they play a combination of city history and famous songs. The train will take a brief stop in the old city, so you can take advantage of the beautiful panorama of the harbor with the yachts neatly anchoraged. If you want to surprise your significant other, you have a wide range to choose from. You can either choose to save money for a vacation during the festival or a nice weekend retreat in winter. I am only saying this because I would like to be surprised with such unexpected trip at Villa Garbo, the coziest place I have seen! Cannes has a lot to offer and since everything is just a walk away, you should discover it by foot. Only a block away from the famous Croisette are affordable stores and the delicacies boutiques. The Cannes market hosts every Monday a bargain fair and every other day serves its usual purpose nevertheless French pitoresque.

We leave Cannes and head for the mountains next! Try not to fall asleep in the bus that takes you to the village of St. Jeannet, ’cause the scenery is spectacular. This particular village is less known that its close neighbor Vence, but once you get off the bus, you’ll feel as descending on the set of Chocolat. The village is only 20 km away from Nice and can easily be reached by bus. Just to give you an idea about the charm of this place, I can say that it served as inspiration for Marc Chagall paintings (Le Baou de St Jeannet, Devant St Jeannet). Our guide was the owner of the The Frog’s House, a small but charming B&B, that fit perfectly in the surroundings. We enjoyed a brunch prepared entirely by his partner with local organic ingredients. I know I am not objective, but it was the best meal I had during this trip.  The setting, the food and the drinks were: Comme il faut!  

Since I tend to romanticize most of my writings, I will stop here. I choose not to write about Nice, but I strongly recommend that you visit this city when you get in the area. I didn’t write anything about the wines, ’cause I am clearly not a connoisseur. What I do know is desserts and I have had the best Lemon Meringue Tart at the Carlton and the richest moist chocolate cake at the Frog’s House. I am sorry I have no pictures, but I take my desserts very seriously: eat them and erase any trace! 🙂

It was a great experience and for that I am grateful! France doesn’t need advertising, but it’s important to emphasize the fact that is not high maintenance, it’s like Chagall’s representation of love: floating in the skies with a goat playing the violin (no one gets it, but you take it as it is!)!