Hotel Les Armoiries Valbonne

After brekkie it was onto Menton which is a lovely little town just before the Italian border. Menton is a much more down to earth place than its neighbours and more our scene. We found a park right on the beach and went for a wander and took in sum much needed sun. Next stop Italia!!<br>

Up early as it was a spectacular sunrise - full of pinks and organges. We wanted to hit McWifi before we entered Italy but we did not find one until later in the day in Menton. Before that we drove the coast road through Nice and Monte Carlo, both concrete ...

Gorgeous morning and a stunning place for breakfast awaited us just outside Scooby overlooking the lake. I went for a run but Kim was feeling a little under the weather so she stayed and made me breakfast - yay! We spotted two girls about our age and attempted to engage in some conversation but their English was limited and French is rubbish. Shame as its manily been the grey hair brigade we ...

... the wonderful "fun" and "vitamin" radio stations to keep us entertained with "Evacuate the Dancefloor" and 3 other dance songs that they kept repeating.<br><br>http://picasaweb.goog le.com/Jonny.D.Lawrence/20090928Cannes? authkey=Gv1sRgCPHzqZ_hy_fA8AE&amp;feat= directlink

... first day in Nice was spent on the beach, we couldn't wait to go into the ocean, that we went swimming without towels. Wasn't a good idea since Nice is all rock beaches and we couldn't really sit to dry off... WE had a delicous pasta dinner at Pasta Basta and ordered the finest wine on ...

... experience at Sababini's was very personable! The eight course meal was superb! We both chose the steak and lobster, otherwise referred to as surf and turf! The service was fantastic! Sabatini's provided a more intimate and personable experience! We were glad we arrived with an apetite. Otherwise, the eight courses would've been too much. The champagne carried us through dinner until the cappuccino's. <br ...

... Here we enjoyed a meal of fresh pasta, mine alla Carbonara and Michelle's alla pesto. Here we also met a fellow diner from Montreal who we chatted with about various aspects of traveling. He had a few tips for us, such as where to ride a gondola for free in Venice. It was very nice to converse with a fellow traveler, especially one who is fluent in English. That night we planned out our excursion to Monaco for the following day.

... an entrance to the five villiages of Cinque Terre. This is a place we would love to go to one day in the future, it has mountains, the sea and beautiful small historic villages which all can be explored on foot. After a short stop we were soon on our way to our final stop of Nice! The drive into the French Riviera to its capital Nice, past Menton and Monaco is gorgeous, the sea, the huge mansions, the large boats and ...

... got up and hoped in the car towards the French Grand Canyon. The best thing about the French Grand Canyon is the fact that it wasn't "discovered" until 1905. Seriously, how the largest canyon/whole in the ground for all of Europe go undiscovered says volumes about the French's lack of interest in nature. According to many of the guide books, they are actively working on becoming more nature friendly. Even after it was discovered their initial plan was to damn ...

... and luminous light. The first guidebook to the region was published in 1887 by a lawyer-cum-aspiring poet who gave it its name: the Côte d'Azur (literally, 'Azure Coast'). Although southern France saw no action in WWI, soldiers were conscripted from the region and many lives were lost. In the 1920s the region became a mecca for artists and writers once again (including Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Aldous Huxley and Thomas Mann). The luxurious Train Bleu made its first run ...