Come with Me to the… French Riviera Written by: Meghan Toppino ~ Design & Layout by: Lilia Castillo
one of my favorites is having a fabulous sister who is a flight atten- dant for Delta Airlines. This blessing allows me the opportunity to travel the world for pennies on the dollar, and occasionally being bumped into first class. Such luxury has now transformed me into the world’s poorest travel snob, but hey, once you have seen what is going on behind that curtain, there is no turning back. Throughout my travels I have fallen madly in love with one specific area, and one that I could find myself truly monogamous with for the rest of my life. This place is none other than the French Riviera.
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Also known as the Cote d’Azur, the French Riviera is the Mediterra- nean coastline of the southeast corner of France including Monaco. I have made this trip a few times over the years, and can say that I am always impressed by the beauty of the area. Everything just feels right when I am here. The air is sweeter, the food is better, the men are… Frencher. I think you can see where I am going with this.
Nice, which is the largest city on the Riviera, has always been my favor- ite and my home base on these trips. It’s big enough to feel as though you are in a city, but has an undeniable beach town atmosphere. The beaches all along the coast are covered with smooth stones instead of the sugary white stuff we are used to here in Naples. For about 15 Euros you can rent a lounge chair at a private beach and decide if you dare to bare. Most of the beaches around these parts are topless and if you have it in you, and do not want to look too American, you just go for it. What the hell, right? On this specific day, my girlfriend and I were lucky enough to have two twin cabana boys, a lovely addition to the sprawling back drop of the sparkling Mediterranean. We ate our rotisserie chicken and sipped chardonnay while watching fleets of mega yachts dance atop of the sea. Not a bad way to spend a day.
have been blessed many ways in my life, but I must admit that
The night life in Nice is amazing as well. The Promenade de An- glais runs parallel to the beaches and is full of restaurants and bars. As you wind your way through the small alleyways, around every corner there is something new and amazing. Night clubs and jazz lounges fill the air with music as people spill out onto the streets for impromptu singing and dancing.
One big recommendation that I would give if traveling to these parts is to rent a car. The drive up and down the coast is one of the most beautiful in the world. Being as economical as possible, my girlfriend and I rented the French equivalent of a pack of gum with a motor and headed up to Monte Carlo. We wound up the narrow road trying our best to not follow in the footsteps of the late Grace Kelly. Arriving in Monte Carlo, we pulled up to Le Grand Casino. Having a bit of a gam- bling bug, I had to go inside. Casinos here are much different than those in the USA. While we are used to them being filled with music, sirens and loud chatter, here you could hear a pin drop. It is a much more civilized way of blowing your money. I played a few rounds of black jack with some tuxedo clad James Bond villain lookalikes and lost my allotted $200 dollars in a whopping ten minutes. I said au re- voir to Le Chiffre and Goldfinger and we headed out for a nice dinner by the sea. It was truly a view to kill and a night to remember.
Aside from Nice, there are many other smaller towns that make up the Riviera. Two other stops that I have made on this trail are Cannes, best known for the Cannes film Festival, and Antibes, a small quaint town with beautiful beaches. All of the cities in this area have their own special feel and are unique on their own. This destination as a whole is still my location of choice, no matter how many times I am lucky enough to be there. I will always return to the Riviera, and hope that one day I will call this strip of seaside my home. I could only be so lucky.
Pulse Magazine SWFL | 7
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