Tag Archives: cap d’ail

Picture of the Day: Hotel du Cap Estel during the off season, secluded magic!

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When I had just arrived in Monaco as a kid, this kind of idyllic scene really epitomised the style and luxury of the French Riviera: the secluded private villa that takes up a prime part of the coastline and has a wonderful pool and stunning sea views. It just so happens that I stumbled across this lovely view on the way back from Beaulieu to Monaco and that this isn’t a private villa but a 5* boutique hotel called the Hotel du Cap Estel which stands on the eponymous cape on the eastern side of the Bay of Eze before Cap d’Ail. I’d never actually seen this place as it’s tucked away from the main road and even though it’s currently closed for the winter season, it looks absolutely idyllic – definitely somewhere to try out for a drink or lunch when the warm weather kicks off 😉

Monaco and Cap d’Ail during my Sunday evening sunset run – a photo gallery

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The start of 2017 hasn’t been wonderful in terms of weather on the French Riviera, at least from what I’ve been told as I’ve been travelling for 5 consecutive weeks so far for work to some much colder parts of Europe, namely Paris, Vienna, Munich, Stuttgart, Berlin, Düsseldorf and Cologne. However, this weekend was hopefully a sign of better times and after a lovely day yesterday in Nice (see the carnival pictures and video I shared on the French Riviera Blog Facebook page), I decided to enjoy the afternoon with a very pleasant 45 minute run around some of the major sights on the western part of Monaco and therefore enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

I figured, in the spirit of this blog, that it would be nice to share the pictures as it’s a really nice tour that takes in plenty of the most beautiful views of the Principality, just be warned that it does go uphill and downhill a lot so I did this at a very slow pace given my appalling fitness condition!

Enjoy the photos! Next week if the weather is still decent, I might go and check out the last weekend of the Fête des Citrons in Menton, if so I’ll share my experiences soon!

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A week on the French Riviera: the essential sights of the Côte d’Azur with seven unmissable day trips

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Fireworks (C) K. Hin

The summer season is fully upon us and the French Riviera is filling up with tourists: this means fireworks, music festivals, farniente beach time and outdoor dinners, amongst plenty of other activities, so here’s a quick guide on how to enjoy a fun-filled week here.

Of course, plenty of visitors just want to relax and enjoy days at the beach, but feel free to pick and mix according to your centres of interest. These day-long excursions are ideal if undertaken from Nice, located bang in the centre of the French Riviera, but plenty of them are also feasible if you are based further down the coast, either east or west, as long as you have access to the main railway line.

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