Glitz and Glamour on the French Riviera Exclusively for Choice Hotels, guest travel writer Matthew Gardiner (https://twitter.com/matt_gardiner) talks of the merits of hitting the French Riviera off season and provides an insight into the best the region has to offer. The French Riviera, the sunshine playground corner of South East France, also known as the Côte d’Azur, is loaded with glitz and glamour and dusted with captivating villages. Soaking up some much needed Winter Sun, this February, I went to visit Choice Hotels newest hotel, the 4* Clarion Hotel Sophia Country Club Antibes and couldn’t help but explore – a lot. With the extravaganza of the Nice Carnival and Menton’s lemon festival on the annual agenda, February provides extra incentive for anyone considering escaping England’s grey skies. Nice and the Nice Carnival Beautifully carved around the Bay of Angels, Nice, the capital of the Côte d’Azur, is a good looking, classy, city with a sense of mischief. Explore the tightly-packed labyrinth of the old town where you’ll find the flower market. Then definitely make the climb up Castle Hill for the most magnificent of views – ignore the lift or you’ll miss out on the adventure of the gentle, twisting, ascent. The Nice Carnival, the main winter event of the Riviera is one of the largest carnivals in the World. In 2016 the event will take place between the 12th – 28th February. The Carnival processions see giant colourful floats hit the streets day and night in a crescendo of fun. You’ll find you can easily maneuver through the streets in a way that would never be possible if this event was held in the UK. The cuisine is a constant reminder of just how close you are to the Italian border with Italian restaurants making up a heavy proportion of the city’s eating options. In fact, Nice actually use to be part of Italy until 1860. Welcome to the heart of Nice Menton’s Fête du Citron Nicknamed the City of Lemons, each year, the second half of February sees Menton host the very unique Fête du Citron. A celebration of all thing citrus, giant structures are created from 145 tonnes of oranges and lemons in an event that attracts more than 250,000 visitors. This, the 82nd year of the event had a Chinese theme complete with lemon constructed dragon providing occasional roars. Menton, a colourful village Monte Carlo The packed bubble of extravagance was a let-down. As it was the place I was most looking forward to visiting, it still disappoints me to say that. Maybe my view is tainted by my heavy loss in the Monte Carlo Casino or maybe I just expect too much from my tax havens. For me it lacked charm and I counted more Ferraris in Cannes. One positive recommendation though is to visit the Jardin Exotique. Perched high by the station, the interesting collection of cacti lead to an impressive cave full of spectacular stalagmites and stalactites formed over thousands of years. St Paul De Vence An exquisite medieval village perched high in the Provencal hills only a short drive from the Sophia Country Club, St Paul De Vence’s cobbled streets are bursting with fantastic art galleries, charming restaurants and romance a plenty. Even on a Tuesday in February the village was busy – again I couldn’t help but thinking I’d chosen the right time of year to visit. That said the Chamber Music Festival in July could tempt me. Antibes The historic town centre is full of pretty squares and narrow streets and I wish I could have afforded to be a bit more leisurely in my exploring of the Cap d’Antibes. Of all the places we explored, Antibes was the town whose captivating allure came as most of a surprise. Definitely check out Choice Hotels guide to the city to find out more about its sights and quirky museums: our Antibes tour guide. A piece of paradise near Antibes Where to stay Little more than 10 minutes’ drive from Antibes, the Clarion Hotel Sophia Country Club is a peaceful and luxurious modern retreat complete with stylish spa and two swimming pools. Service was impressively slick and the restaurant an absolute highlight. This beautiful hotel is also one of the biggest Tennis Club in Europe and has recently become a huge training centre, led by Mouratoglou (Serena Williams’ Coach). Whilst the hotel has a staggering 24 tennis courts they seemed to be in constant use so do think about booking ahead of arrival. Whilst the hotel has a staggering 24 tennis courts they seemed to be in constant use so do think about booking ahead of arrival. The racket-shaped swimming-pool Matthew Gardiner (https://twitter.com/matt_gardiner) If you liked this article, you may also like our series about the south of France: Bordeaux, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Antibes
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