Featured image: Côte d’Azur in the low season is still just as beautiful | Photo by Carolyn Ray

History is everywhere along the French Riviera

by Carolyn Ray

Arriving by train in March in Cannes, I step outside of the train station and am greeted by a warm breeze, palm trees and the glittering blue ocean. It’s a welcome change from eastern France, where I’ve spent the past week in cooler temperatures, ebiking around Bordeaux’s vineyards. Fortunately, I’ve packed my favourite multi-purpose black dress to try to live up to the French Riviera’s fashion standards.

My trip from Bordeaux to Cannes is a seven-hour journey, stopping in Marseille briefly before changing trains. The route to Cannes jogs along the Mediterranean coast, passing small towns I’ve only heard of in the movies: Cassis, Toulon, Saint-Tropez, Saint-Raphaël and finally, Cannes, the heart of the French Riviera. This area is only three hours from Paris by train or an hour by plane. (Find a train trip here.)

While we know the French Riviera as the domain of artists and movie stars, it is historically significant for other reasons as well. As I travel along the Côte d’Azur, I learn there’s more to this region than meets the eye. For example, in 1815, Napoleon landed in Golfe-Juan from Elba with a small band of 1100 loyal soldiers. This was the beginning of the Hundred Days March, leading to his return to power with his triumphal entry into the Tuileries Palace on March 20. Cannes, best known for the film festival, imprisoned the infamous “Man in the Iron Mask” for 11 years, from 1687 to 1698, on Fort Royal on Sainte-Marguerite Island. His identity is still something of a mystery to this day. The Côte d’Azur and French Riviera is a place of magic, myths and mysteries that I’m excited to uncover on this short visit.

Get stories just like this one delivered straight to your inbox. Join the newsletter here.

Visiting Côte d’Azur in the Low Season

Cannes Old Town

It’s only a five-minute walk from the train station to my hotel, the Five Seas by Inwood Hotels. The hotel is an oasis, with a rooftop bar and restaurant, and an infinity pool with views of the Mediterranean Sea. (I can only imagine it filled with movie stars.) My room on the third floor of the hotel has every possible comfort, including red slippers, a robe and a built-in closet. I hardly want to leave!

Turning right from the hotel on Rue Bivouac Napoleon, with its huge memorial to the March, takes me past the iconic New York Café, and the elegant 150-year-old Hotel Splendide (soon closing for renovations). Over three million people visit Cannes each year and enjoy its 10 km of sandy beaches, boating and historical sites that run along the boardwalk (called the ‘Golden banana’ by locals, my guide Pieter tells me). During the Cannes Film Festival in May, celebrities stay in the iconic hotels like the Carleton Hotel or Hotel Martinez and walk the red carpet at the Palais des Festivals. There’s a red carpet there, but it’s just for tourists like me, who can’t resist the chance to say ‘we walked the red carpet!’

The name Cannes is said to be of Celtic origin (from the word ‘kan’, which means hilltop); the origins of Cannes are found on the hill of Le Suquet, where a fortress was built in ancient times. This is also where you can get the best views of Cannes (by walking, or there is a small pink bus that regularly drives up). Today, the Notre-Dame-de-l’Espérance church hosts the summer concerts of the Nuits musicales du Suquet. There’s also The Museum of World Explorations, formerly the Castre Museum, housed in the remains of the medieval castle of the Lérins monks.

The highlight of my time in Cannes is taking the ferry to Sainte-Marguerite Island, which takes its name from a chapel built there in honour of the martyr of Antioche during the first centuries of Christianity. In 1617, a fort was built on Roman ruins, which became a state prison and played host to the famous “Man in the Iron Mask” from 1687 to 1698. Designed as a high-security facility, Fort Royal consisted of two cells and a corridor, protected by a guardroom. Among the 50 identities ascribed to the “Man in the Iron Mask’ the most popular was that it was the twin brother of King Louis XIV.

However, my guide, Christoph Roustan Delatour from the Mairie de Cannes, a historian and author, has other ideas about the identity of this person. (Read more here). Peering through the window, I can see Cannes in the distance. Passing by groups of schoolchildren visiting the museum, we walk across the island for a view of Saint-Honorat Island, a private island belonging to the monks of Lérins Abbey.

What to see: La Malmasion Contemporary Art Gallery, a historic Belle Époque villa, which has a small collection of contemporary art. Many of the paintings are so vivid, they look like photographs.

Where to eat: La Bambola / Copal Beach on Boulevard de la Croisette

Where to stay: The gorgeous Five Seas by Inwood Hotels.

Antibes, an artist’s paradise

I’m fortunate to have Pieter, who speaks no less than eight languages, as my private guide to the Côte d’Azur. Our drive to Nice along the coast takes us past the small village of Golfe-Juan, where Napoleon landed from Elba with a small band of 1100 loyal soldiers in 1815 and began his march north to Paris. Every July, Pieter says, there is a festival here commemorating the landing with period costumes and historical reconstructions (complete with cavalry charges and artillery fire).

As we drive through the Cap d’Antibes, otherwise known as the “Bay of Billionaires’ with its luxurious villas and Art Deco hotels, I wonder what it might have been like to see Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald here in the 1920s. I first learned of this area from reading the historical fiction novel The Paris Wife by Paula McLean. I can’t resist asking Pieter to pull over for a glimpse of the famous Hotel Cap Eden Roc through the iron gates. This luxury hotel dates back to the 1870s when it was a private home and winter escape for the wealthy. Other famous celebrities stayed here too, including the Kennedy family, Marlene Dietrich, Orson Welles, Winston Churchill and Charles De Gaulle. Even Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton honeymooned here.

Driving into the seaside city of Antibes, built upon the foundations of the ancient Greek town of Antipolis, we stop to watch sailboats float by. In the distance are the Italian Alps, still covered in snow. It’s no wonder that this area inspired many artists. The most famous is Picasso, who lived in the Grimaldi Museum (now the Picasso Museum) for six months in 1946. Here, he painted pictures of daily life: fishermen at a table, melons, grapes, sea urchins and fish. It’s also where he learned ceramics, many of which are in the museum. (Get tickets here.)

In the provincial market at Juan Les Pins Antibes, I can’t resist trying socca, a traditional flatbread made of chickpea flour, olive oil, water and salt, cooked in a wood-fired oven. It’s not the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten, but a hilltop lunch in Saint Paul de Vence, looking out at the ocean, makes up for it. (Find a local tour here.) 

Saint Paul de Vence

We drive up the hill into Saint Paul de Vence, a hub for artists. Renowned painter Marc Chagall, who lived in the village for 19 years, is buried at the cemetery of Saint-Paul de Vence, which was built in the old medieval district of Puy in the 16th century. (Find a local tour here.)

I’m reluctant to leave this charming village after only a brief visit, but my next stop is Foundation Marguerite et Aimé Maeght. Opened in 1964, La Fondation was established by Aimé and Marguerite Maeght, a visionary couple who were publishers and art dealers, and who represented and were friends with some of the most important artists of the era, including Braque, Miró and Giacometti, as well as Alexander Calder, Fernand Léger, Marc Chagall, and many others. Learn more here.

 Stay connected here with an Airalo eSIM. Use code JOURNEY10 for 10% off.

What to see: La Maison de Parfum GODET, founded in 1901 by Julien-Joseph Godet, ‘La Maison Godet’ is a timeless French Perfume Maison. Learn more here.

Where to stay: Le Saint Paul, a five-star hotel in a quaint 16th-century house inside the village walls, part of Relais & Chateaux for 30 years. Book it here.

Nice and its UNESCO Old Town

My final stop on the Côte d’Azur in the low season is Nice, the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast. After saying goodbye to Pieter, I take a stroll on the boardwalk, where joggers, tourists, musicians and families enjoy the spring sunshine on the city’s main seaside promenade, the Promenade des Anglais (“Walkway of the English”). Open to the sea, with its port and the beaches along the Promenade des Anglais, Nice is also home to numerous museums, picturesque neighbourhoods and lively streets with shops and restaurants. (Find a local tour here.)

In Nice, I wander the lovely old town, enjoy music in a sunny square, and climb up to the top of Castle Hill to see the Colline du Château. It’s steep, but worth it for the views of Nice and the Baie des Anges. With an international airport, nearly 200 hotels and 7 km of beaches, Nice feels more like Italy than France (it was historically part of Italy and is only 20 miles/32 kilometres from the border), with the snow-covered mountains in the distance. Because of its historical importance as a winter resort town for the European aristocracy, Nice’s city centre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as an example of the fusion of international influences.

What to see: Vieux-Nice (The Old Town), with Cours Saleya and its fruit, vegetable and flower market, and the many lovely shops, where I couldn’t resist purchasing a colourful new butterfly scarf and locally-designed earrings.

Where to stay: I was a guest at the historic and luxurious Belle Epoque Hôtel West End; my room had a stunning view of the ocean.

How to get to the Cote d’Azur

From within France, travel by train. There is a high speed train from Paris to Marseille, with an easy transfer to Nice or Cannes. Check routes and prices on Trainline here. 

If arriving by air, the closest airport is in Nice. Check for flights here.  Tip: Taxis to and from Nice can be extremely expensive in the early morning. I paid $50 USD for a 10-minute taxi ride from my hotel in Nice to the airport at 5 a.m. Check with your hotel or Uber on transportation costs before you book a flight. 

Disclaimer: The writer was a guest of the Côte d’Azur tourism board, including hotels, a tour guide, some meals and local transportation. To learn more, visit the official tourism website here.

More About France