Magical Menton
I have spent around three years in total travel time exploring France from north to south east to west and I was completely taken aback by our visit to Menton. This town is just Golden. Literally. It’s painted in every spectrum of the palette from orange to yellow and glows like an ochre-russet dream. I had never seen this town on any tourist route and only stumbled across it a year ago when we stayed near Nice and were looking to do a trip to the nearby medieval hill town of Eze.
My favourite French town had previously been Roussillon but I’m now thinking Menton might give me all the colour of Roussillon, with a good dose of sandy beaches and seaside as well. Adding to the charm is the melange of Italian-French cultures (it is only 2 km from the Italian border) and the mix of old town and new, without all the spoils of ritzy glamour and mega-yachts often found in the Cote d’Azure region. This little town of 30,000 offers luxury without the price tag. There is sand not rocks on the beach and there’s plenty of gratuit plage not taken up by concession stands. The drinking water flows free from fountains about town and the prices of meals still have a 1 in front of them.
It’s often referred to as the ‘pearl of France’ which is apt as it is rare, unpolished but beautiful. It has the sunniest climate in France with 316 days of sunshine a year and this mild climate produces an abundance of citrus – predominately lemons. Each year in February-March the Fête du Citron, turns citrus fruit into spectacular large-float sized art. Citron scents the air and fills the shops with lemonade, lemon cakes, lemon motifs and colours.
The two cultures that make up Menton
Menton once belonged to the Grimaldis of Monaco, was part of the kingdom of Sardinia, was the Republic of Genoa in the 14th century then was voted to become part of France in 1860 only to be annexed by the Italians in WWII. As a result, Menton is the perfect melange of French and Italian – blending the best parts of each country and culture.
The boats in the harbour are Italian; the cars in the street are French. The homes climb the hills like in the Cinque Terre but feature geranium pots on balconies like in les beaux villages de France. The patina of house colours are Italian seaside whilst the blue and green shutters are provincial France. One is greeted by shop owners with Bongiorno and farewelled with bon journee. You can buy bags of lavender from Provence alongside olives from Italy, grab a pizza in the piazza then finish off dinner with a crepe in the cour next door. Come sunset, you can sip Champagne or Prosecco as you enjoy aperos or an assiette du fromage.
As you walk around town, you’ll also notice that Menton’s streets are not only named after French authors, politicians and war heroes but Italian ones as well. Amongst the avenues Pasteur, Victor Hugo and Général de Gaulle, are the avenues Cernuschi and Laurenti, and rues Pietra Scritta, Isola, and Ciapetta. So in a way, you are navigating two cultures simultaneously at all times when visiting Menton!
The three towns of Menton: Menton Garavan, Vieux Ville and Menton
As well as having two cultures, Menton has two – or rather, three towns: Vieux Ville – the one on all the picture postcards and host to the famous golden Les Rampes Saint-Michel to the Basilique Saint-Michel-Archange and Menton – the newer town with wide flat boulevards and exceptional Belle-Epoque palaces. And about 1 kilometre to the west is Menton Garavan, where we stayed.
Menton Vieux Ville Highlights:
This gloriously picturesque town reminded us of a large scale Cinque terre town. Its homes are all painted in hues of orange, lemon, ochre, russet and wattle and the early morning light shines a torch on them that only grows richer as the day progresses. The best way to see this medieval town is to simply wander, aimlessly through its winding narrow streets and just stumble across its delights. A few things to look out for include:
Les Rampes Saint-Michel – climb 9 flights of grand ochre stairs up to the Basilique Saint-Michel-Archange and in to the top of the Old Town. Wander further up to see the old original workers houses or twist round the many lower streets to discover ateliers, little bars and restaurants and artisan shops.
Les Halles market – a Belle Époque gem built in 1898, where vendors sell fresh produce, regional specialties, and Menton’s famed lemons, sits between the fishermen’s port and the Baroque quarter and is the hub of life and gastronomy in Menton.
Rue Saint-Michel is Menton’s charming pedestrian thoroughfare, lined with beautiful buildings, lemon trees, cafés, chocolatiers, wine bars, and boutique homeware shops featuring the ubiquitous lemon on linen, ceramics, notebooks and candle holders.
Old wares walk – behind Rue Saint-Michel, you’ll come across some interesting vintage and antique shops. L’Usine Centre d’Antiquité Brocante is a particularly fun place to get lost in for a while.
Menton (new town) highlights
We didn’t discover the main, newer town of Menton until our 4th day – so distracted were we by the beauty of the vieux ville. We had passed through Menton station on our way in and out to Monte Carlo and Nice and thought we’d better get into this part of Menton to see what was on offer. Woweee. The town was huge, with wide boulevards and so many palaces. The main boulevard is Avenue du Verdon which has a lovely Jardin Bioves in the centre and grand shops either side.
The Grand Hotels were built in the Belle Époque style to welcome nobility who liked to winter here from all over Europe, and are a reminder of a sumptuous era when nobility and royalty descended to Menton. Many of the former Palaces are now condominiums or hotels but they still rise in full grandeur over Menton.
- Riviera Palace high up behind Menton that stands out for how tall it is (apparently it needed to build above the winter Palace that started building in front of it after a disagreement).
- Winter Palace is a local landmark with its distinctive pinnacles covered in yellow glazed tiles.
- L’Orient Palace is opulent with a blue and white colour scheme that goes against the yellow colours of Menton.
- The Imperial is just across the street from the beach and is in the heart of Menton but set in nicely landscaped grounds.
- The Grand Hotel National is another palace hotel, set high over the town, with impressive views.
Menton Garavan highlights
We stayed 15 minutes walk from the old town in the adjoining Menton Garavan – which is the next train stop west of Menton. Our street lead down to the marina where some remarkable motor launches and sailboats parked. There’s a smattering of marina-bars and restaurants here and a big Super U supermarket and just beyond is the start of Plage des Sablettes. It’s great for access to the best part of the beach and also for larger, roomer houses rather than apartments or hotels. The hills above Menton Garavan are filled with ornate Italian style palaces with some pretty impressive views. I walked up behind our house to a belvedere off Boulevarde Garavan to see the view I’d get if I dined at the three Michelin hat restaurant, Mirazur nearby. This was as close I was going to get to dining at Mirazur as it is 450 euros a head to “enjoy a menu guided by the vital energy of the garden that evolves in line with the biodynamic calendar, and highlights four parts of plants: roots, leaves, flowers and fruits.”
Menton walks and gardens:
Menton offers a great range of walks, running tracks, bike paths and gardens – I had never seen so many joggers, bike riders, people out and about enjoying the flat areas by the sea and the terraced gardens up the hill.
Menton Marina – Good for browsing mega yachts or dining at one of the many restaurants. There’s two nice fountains and if you follow the breakwater to the end of the marina, you’ll find Saint Michael statue and some great views of vieux ville.
Jardin Botanique Val Rahmeh features a selection of trees form all over the world – many from Australia! It was nice and shady on a hot May day when we visited but there was nothing particularly striking about this garden either in design or the plants it featured. It was originally a private estate and in 1905 it was transformed into a tropical garden by British General Lord Radcliffe. Today, it’s managed by the National Museum of Natural History and costs 8 euro to visit and is closed on Tuesday.
The Parc Départemental du Pian, is an historic olive grove (450 trees) that has been classified a Monument historique since 1955. Theres terraces that double up as picnic spots, boules courts and soccer fields for families to enjoy.
Esplanade des Sablettes is a 700 metres seaside boulevard in front of the old town with bars and kids play areas.
Promenade de la Sol. You can keep walking west from Esplanade des Sablettes about 1 km to get to Menton Garavan then another 1 km to get to the Italian border. If you’re really keen and want to walk 6 kilometres you can reach Ventimiglia.
Menton Eat treats
Menton has very multicultural cuisine but it is predominately Italia pizzerias with a smattering of French Bistros, creperies, tapas bars some Asian cuisine and three Michelin hat restaurants!
We enjoyed strolling around town and dropping into whatever was our fancy. We don’t really go for Michelin hats but rather a vibe and a taste we are looking for. We enjoyed crepes one night deep in the old town, Aperol Spritz and pizza another night on the waterfront and steak frites at a French bistro in town another night. The tables are all beautifuly set and welcoming as are the staff.
There’s plenty of artisanal gelato but only in the old town – we were disappointed there were none by the waterfront.
Lemons are celebrated everywhere from lemonade and granitas stands to lemon liqueur and the beautifully presented cake store, La Tarte Mentonnaise which presents their eponymous tart which is an artful blend of creamy lemon curd on a shortbread base, topped with Italian meringues and dusted with gold leaf.
