What better place to begin a vacation than in Monte Carlo! And what better hotel than the Hermitage, on Square Beaumarchais, a block from the Casino de Paris. The Casino was designed in 1878 by Charles Garnier who designed the fabulous Opera de Paris, and the Hermitage has the same opulent Belle epoque architecture. First-time visitors to Monte Carlo will want to view the Casino, but will also want to visit the Neo-Romanesque Cathedral, Exotic Gardens and possibly "Palais Princier", open only in summer. Those ecologically minded will enjoy the Oceanographic Museum where Jacques Cousteau was a director for 30 years. And if you're there in mid-May, the whole town becomes a race course for the Grand Prix.

Our day starts well at the Gare de Lyon in Paris to catch the TGV (literally train of great speed) for our five-hour trip to Nice, located between Monte Carlo by the Italian border and Cannes. Be sure you visit the upstairs station restaurant, famous for its beautifully painted ceiling and walls. Visitors to Paris go there just to dine in its splendour. We'd booked our TGV tickets on-line so we check with the very nice man at information who explains that yellow leaves from one hall, blue from the other. Just get the ticket stamped at a machine before entering either hall. We brought books to read, our seats are comfortable, scenery of yellow fields amid green foliage is visible despite the speed, and snacks and drinks are available. All goes admirably until arriving in Nice, we discover Avis rental car closes at lunch. If you reserve an auto with the same company as the train then they leave the car keys with someone at information for you. Otherwise, you stand out on the sidewalk with your luggage, in our case waiting for half an hour. Nuff said.

ancient buildings

Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean sea. - Photos by Laura Tanna

Once en route, we drive around Nice harbour, its ancient buildings in varying shades of terra cotta, past hundreds of fishing and sailing boats, then on the basse corniche, the lower road through coastal towns, all annoyance dissolves. There's a reason the French call this part of the world the Cote d'Azur or Blue Coast. Brilliant sunlit flowers, palm trees and pines, elegant mansions, sports cars in racy colours and cliff-side views of the Mediterranean sea transport one into another world entirely.

Arriving in Monte Carlo, we leave the car at the hotel and walk to what is now a Fairmont Hotel, which still has the finest floor-to-ceiling-plate-glass-views from its vast lobby café. We sit for two hours sipping wine and sharing thoughts, watching life on the blue sea, to the horizon on one side, on the other up the cliffs to La Turbie where the Roman Senate in six BC built a monument honouring Augustus' victory over 44 Ligurian tribes. The antiquity of Mediterranean civilisation enhances every experience here.

Because we're speaking in English, the waitress recommends a trendy restaurant, La Cosmopolitaine, a few blocks away. Turns out to be the local watering hole for Brits. We have a steak and leave. But the night is too beautiful to end so we go atop the Hermitage and talk our way beyond the enclosed bar, out on to the open-air Terrasse with all the harbour lights and elegant yachts below as we sit beneath the stars.

sumptuous elegance

Front entrance to Villa Ile-de-France, Museum Ephrussie de Rothschild at St Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

Our memories are of little fishing villages on the coast and after breakfast, leaving luggage behind, we set out for St Jean-Cap-Ferrat where we walk beside the windblown boats, buy a coke and sit on a bench in the little park by the harbour, just soaking in the beauty, the solitude, the safeness beside the sea. If only Kingston - but we mustn't dream such dreams just yet.

For sheer floral beauty and sumptuous elegance, nothing captures the richness of the Riviera like Villa Ile-de-France. A gift to the nation, the 5,300 works of art, gardens and Museum Ephrussi de Rothschild in St Jean-Cap-Ferrat are owned by the Institute of France, all nine gardens and 10 acres of incredible beauty with unforgettable views of Villefranche on one side and the bay towards Nice on the other. This is an absolute must-see.

Back in the real world, away from the Villa, which was home to one of the wealthiest families in Europe, we park in Nice, walk along the Promenade des Anglais, the main boulevard, past hotels and restaurants on one side, and beaches on the other. Then using the peage, the toll road, we zip back to Monte Carlo, and pick up our luggage. I long to take the upper corniche with its spectacular views of the coastline, but agree to the superhighway instead of the scenic route, and we arrive in the little village of Mougins just before dinner. We're spending three nights at Le Moulin de Mougins, The Mill of Mougins, in accommodations attached to the famous restaurant. The staff, from Madagascar and Kenya, as well as France, is delightful. Grand Chef Roger Vergé has retired, his successor has left, and now Sebastien Chambru is establishing himself. It isn't quite what we remembered, not quite what Le Gavroche or The Waterside Inn in the United Kingdom now present, but we enjoy a gourmet dinner there.

Villefranche-sur-Mer is the one village we haven't yet revisited. Breakfast at Les Corsaires, coffee and croissants or a petit baguette with unsalted butter, sitting on a cobble stoned quay right at water's edge, multi-coloured cafés, a little open-air market, what bliss! Later we drive to Antibes, park at the port and walk through old Antibes, searching for our favourite pizza place across from city hall where couples marry and are photographed, near the covered market, but no, Valyne Maddocks and her La Braseria are no longer there. We settle for pizza in the town square. Afterwards, we drive past the famed villas of Cap d'Antibes and Juan les Pins, then back at Mougins, end the afternoon strolling through its many artists' studios.

We're so enamoured of Villefranche-sur-Mer, the only seaside village that retains the same charm it displayed 40 years ago, that we return for breakfast at Les Corsaires, and after reading our papers and walking the narrow streets, succumb to a young woman advertising Le Mayssa, an upstairs open-air restaurant, protected with clear glass windbreakers, overlooking the port where we've had breakfast. Soon, we're joined by a young couple at the next table planning their wedding reception to be held here, with this lovely view. We tell them to honeymoon in Jamaica and after a delightful lunch, head to Cannes, just in time to walk along the Croisette and feel the excitement as a red carpet is laid for the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

Be forewarned: the Euro, Europe's currency, has doubled in value against the United States dollar in the past decade. Just to give you an idea of how expensive France can be, at Nice airport, waiting for our flight to London, my husband picks up a real estate brochure of villas for sale or rental along the Cote d'Azur and after a few minutes study tells me: "I didn't know how poor we were!"

Laura Tanna, June 8, 2009.

Garden entrance to Villa Ile-de-France, Museum Ephrussie de Rothschild, St Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

Carrosel de Cannes, on the Croisette.

Red carpet to the Grand Auditorium of the Cannes Film Festival.