I am so excited to finally be sharing with you all what I did during my trip to the French Riviera a couple of weeks ago. This was a trip of a lifetime that I got to embark on with one of my best friends that I have known since I was in 4th grade and her family. I had never been to Europe so this was a big journey for me. The French Riviera was a dream to go to in the Summer, and I literally felt like a celebrity going to all of the places. This is one of the most popular times to go as everyone is on Holiday in Europe during this time. If you want picture perfect scenery, gorgeous clear water, amazing architecture, and great shopping you need to come to the French Riviera. I flew into Nice where we were staying for 10 days. We would make day trips to the other local towns, but flying here made the most sense and was a central location. I fell in love with this area of France and would want to come back every year if I could. Below I will talk about what we did, some tips, and things I would recommend.

To Stay

As I mentioned above we flew from Houston to Nice and spent the majority of our Europe trip in Nice, other than some day trips. The other country that was part of our trip was Norway which I will also be doing a recap on. In order to get the full experience I would highly recommend staying at an apartment AirBNB. We stayed in a 3 bedroom apartment that was in the cliffs that had breathtaking views of the ocean and the ports. It also was only about a 5 minute drive to the airport as well which was really convenient. My friend’s family friend lived right next door to the apartment we were renting which was so nice to have meals together and drink rose on the balcony. This apartment also had an amazing pool that was on the property that had the cliffs and the ocean in the background with a fabulous restaurant as well. There are also great hotels, one of them being Hotel Negresco that looked phenomenal. It is one of the nicest hotels in the French Riviera and has a lot of celebrities and royalty that have stayed there. We went there one night and for sure people watched in their bar area. No matter where you stay, there are a couple of tips that I learned.

• Make sure to bring a European converter and check the wattage on your appliances. Even though you have a converter, not all of the appliances will work. Take it from me, considering I almost overheated my portable steamer because I did not check the wattage. This is a lesson learned for next time.
• The toilets are pretty similar to those on cruise ships. If you have never experienced this on a cruise ship, then please note to close the seat afterwards. I know a little TMI, but hey want to make for sure you have all of the info you need.
• Most places either do not have A/C or it is pretty expensive to run it during the day. We noticed this at our apartment and at least had it on during the night. If you are staying near the ocean, then this is not too bad. It was a major heat wave while we were staying which made it seem pretty dang hot at times. I was ok with this, and am glad we got to stay in an authentic environment.
• If you have a balcony enjoy it as much as you can. We spent a lot of time on here looking at the ocean and enjoying a glass of rose on a daily basis.

To Eat

I haven’t eaten as good as I did when I visited the French Riviera. Everything was so fresh, and I don’t believe any of our food was at all processed either. This is how I would like to enjoy every single meal here in the states. Every morning for breakfast we would eat at the apartment, and then for lunches and dinners it was usually eaten at an outdoor restaurant. There are so many great restaurants on the Promenade des Anglais where the beach is located. When we took our day trips to St. Tropez and Monaco we ate at cute little restaurants with a view overlooking the ocean. Even though the temperature was crazy, dining outside was the thing to do. Some of our favorite restaurants we ate at were La Bouillabaisse in St. Tropez, Le Mesclun and Calade in Nice.

• Enjoy some of the local delicacies. This is a chance to really enjoy some of the cuisine that France has to offer. My favorite was foie gras that I feel like we had every time we went to dinner. This paired with some champagne is pretty amazing. Step outside of your comfort zone, and try something you have never tried before.
• There is plenty of ice cream and gelato for all hours of the day. When we went exploring and shopping there were plenty of places that we could stop and indulge our sweet tooth. There are so many different flavors and every place that we tried was more delicious than the last. During the Summer months, you will have to eat this very quickly because of the heat. Enjoying this little treat while walking around was my favorite part.
• Fresh seafood is everywhere and a must have while in the French Riviera. Almost every restaurant we went to during our stay including in Monaco, St. Tropez, and in Nice included either an appetizer or entrée with fresh seafood. I am not a huge fish fan other than in sushi, but this was a non negotiable and so worth it.
• Every day we would also go get fresh bread. This is one of those routines that I loved about this area. Between fresh bread, cheeses, meats and of course rose we knew we were always eating well.
• In the late afternoon a lot of the restaurants are closed for a little while. Take this in consideration when you are looking to eat somewhere. Make sure to call or check their website for times. Also in Europe I feel like the evenings go a lot later than they do here in the US so keep that in mind if you wanted to have an earlier dinner.

To Do

This was by far the longest I have ever spent in one region on vacation, and I would not have picked it any other way. Besides relaxing and truly feeling like I was on vacation, I was able to explore and do some items that were on my list for this trip. This trip was like no other vacation because I was able to truly get that local vibe because of the amount of days that we spent there. Besides naturally waking up on my own every single morning, we were able to not book so much every single day. There were even some days that we just hung around and enjoyed the scenery from our balcony which was pretty spectacular.

• You must shop in the Place Massena in Nice. We did this a couple of days and it was a fun experience and a must do. This is an old historic square that has gorgeous architecture. There are breathtaking pictures and in the main square there are black and white historic tiles. Any store you can imagine you will find here. They have luxury stores like Louis Vuitton and Hermes, and then local stores to France. I would recommend getting some unique souvenirs in a store in this area. I went to Aubade lingerie store and treated myself. This was one of those items that I had heard great things about having in France.
• Go to the beach in St. Tropez for a day. This was one of the prettiest areas that we went to out of all of the destinations in the French Riviera. I had always heard about St. Tropez in songs, celebrities vacationing there, and of course the name of my sunless bronzer that I have used. It is truly one of the most beautiful blue waters there are. We went to a cute restaurant on the beach and were able to enjoy lunch, drinks, and get some great beach time as well. If we stayed more time I would recommend going to Le Club 55 as I heard lots of great things.
• Spend the day or several days chilling on the beach. There are beach clubs almost everywhere. This is for sure the place to go instead of going on your own and having just your beach towel to lay on. When you go to beach clubs you will pay around $25 USD for a day with a lounge chair, towel, and umbrella. There is also a server that can bring you rose or plenty of food. One thing to note about beaches in Nice is that they are large pebble stone beaches instead of sand. Flip flops do not work well here so you need to buy some water shoes if you plan on going onto the beach or in the water at all.
• Explore Old Town in Nice. If you are looking for some great photo opportunities then this is the place to do it. We explored this area one day and got some gorgeous flowers at this cute little floral shop. There are cobble stoned streets everywhere and all of the buildings are pastel colored which is so nice.
• Head to Monaco for the day. This is literally where the rich and famous go. It was a scene like no other when we came here for the day. Everywhere I looked reminded me of a James Bond movie, since the majority of it was filmed here. There are luxury sports cars everywhere and is a great people watching place. This is technically a separate small country that has spectacular views everywhere you look. Of course it is located on the Mediterranean Sea as well with breath taking architecture everywhere you look. We came for lunch here and then that evening went to the Monte Carlo Casino which was so much fun to be able to see it.
• Visit the perfume factories in Grasse. After we visited the beach in Cannes, we drove to go to one of the perfume factories in this cute town of Grasse. There are 3 large famous factories and this town is actually the perfume capital of the world. We decided to go to Golimard and loved every minute of it. There are perfumes, candles, soaps and room spray to choose from. You can build your custom fragrance here or even do a tour on how they make the perfume. I would highly recommend doing this.

To Drink

This is one area where everyone for sure stays out a little later than here in the US. A lot of people do not start eating until about 8/9 pm and then will of course have a pre-dinner drink as well. Like I mentioned above I enjoyed drinking rose every day on the balcony we had. It is times like these where I can truly relax.

• Water is always extra here in the South of France. Water is typically either Evian or sparkling at restaurants. It always comes in a glass bottle and will be a couple of dollars. When we went to Norway we could get clean water out of the faucet and it was fine to drink, but here in France it is better to buy this.
• Rose is by far the alcoholic drink of choice. There are so many options to choose from at the markets, restaurants, or at one of the beach clubs as mentioned above. They are all pretty reasonable and here this is basically sparkling water. My favorite was when we drank rose on the beach in St. Tropez and all I kept on singing was the Jay Z song.
• Like I have mentioned above, people stay out late and that is reflected in bars and clubs as well. We went to several places and the DJ did not even come on until 2 am, so for sure keep that in mind. There are some places that do not even close until 6 am!!
• I would recommend having a mojito or glass of rose on one of the beach clubs and people watch. This is best during the day because of the pretty blue water next to you, but is just as lively at night as well. In Nice along the main strip, we would walk down and people watch.

I fell in love with this part of the world. This was my first trip to Europe so I don’t know what other parts of France are like, but I think the French Riviera just brings that relaxness and fanciness up a little more. You feel like you are in a dream with all of the pretty sights everywhere you look. There is so much to do with only a short drive away. I would highly recommend getting to see this part of the world.