When life gives you lemons ...

Lemons.

Next day was dark and damp and dull. We woke up, had breakfast, then finished off our packing, checked out and headed off to the station. We were sad to go, as we had really enjoyed Ventimiglia. We bought tickets for Menton, which is just across the border in France. The train ride only took seventeen minutes and was very comfortable.

Our train.

Us on the train.

The weather was drizzly and cold when we arrived. We were staying in the Ibis Styles Hotel. I left Peter sitting in Menton Station with the luggage, while I went off to find the hotel. It was about eleven minutes walk away. I found it easily. I walked back for Peter, then did the walk for a third time with him and the luggage. On route I passed some street art I thought was quite funny.

Does my bum look big in this?

Our check in was extremely friendly. The man on reception was so kind and explained everything in detail. We were delighted to hear we could come to reception any time for free coffees, teas, lemon juice or water. The lemon juice was a speciality of Menton which is famous for growing lemons and even stages a lemon festival every year around February or March.

Peter with the Christmas tree in our hotel.

Our room was clean and comfortable and had a large outdoor terrace with a table, chairs and a sun lounger. As soon as we went out onto the terrace, a seagull appeared. It did this nearly every time we went out. Although the terrace was beautiful, it was so cold on our first day we could not sit on it.

Our room.

Our balcony.

Our seagull.

Peter on our balcony.

Our seagull on our balcony.

View from our balcony.

We decided to take a walk down to the waterfront. It was cold and grey, but we were wrapped up well. There were lots of restaurants along the waterfront but no-one was sitting out due to the weather.

On the waterfront.

On the waterfront.

The beach.

The beach.

Peter at the beach.

Selfie on the beach.

Restaurant on the waterfront taken on a better day.

Restaurants.

Restaurants.

Looking towards the Old Town from the waterfront.

Looking towards the Old Town from the waterfront.

We spotted a little promontory with a pirate statue (just discovered this is actually a statue of Ulysses.). We walked out to it, as it was bound to have good views back over Menton. At this point, the heavens opened and ice cold rain came pounding down.

Is our gull stalking us?

Certainly seems like it.

It was too unpleasant to continue sightseeing, so we headed to the first cafe we found for cappuccino and beer. We sat in the cafe for a while, but the rain was relentless.

Peter in the cafe.

Me in the cafe.

Eventually we braved going home, but when we passed a supermarket, we decided to go in, buy a baguette, cold meats, cheese, tomatoes, beer and wine, rather than wander around looking for somewhere to eat. Menton claims to have 316 sunny days a year. Trust us to pick one of the other forty-nine. Haha!

Next day we woke up to find the sun shining. Yippee!! I would have been so disappointed if both days had been pouring. We went downstairs for breakfast. It was actually really good with lots of slices of fresh baguette, croissants, boiled eggs, cold meats, a selection of cheeses, pain au chocolate, pancakes, Menton lemon tart, fruit, cereal and yoghurt There was also a coffee machine and three different kinds of fruit juice.

After breakfast Peter wanted to go down to the front again. On the way we passed quite an interesting Oriental type building. This turned out to be the former Grand Hôtel d'Orient which opened in 1874 to house wealthy holiday makers who came here to enjoy the sunshine and beautiful surroundings. During World War I, this building was used as a hospital. In 1920 the building was remodelled and the oriental features were added to its design. Nowadays it is divided into luxury flats.

Oriental building.

Oriental building

We passed some statues and Christmas decorations, oh and Spiderman, too.

Peter with Christmas trees.

Statue.

Spiderman.

We also saw some lovely flowers and citrus fruit.

Flowers.

Flowers.

Oranges.

Then we wandered back down to the beach. It was much more pleasant down at the waterfront than it had been the day before.

Peter at the beach.

Peter at the beach.

The waterfront.

We also wanted to go to the park behind the casino because we knew it would be full of Christmas decorations. We have been to Menton once before, but only very briefly. On that occasion we were taking the bus from Nice to Monaco, when Peter suddenly spontaneously said: "Let's stay on to Menton." We did, but we only spent about half an hour here so didn't see it properly.

Once again the Christmas displays here were really good. In fact I viewed them by day and by night. Many seemed to be themed around farms and there were lots of Santas.

Peter with a Christmas tree.

Christmas tree.

Christmas decorations by day.

Christmas decorations by day.

Christmas sheep.

Cows.

Christmas decorations by day.

Christmas train.

Christmas decorations by day.

Christmas tree at night

Christmas decorations at night.

Christmas sheep at night.

Christmas decorations at night.

Christmas decorations at night.

Christmas decorations by night.

Santa at night.

Statue near the decorations.

We could see dark clouds starting to roll in, so Peter said to me: "Take me back to the hotel, then you go and look at the old town before it starts to rain." So I took him back to our room and headed out on my own.

I passed the Town Hall. There was a nativity scene in the park there.

Town Hall.

Nativity scene.

Again I hadn't read up too much on what to see in the old town as I really just wanted to wander. There was a noticeable difference between Italy and France in that Ventimiglia Old Town was in quite good condition, but not exactly pristine. Menton's old town was totally pristine. I'm not sure which I preferred. They were both beautiful, but each had it's own character.

I don't think I took the usual route to the Old Town. I passed a church on the way.

Church I passed on my walk up.

Menton's old town is very colourful with narrow lanes filled with plants, colourful doorways and brightly painted shutters.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Straw horse.

Door in Menton's Old Town.

House in Menton's Old Town.

House in Menton's Old Town.

Houses in Menton's Old Town.

Soon I came to the wide open Saint-Michel Square with two churches and a large Christmas tree on it. One of the churches is Saint-Michel Archangel Basilica which dates back to 1639. It has a fifty-three metre high bell tower. It's a very impressive looking building. I don't think it was open when I was there.

Saint-Michel Archangel Basilica.

Saint-Michel Archangel Basilica.

Tower of Saint-Michel Archangel Basilica.

Christmas tree on the square.

Houses on the square.

The other church is The Chapel of the Pénitents Blancs which dates back to the 1680's.

Church of White Penitents.

Church of White Penitents.

Statues on the church.

Statues on the Church.

The square itself features a beautifully intricate black and white stone mosaic floor.

Saint-Michel Square with it's mosaic floor.

There are great views from here towards Les Sablettes Beach and the old port of Menton.

View from Saint-Michel Square.

View from Saint-Michel Square..

In front of the square there is a lovely staircase. This is how most people enter the old town. For me it was the way I left it.

Stairway.

Stairway.

I wandered onto an old street that was heading uphill and wandered up to the Vieux Chateau Cemetery. This cemetery was absolutely stunning filled with beautiful ornate graves, many adorned with angels and other figures. The views from here were amazing. I loved it here.

View with trees near the cemetery entrance.

A cemetery with a view.

A cemetery with a view.

View from the cemetery.

View from the cemetery.

A cemetery with a view.

Vieux Chateau Cemetery.

Vieux Chateau Cemetery.

Vieux Chateau Cemetery.

Vieux Chateau Cemetery.

Statues in Vieux Chateau Cemetery.

Statues in Vieux Chateau Cemetery.

Statues in Vieux Chateau Cemetery.

Statues in Vieux Chateau Cemetery.

Statues in Vieux Chateau Cemetery.

When I left the cemetery, I noticed there was a viewpoint near the exit. The views out over the port and the bright blue Mediterranean Sea were absolutely breathtaking.

View from the viewpoint.

View over the port.

View over the old town and port.

View over the beach.

There were also great views from the old town itself.

View over the roofs of the old town.

View over the rooftops.

View over the roofs of the old town.

I wandered back down through the old town choosing to wander down through streets I hadn't yet looked at.

Looking down on the old town

When I returned to Saint-Michel Square, I wandered down the zigzag staircase to the waterfront where the marina and beach were.

View between houses.

Going down the stairway.

View from the stairway.

Statue on stairway.

Stairway from street level.

Beach near Marina

Beach near Marina.

Marina.

Marina.

Marina

I walked along the waterfront in the direction of home, but then I saw a bastion and a quay jutting out into the water. This was the Quai Napoléon III. There were beautiful views from here back towards the Old Town. The bastion is used to house exhibitions on Jean Cocteau, the famous French novelist, poet, filmmaker and artist, who played a major role in early twentieth century art movements.

The Bastion.

The Bastion.

View from the Bastion.

View from Quai Napoleon III.

View from from Quai Napoleon III.

View from Quai Napoleon III.

There's also a different Jean Cocteau Museum building nearby.

Jean Cocteau Museum.

Jean Cocteau Museum.

Jean Cocteau Museum.

Jean Cocteau.

There were a few Christmas stalls around this area, too.

Christmas stalls.

When I got home, we decided to head out for a drink and dinner. We walked down to the area with the pirate statue again to see it in better weather. We were just in time for a beautiful sunset.

Sunset.

Sunset.

Peter said he wasn't feeling well and didn't want to eat anything, so instead of going out for a meal, I took him back home and bought some snacks from the supermarket again.

The next morning it was time to leave Menton. It was a lovely sunny day. We did one more stroll along the front and back to the pirate and the bastion.

Peter at the waterfront.

Bye bye beach.

Pirate ship.

Bye bye to the pirate.

Walking to the bastion.

Last view of the Old Town.

Last view of the Old Town.

Last view of the Old Town..

Last view of the Old Town.

Then we headed back to pack. We took a few more pictures on the balcony.

Peter on our balcony

Peter on the balcony.

Peter on the balcony.

We were going to travel by train from Menton to Monaco.