Okay, last vacation recap post, I swear. Although, I don’t know about you, but I’m really sad to see this series of recaps end, because it means the trip is officially donezo. Wahh! And PS, as I was editing these photos yesterday, Photoshop crashed right as I was nearly finished. At that moment, I REALLY wanted to be back in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat.
What can I say about Saint Jean Cap Ferrat? Little town, long name. Situated at the base of Cap Ferrat, which is smack dab between Nice and Monaco. Stunningly beautiful. Crystal clear waters and towering cliffs in the distance. Like something out of Tender is the Night (one of my fave books, and why I had pined to see this part of France!).
For this leg of the trip, we stayed at the Royal Riviera, a beautifully restored hotel that sits right on the water. It was a completely different gig than our rustic apartment rental in Aix, and made the whole French Riviera experience complete!
The Cap (or cape, in English) has a 9 km foot path that runs along its perimeter. Along the foot path are beautiful homes and spectacular views of the water and the coastline. In the distance you can even see Monaco! Tons of yachts anchor next to the Cape, where the bay gives them a little more protection from the wind. Out of sheer curiosity, when I got back to the States I looked up how much it would cost to rent one of those mega yachts (some of which can be 500 feet long). Just to give you an idea, the Eclipse, which is currently the world’s largest yacht at 558 ft, starts at $2M per week. Which is a bargain when you consider it reportedly cost a billion to build, and refueling it alone costs $650,000. I would say “blogger trip!” but yeeeah…probably not.
Is this France or the Caribbean? The water was so, so blue, and crystal clear. I totally get why it’s called the Côte d’Azur. Pretty amazing.
A few nights, we’d walk into the town of Saint Jean and have dinner. It was fun to walk around the docks and look at all the sailboats! After a few days of exploring the Cape (and spending a lot of time by the pool), we decided to take the train down the road a bit…
It will never cease to amaze me that in this part of the world, you can simply hop on a train for €1.60, and three stops later be in a place like Monaco. Or, maybe ten stops later, be in Italy. If I hop on CalTrain (and pay about 5 times that much), ten stops later I’ll be at Belmont or Redwood City or somewhere that is most definitely not Monte Carlo.
We had a fun time strolling around Monte Carlo, checking out the casino, and of course, window shopping. I was OBSESSED with this Van Cleef necklace. How beautiful is that??
It was a hot day, and after seeing the main town square (and more ridiculous yachts in the harbor), we had gotten the general idea and retreated to a little cafe complete with decks built out over the water and enjoyed a two hour lunch. Another moment in which life did not suck.
But mostly, we hung out around the hotel. The pool there was gorgeous and quiet, and the hotel had it’s own private sandy beach.
Le sigh.
Aaaaand, fin. I hope you guys enjoyed seeing what our trip was like! I really can’t recommend France enough. Such a beautiful place, with amazing people too!
In case you missed the other three trip posts, you can find them here, here, and here.
Photos by Victoria McGinley for vmac+cheese
beautiful pictures – i LOVE the french riviera! visited nice for the first time in may and never wanted to leave. the whole thing is out of a postcard! :)
to answer your question: always beach! preferably someplace fabulous like your vacation destination :)
Breathtaking photos! I agree, being near the water brings me a peace of mind that I can’t seem to get anywhere else! I am glad you had such a great time!
I don’t want this to end either! I’ve been looking forward to these vacation recaps. This just means you’ll have to travel again soon to get more material. That water is so gorgeous, and your whole trip sounds divine. I agree that Europe is the place to be if you want to get the most mileage out of your trip, since so many good places are close together.
ahh loved them Victoria, i’m sad that they’re over too! xx
Now seriously reconsidering the choice of England for our summer holiday… beach time looks great. This post is gorgeous – both in pictures and lay-out!
You had me at Tender Is the Night. I didn’t make the literary connection and now the South of France holds even more appeal for me. I’ve been before, but I was too young to do it right. Now I think I would start at Nice and leisurely skip along the coast (metaphorically speaking). Lovely photos!
Gorgeous photos!! Glad you had what looks like an AMAZING time! :) (And so funny that you mention Belmont/Redwood City – my grandma used to live in Belmont and after my family moved to Hong Kong we’d go back and spend summers with her in Belmont! haha Oh the memories…definitely not France that’s for sure!)
I think I need to be there, now! My husband and I are always planning trips, and this looks like a contender for the next crazy trip!
♡ Lexi
FASHION: Glitter & Pearls
WEDDINGS: Glitter Weddings
ok – your instagrams had me reeling at Saint Jean Cap Ferrat.. never heard of it, need to go, still drooling over it, but I mustve tried, in my best french accent, to say Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. 10 times that day I saw your instagrams!
It’s okay…I STILL try to pronounce it all French like!
“San Zhan Cop Ferr-AHT” Or something like that. :)
Oh my gosh Victoria! I”m lusting. Look at that water! And what a perfect way to wrap up your trip! :)
It’s like a coffee table book in a blog post! Can we TALK about those blue hues?
http://thewalkup.wordpress.com/
It looks so amazing – you’re giving me wanderlust! x
Kate {Modette}
http://modetteblog.com