Page 267 - Lonely Planet France’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

5 Le Bistrot
d’Antoine Modern French €€ Menton 7
(%04 93 85 29 57; 27 rue de la Préfecture; Seafood €€
menus €25-43, mains €15-25; hnoon-2pm 5 Le Cirke
& 7-10pm Tue-Sat) A quintessential French (%04 89 74 20 54; www.restaurantlecirke.
bistro, right down to the checked tablecloths, com; 1 square Victoria; menus lunch €26 & €29,
streetside tables and impeccable service – not dinner €30 & €45, mains €18-35; hnoon-
to mention the handwritten blackboard, loaded 1.30pm & 7.15-9.30pm Wed-Mon) From paella to
with classic dishes like rabbit pâté, pot-cooked bouillabaisse, grilled fish to fried calamari, this
pork, blood sausage and duck breast. If you’ve smart Italian-run restaurant is the place to turn
never eaten classic French food, this is definitely to for delicious seafood. The wine list is a mix of
the place to start; and if you have, you’re in for Italian and French wines, and the service is as
a treat. sunny as Menton itself.
4 Hôtel Le Genève Hotel €€ 4 Hôtel Napoléon Boutique Hotel €€
(%04 93 56 84 79; www.hotel-le-geneve-nice. (%04 93 35 89 50; www.napoleon-menton.com;
com; 1 rue Cassini; r €135-169; aW) Situated 29 porte de France; d €95-330; aiWs)
just off place Garibaldi, this renovated corner Standing tall on the seafront, the Napoléon is
hotel is bang in the middle of Nice’s lively Petit Menton’s most stylish sleeping option. Everything
Marais quartier. Bedrooms look sleek in cool from the pool, the restaurant-bar and the back PROVENCE & SOUTHEAST FRANC 23 RIVIERA CROSSING
greys, crimsons and charcoals; bathrooms are garden (a heaven of freshness in summer) has
modern and well-appointed. Breakfast is served been beautifully designed. Rooms are decked
in the ground-floor cafe, brimful of vintage out in white and blue, with Cocteau drawings on
bric-a-brac and mismatched furniture. Bars and headboards. Sea-facing rooms have balconies but
cafes abound here. are a little noisier because of the traffic.
4 Hôtel Villa
Rivoli Boutique Hotel €€ Èze 9
(%04 93 88 80 25; www.villa-rivoli.com; 10 rue Luxury Hotel €€€
de Rivoli; s €96, d €116-178, f €254; aW) This 4 Château Eza
charming but strangely shaped villa dates back (%04 93 41 12 24; www.chateaueza.com; rue de
to 1890, and it’s packed with period detail – la Pise; d from €360; aW) If you’re looking for
gilded mirrors, fireplaces, cast-iron balconies a place to propose, well, there can be few more
and old-world wallpapers, as well as little memorable settings than this wonderful clifftop
conifer trees on the balconies and a sweeping hotel, perched dramatically above the glittering
marble staircase. Rooms are on the small side, blue Mediterranean. There are only 12 rooms, so
and some are showing their age. There’s a small it feels intimate, but the service is impeccable,
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garden and car park beside the hotel. and the regal decor (gilded mirrors, sumptuous
fabrics, antiques) explains the sky-high price tag.

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