Menton

During our June 2015 trip to Nice, we took a day trip to Monaco and Menton.  Menton is the last city on the French Riviera before you enter Italy.  We arrived by train, and walked from the station into town.  Walking along the water, there are restaurants along the beach.  The beach here is rocky, like Nice.

Menton Beach

Menton Promenade

Closer to town, you can start to see the older areas of Menton, which are clustered on a hill.  The tall spire is the main church, the Basilique Saint Michel.

Menton

We walked along the water and near the marina area before heading up into the town.  The views of the town from the marina were wonderful!

Menton

Menton

This small fortification guarded the harbor:

Menton Castle

There was a small beach in the harbor, it was more sandy as opposed to the rocky ocean beach.

Menton Beach

Across the from the beach, a staircase climbed up into the old city of Menton.  I wanted to get a look at the churches at the top, so up we went.

Menton

The church above is the Basilique Saint Michel, and is the larger of the two churches on the plaza.  They were hard to photograph, due to being so close to one another — can’t back up to fit them in!  Here’s a few photos from the Basilique Saint Michel.

Basilique Saint Michel, Menton

Basilique Saint Michel, Menton

Inside Basilique Saint Michel, Menton

The second church on the plaza is the Chapelle des Pénitents-Blancs.  I was shooting into the sun when outside, and didn’t get a great photo of the exterior, unfortunately.  The black and white floor and red tapestry walls of this church were quite beautiful:

Inside La Chapelle des Pénitents-Blancs, Menton

The old town area of Menton was quite charming.  There were lots of winding streets and alleys, beautiful old buildings, etc.

Menton

Menton

Descending back to the newer areas, we found a wonderful street full of shops and restaurants.  I liked this storefront in particular:

Menton Shop

The area is famous for its lemons.  I had one of the best glasses of lemonade ever (no joke!).  Lemon products are for sale everywhere:

Lemon products everywhere!

Menton was one of my favorite stops during this trip.  It was beautiful, and not overrun with tourists.  I’d love to go back and explore more!

Related posts:

Chapelle Saint-Vincent, Collioure Dawn in Collioure Sunset at Mont Saint-Michel Stampede at at Le Mont Saint-Michel!