To say that the south of France is beautiful is a complete understatement. Two weeks ago, I went on my dream trip and visited most of the bucket list places I’ve been meaning to visit for the past few years in Europe. From some of the most beautiful locations in the south of France, stunning Amalfi Coast, memorable Cinque Terre, to gorgeous Mallorca, the entire trip didn’t feel real, and I created some of my most cherished memories to date within those two weeks.
My trip started in the south of France – beginning in Nice and ending in Monaco, visiting some of my favorite places to date. I flew in from LAX, excited and fully ready to itch that travel bug that had become overwhelmingly present in my life. After a relatively long but pleasant flight, I landed in Nice, where I approached the most laid back immigration situation I have ever encountered. Exhausted, passport in hand and ready to stand in a long line, the immigration officers waved me in, as if they were saying “come on in!” without even stopping to ask me any questions. I immediately felt safe and welcome in Nice.
I arrived to my Airbnb and was greeted by the friendliest hosts and maybe people I have ever met. I’m not kidding. Arriving around midnight I wasn’t expecting such a warm welcome, but my hosts were beyond accommodating and kind. (If you’d like the link to this Airbnb, leave me a comment – highly recommend!) While I was ready to stay up and chat with my hosts, even being extremely exhausted, I knew the smart move was to get to bed early so that I could have an early start exploring Nice.
My friend was arriving later that evening from Germany, so I spent the next morning walking along the water, checking out the interiors of the local boutique hotels (one of my favorite things to do), and indulging in some fresh baguettes and espresso.
Later that evening, my friend arrives and we have dinner at Barracuda in the city center, where I have my initial spritz of many this trip. Our dinner experience sets the tone for the rest of our trip – friendly service, amazing food, and lots of spritz!
The next morning we wake up bright and early to road trip to our first destination, Marseille. Having rented a manual car, I was completely useless for driving purposes, and thankfully my German friend (god bless her) took over the driving situation for the entire trip, leaving me in charge of navigation, snacks, music and entertainment.
The commute was beautiful and (a little) expensive. Driving from Nice to Marseille, you’ll encounter a bunch of toll roads which adds up, something we weren’t aware of. The tolls are almost unavoidable unless you want to make a very long detour around, (extending the trip about 2-3 hours). We were limited on time, so we just paid the tolls to get there as quickly and efficiently as possible.
We visited Palais Longchamp, the most stunning monument I’ve seen, which was built to bring water from the Durance River to Marseille. Situated in the city, the monument stands out and illuminates the street, simply beautiful. We also visited the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (well, the outside), which has beautiful views over the port of Marseille.
We found a cute outdoor restaurant for lunch in Old Town Marseille, where we fueled up on carbs and you espresso before driving to our next destination. We hopped back into our Twingo (our car for this trip – a cute and compact car during the trip, lol) and headed towards St. Tropez.
Heading back towards Nice, we opted for the scenic route where we were able to experience some of the most beautiful views of the south of France, which reminded me a lot of highway 1 but on a whole different level. Greenery, mountains and Cliffside views left us speechless for most of the drive. If you rent a car when visiting the south of France (which I highly recommend you should), be sure to take the scenic route at least once to experience the nature that surrounds.
We arrive in St. Tropez at Plage de Pampelonne beach just in time for the sunset. Pink hued skies and sand between my toes, I begin to think about how I have never felt so at home outside of LA (and probably London, lol).
We have dinner at Le Pomme de Pin (highly recommend), where I have a pasta dish, and you guessed it, spritz! We end the night at Le Quay, one of my favorite bars to date for drinks and good vibes.
South of France pt. 2, coming soon.
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