I spent 3 northern hemisphere summers searching to buy a house in mainland Europe before I eventually decided in 2008 that my next move would be to an Island in northern Europe and that I would do the reverse of every other sane person in the cold north, (who buy in the hot South) and settle in Dublin. The search was lots of fun and gave me a chance to wander around Europe on my own without seeming like a sad friendless no mate-r and it made up for my long longed for lack of a gap year post university. This is a picture of the first apartment that I viewed in Nice on the Cote D'Azur, its on the 3rd floor of the orange building across the water .
The scope of this house search was the stunning coast of France from Nice to Montpellier. Here I introduce my third train journey, ( the other 2 being the tranz coastal in NZ and Dublin to Bray on the DART) the train journey along the Cote d'Azur is another in my top ten rail journeys . Its an easy trip so dont let not speaking French put you off.
The highlight for me is a town called Villefranche -sur-Mer. This is a photo of Villefranche which overlooks Cap Ferrat
Antibes suited me best to buy , its a smallish town with a train station and a lovely bay although not as lovely as many of the other Cote D'azur towns
The Trans Cote d'Azur www.trans-azur.com goes to St Tropez which I highly recommend. S and L were staying nearby and came to have lunch with me , a great treat and special memory.
Then I broke my rule of only visiting towns with railway ststions and had a day off house hunting by taking the bus to the medieval hilltop town of St Paul de Vence . The village streets have 60 plus art galleries. Its a must see place, but I cannot find the photos!
I was sure I would find a place in Montpellier in my next picture but I didn't
And Finally some of the lovely coast again
Villefranche looks amazing! :)
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