Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ITALY FLITS
Menton literally sits on the border with Italy so getting two countries out of your Côte d'Azur holiday is not only
easy but highly recommended.
The perfect excuse is the
all-day Friday market in Ventimiglia
(Vintimille in French), the border town on the
Italian side. The market sprawls over 1km along the seafront and is popular with French shoppers for its cheap fruit
and veg and lovely deli counters (mozzarella-stuffed peppers, sun-dried tomatoes etc). It is also renowned for bar-
gain leather goods and cheap fashion. There is a lot of counterfeit here, which French customs take very seriously:
you risk a fine and confiscation of your goods.
Once you've shopped, head to the fabulous
Pasta & Basta
( +39 184 230878; 20/A Via Marconi, Maria San
Giuseppe, Ventimiglia; mains €15-20; lunch & dinner Tue-Sun, lunch Mon; )
for lunch. The modern res-
taurant, opposite the future port (completion slated for 2013), serves copious portions of utterly delicous homemade
pasta. Cross the footbridge from the market and keep going along the seafront until you reach the 'port'.
Ventimiglia is at the end of the French SNCF network; there are half-hourly trains to/from Monaco (€4, 25
minutes), Nice (€7, 45 minutes) and Cannes (€11.60, 1½ hours).
Ste-Agnès & Gorbio
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Ste-Agnès'
claim to fame - Europe's highest seaside village - is not for nothing: sitting
snug on a rocky outcrop at 780m, the village looks spectacular and commands dramatic
views of the area. For the most breathtaking panorama, climb the 200 or so steps to the
rubbly 12th- century
château ruins
(admission by donation; 10am-6pm)
with their in-
triguing flower beds, based on allegorical gardens found in medieval French poetry.
The drawbridged entrance to the huge underground
Fort Ste-Agnès
(adult/child €5/3;
10.30am-12.30pm & 3-7pm Tue-Sun Jun-Sep, 2.30-5.30pm Sat & Sun Oct-May)
sits at
the top of the village. The 2500-sq-metre defence was built between 1932 and 1938 as
part of the 240km-long Maginot line, a series of fortifications intended to give France
time to mobilise its army if attacked. The fort is in good condition: it was maintained
throughout the Cold War as a nuclear fallout shelter and the army only moved out in 1990.
Interestingly, it is thanks to this active military history that the village of Ste-Agnès is so
picturesque today: all new developments were prohibited in the village during the army's
presence, a measure that the village has since maintained.
A well-signposted path leads to the neighbouring village of
Gorbio
, another pretty
Provençal village. Just 2km as the crow flies from Ste-Agnès, it is much more convoluted
