March 27 Marseille to Saint-Tropez      135 km = 1.7 hours via A50+D98     map
March 27 Saint-Tropez to Cannes         77 km = 1.3 hours via D559            map
        Hotel near Cannes ~ Tuesday night ~ kayak options

March 28 Cannes to Nice                         39 km = 1 hour via D6098              map
March 28 Nice to Monaco                         21 km = .5 hours via D6098           map
        Hotel near Monaco ~ Wednesday night   Monaco map     Monte Carlo map   ~   kayak options

March 29 Monaco to San Remo Italy         8 km = 1 hour via SP1                  map
March 29 San Remo back to Marseille   262 km = 2.7 hours via A8
        Hotel near Marseille airport ~ Thursday night

March 30 Return flight ~ Friday at 10:45 am

Getting around by automobile is relatively straightforward and certainly the preferred mode of travel to visit as many locations as possible on your own terms without the aggravation of having to line up private cars or taxis in advance and pay substantial fares.

France has been called a motorist's paradise and the south coast is best. Autoroute A8 runs parallel to the coast inland and provides high-speed travel across southern Provence all the way from Italy to Spain. Between Nice and Menton are 3 more local routes: the Grande Corniche through la Turbie, the Moyenne Corniche through Eze, and the Corniche Inferieure fronting the coast. The views are stunning. Mountains course skyward on one side. The world dropping off into oblivion on the other with the great blue expanse of the Mediterranean filling all the way to the horizon.

Cannes - is a showcase of recreational energy, casinos, restaurants, grand bayfront hotel, beaches, vibrant street life, and harbor full of boats. The enormous Carlton Hotel looms over a main stretch of beach along the palm-lined boulevard de la Croisette. A paparazzi goldmine. The modern Palais des Festivals is located adjacent to Casino Croisette at the Vieux Port harbor wall where the famed Cannes Film Festival is staged in May. Parts of Cannes remains true to its small, fishing-port past with narrow, winding streets and allees that take you away from the waterfront commotion and up to small local squares where tiny shops and open markets offer fresh produce, pasta, and bread. The oldest section of town is Le Suquet on the slopes of Mont Chevalier overlooking the harbor, the Bay of Cannes and the wooded Iles de Lerins beyond.

Mougins - a mecca for artists and art lovers, Picasso lived here. Extraordinary views over the coast. Notre-Dame-De-Vie is Picasso's final monastic retreat, of the Abbey of Lerins. Its 13th-century bell tower and arcaded chapel form a magnificent setting.

Cap d'Antibes and Antibes - just beyond Cannes to the east. "The Cap" to the in-crowd. A peninsula of rocky coves lapped by the Mediterranean, pine-shrouded high ground dotted with exclusive properties and lavish retreats. This is a destination unto itself, a special sidebar to the bustling Cote d'Azur. One of the most animated towns is Juan-les-Pins. Charming little restaurants share narrow streets and boulevards with colorful bars. Ancient and the modern join hands at Chateau Grimaldi, an elaborate 12th-century palace once inhabited by the ruling family of Monaco, now the site of the Musee Picasso with a formidable collection of the master's own work and more.

Nice - the "capital of the Cote d'Azur." The biggest resort on the French Mediterranean coast. Nice is mega-Riviera, a conflux of oceanfront, shopping, nightlife, culture, and recreation. The great promenade des Anglais is along the city's extended crescent of beach. Faithfully restored older section with twisted streets, impromptu ateliers, and picturesque markets spread up the hill known as "the Chateau" rising behind it. The beach and the Med unfold in striations of tropical blue water, white surf, and yellow sand. Nice is wonderfully French with traces of an Italianate past, a vibrant city. Museums of Matisse, Massena, Chagall, des Arts Asiatiques, des Beaux-Arts, d'Art Contemporain. Sidewalk cafes, pungent bistros, unassuming allees, street life in the open air.

St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat - to the east is Cap Ferrat jutting into the Mediterranean, a prime locations for elaborate villas and well-oiled yachts. On the north side are the understated little waterfront towns of Villefranche and Beaulieu. And just down the road is one of the gems of the French Riviera, the enchanting village perche Eze clinging to a hilltop 1,500 feet above the Med. Eze is a must.

Monaco - further east toward Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and Menton along the Moyenne Corniche are dazzling views from your car. Then to the storied principality of Monaco that cascades from the hills to the lavish waterfront setting of Monte-Carlo. Monaco is a dramatic blend of modern high-rise residences and historic architectural relics including the palatial Belle Epoque hotel l'Hermitage and a number of Charles Garnier creations such as the Casino, the Salle Garnier, the Musee National, and the great Palais Princier government of Monaco.

Wiki Travel info . . . excerpts:

The French Riviera (Cote d'Azur) has glitz and glamour rivaled by few places on earth. Famous for the glamour of St. Tropez, Monaco, and Cannes, there are many other less well known attractions, such the villages of Eze and Gourdon. In July and August the Riviera is a crowded mess with prices driven up for everything.

The Riviera is well served with roads. To do a lot of sightseeing as opposed to just lying on the beach then you should probably have your own vehicle. A8 Autoroute stretches from the Italian border to Aix/Marseille. A8 stays close to the coast from Cannes to Italy, west of Cannes it heads more inland with a spur down to Toulon. Between Cannes and Italy there are a number of "Penetrantes" - roads that penetrate inland from the A8. It can be very pleasant to drive these roads but quicker to take the A8. In Monaco, you can drive most of the Grand Prix circuit, but note that Monaco police do not have a sense of humour. On the way to Monaco you can drive the roads where James Bond has exciting encounters with Russian secret agents.

The Riviera makes much of its living through tourism, so people are generally willing to communicate in English, but service tends to be better if you try to use French. If it is really fractured then quite often people will take pity on you. Cafes, bars, and restaurants meet most price-points and tastes. Most serve food local to the area, Provencal cuisine with influences from Italy. Pizza restaurants are ubiquitous but the pizza is not typical American style, but have a very thin base, served with a few olives on top and a spicy olive oil based dressing "sauce pimente." Bouillabaisse and Salade Nicoise are the best known local specialities, also Socca.

Avoid thieves by paying attention, lock your car, and do not flaunt valuables.

Links: