Five things to do before the tourists arrive on the Cote d’Azur

with thanks to Mike Kalder, www.FR2DAY.com

The advance guard is already here – cruise ship passengers up from Villefranche, Easyjet weekenders, convention stragglers, white trousered couples hiring limos at Nice airport.  Yes, just into April and the tourists are back – great for local businesses, not so good for those who live here and don’t like sharing.  So if you’re one of the latter, here are five chilled things to do on the Cote d’Azur – before the tourist trickle becomes a deluge.

1.  Visit St. Tropez
If you are an A-lister then July and August is your time in St Tropez. Celebrity parties, exclusive clubs and over-priced restaurants – ‘St Trop’ is a money-no-object party central.  But if you don’t fit into this category, get down to St Tropez now – stroll through the Vieux port, enjoy the spring rays on the beach and find a deserted cafe where you can sit and imagine St Tropez fifty years ago, when it was still a fishing village.

2.  Sunday Lunch, at the Cours Saleya market, Nice
Cours Saleya is never deserted, not even in the middle of February.  But Sunday at this time is a good time to visit.  If the sun is out, the flower and fruit markets are in full swing and you can find a good restaurant table, Cours Saleya in old Nice has an allure.  Not least because you have fine Italianate architecture all around you, and if you pick the right restaurant, you’ll enjoy mouth-watering fresh fish dishes.

3.  Picnic on the Iles de Lerins
Best avoided in summer – the 15 minute ferry trip from Cannes can be a real-life refugee experience and no matter how far you walk when you get there, you’ll always be surrounded by other people looking for the same thing as you – a lonely spot.  But visit either St. Honorat or St. Marguerite now, especially during mid-week and you’ll probably have the whole islands to yourself.  Enjoy the trip over, take a bottle and a picnic, find a little cove and chill to views of the Riviera that are usually exclusive to the yacht sailing fraternity.

4. Catch some Rays on the Bay of Cannes In summer, the beaches along the Bay of Cannes can become a tourist hell. But there are reasons why people visit this coastline that stretches all the way from La Croisette to La Napoule further west.  They come for the open panoramic views and some of the best sand on the coast – and at this time of year, if you head out of Cannes towards La Bocca, you’ll have a whole sweeping six miles of soft sandy palm fringed beach with only a few joggers and fishermen to share with.  If the sun’s out you might even consider a swim!

5.   Drive along the Coast.
During July and August, this is clearly an insane thing to do. The only view you’re likely to get is the back of an East European coach.  But in these Spring weeks you stand a real chance of experiencing a clear road along some of the most spectacular bits of coastline in the world.  Try the Moyenne Corniche. Put on your favourite sounds and just drive – you’ll remember why you came to the Cote d’Azur in the first place – and wish you’d lived here seventy years ago, when the French Riviera was like this all year round.