Menton, France

When I arrived in Nice, I heard a lot about the Lemon Festival in Menton.  When I planned my South of France trip, I hadn't considered visiting Menton, but I was curious about this festival.  

After seeing the lemon and orange statues, I explored the town of Menton. Old Town was nice, like the other old towns in France, and the park on the water was fun also. 

Old Town

 

 

 

 

The Esplanade

The cemetery at the top of the hill offered the best views of Menton and the Mediterranean Sea. From the viewpoint, you can see even the buildings of Menton were yellow and orange. This was the point in my exploration that won my heart over for Menton. I expected to come to a small town like Cannes where there wouldn’t be much to do or see other than the Lemon Festival and return back to Nice in a couple of hours. I was so wrong. Menton deserved the full day that I gave it today and more.

 

Orange and yellow houses of Menton

The France/Italy border is only 1km away from Menton. The remains of the old Customs Patrol buildings from before Europe became a union can be seen from the bottom of the cemetery walk. It took me half an hour to walk into Italy. I’ll repeat that for effect: I walked to Italy.

Welcome to Italy!

The change into Italian territory was very severe. The only gentle transition was the market and deli on the border line that had signs in both Italian and French. Beyond the old Customs Patrol buildings, all the signs turned into Italian. I walked to the museum at the Italian border and went inside to the ticket office. I was greeted with “Buongiorno” instead of “Bonjour” and the ticket agent spoke entirely in Italian. I was so shocked by this sudden change that I couldn’t muster the Italian words to ask her if she spoke English. She pointed to a man who appeared behind me and he explained the museum hours and ticket prices. He spoke English – with an Italian accent.

Beach in Ventimiglia

I left Ventimiglia, Italy and then walked back to France. It was that easy to come and go across the borders. There was no one at the border to check our passports, which was a good thing as I didn't think to bring mine. I had no idea I was this close to the next country.

After seeing all of Menton and walking across to Italy, I had nearly forgotten that the reason why I came to Menton was for the Lemon Festival. I think Menton shines on its own without the tourist draw of the Fete du Citron every year.