Curiosities of Cap d’Ail !!

I came to discover this pretty town by the sea on a surprise visit, Do read my other posts on it in my blog. I seldom come down here unless is business, or winemakers’s visits but is so well known and hordes of chic tourists go there that has never been my fancy. However, I did go and was gladly satisfied by the scenary and the driving l! I am updating this older post with new text and links for you and me, Let me tell you on curiosities of Cap d’Ail !! just in the border with Monte Carlo, Monaco! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The road A8 is the famous traffic jammer road of France especially in Summer, lucky me took it now flawless with hardly any traffic!! Maybe the road warrior luck! I had a taste of Cap d’Ail just in the border with Monte Carlo, Monaco!  I arrive by 
Avis rental car from the Nice-Côte d’Azur airport coming in on the A8, then M6007, and into city center and 
port Cap d’Ail. The ride was flawless into my hotel

Ahh the Hotel was the venerable Riviera Marriott Hotel La Porte de Monaco in the port de Cap d’Ail right by the harbor on avenue du port. Wonderful views over the harbor , and city including Monaco from my room in 5th floor. I have to say this was the highlight of the trip …the hotel. The official Rivera Marriott Hotel La Porte de Monaco: https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/mcmcd-riviera-marriott-hotel-la-porte-de-monaco/overview/

cap-port-harbor-yachts-and-mountain-drop-oct17

There are wonderful layback harbor even an artificial one at Cap-d’Ail on the extreme south and its northern quay is the frontier with Monaco at Fontvieille as well as the eastern part of the town. I ate all over in chic Cap d’Ail after all this is the French Riviera. Once here I headed to get some foodie and drink, so stop by the Restaurant Le Cap that gives to the side of the hotel facing the harbor by the pool, and had my Riviera Club Sandwich ,huge and excellent for 20€ with a glass of Carlsberg beer. Great French riviera prices ::)

I had my underground garage parking with many fancy cars of great value for 25€ per day; a must as parking is very tight on a Cape location. My room was a king size room facing the harbor towards avenue du port. Glorious!!! Now you know why those fancy cars runs in Monaco, they are parked here for the winter!

cap-marriott-502-out-to-monaco-and-harbor-oct17

A bit of relaxation around the harbor, walks of sizing the huge amount of money in the harbor yachts and beautiful apartments all around the hilly mountains around the harbor. An idyllic place for a honeymoon, romantic, couples, business meeting, but not really for tourists. Again, the place is very chic upscale and nice. The kind of place you can dream of for a honeymoon or business conference like theirs lol! A bit slow pace for me, too up the ladder but worth a visit in my belle 
France. I left the hotel and came back to Nice airport 

Some of the things to see here with more time me think are the Villa du Roc Fleuri  and its botanical park and garden. Villa Perles Blanches  or  Villa Lumière  of the Lumière Brothers at 8 avenue Chales Blanc. Villa Les Funambules and the park Sacha Guitry. Villa Les Camélias at 17 avenue Raymond Gramaglia. . Villa Paloma at 16 avenue Raymond Gramaglia. Villa Les Violettes at 15 avenue François-de-May. Villa Les Mouettes at 6 avenue Raymond Gramaglia.. Villa Mirasol at 5 avenue Charles Blanc. Villa Primavera at the Moyenne Corniche road. Other monuments to see are the Église Notre-Dame-du-Cap-Fleuri at 68 avenue du 3 septembre. Château de l’Hermitage at 37 avenue du 3 septembre Château des Terrasses at 89 avenue du 3 septembre. And the Tour Abeille and Villa Sarrasine.at 51 avenue du 3 septembre.

Some famous spent time here or lived were : Winston Churchill was the honorary mayor of Cap d’Ail Didier Deschamps  born at  Bayonne World Cup Champion football/soccer live in  Cap d’Ail. Sacha Guitry in 1927 acquired the Villa Les Funambules. The Lumière  Brothers Auguste and Louis. They owned the villa Perles Blanches at  avenue Charles Blanc. And André Malraux  He and Josiane Clotis lived in the  villa Les Camélias.

Again, a bit of history tell us that Cap d’Ail, was until 1860, attached to the County of Nice(once became part of France). It was in 1908 that Cap d’Ail, which depended on La Turbie, became a fully-fledged town. The roads are breathtaking here and I love it for it. I had a car so the driving was awesome. The best roads are the RD 6098 (basse corniche) and RD 6007 (formerly RN7 – called moyenne corniche and also called avenue Prince-Rainier-III-de-Monaco on its northern periphery. By the sea, the coastal path is an old, redeveloped course of 3,600 meters joining the Mala and Marquet beaches via the Pointe des Douaniers. The train station and airport are all at Nice.

The town of Fontvieille on its heritage : https://www.fontvieille.fr/patrimoine/

 The official ports of Monaco : https://www.ports-monaco.com/en/

The Cap d’Ail tourist office : https://cap-dail.com/en/

There you go folks ,a nice town very chic upscale and costly. The kind of place you can dream of retiring too lol! A bit slow pace for me, too up the ladder but worth a visit in my belle France. Again, hope you enjoy the post on curiosities of Cap d’Ail as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.