The Hidden Gem of the Côte D'Azur

Like pretty much everyone else I know, I start my day drowsily scanning my phone like the morning paper. One morning, as I was waking up with my second cup of coffee, I spotted two familiar photos on my Instagram feed, posted by two different people who I follow. Amongst the flurry of vacation snaps that fills 90% of my timeline this time of year, these two photos were instantly recognisable to me as somewhere I'd been before. My eyes darted up to the location tag to see that they were taken in the ever-popular French Riviera. Not regal Monaco, glitzy Cannes or cosmopolitan Nice, but the small fishing village of Villefranche-Sur-Mer.

A post shared by ALEX ✈︎ The Travelling Frenchy (@thetravellingfrenchy) on Jul 27, 2018 at 9:51am PDT

Nestled on a bay along from Antibes, towards Italy, Villefranche-Sur-Mer is an enduring image of the French south coast, whose colourful houses welcomed us in 2015 as our cruise ship docked. Although we had intended to take the train to Nice, circumstances meant that we ended up staying in the small town. I've still never been to Nice (sad face emoji) but our train fiasco turned out to be a blessing in disguise, allowing us to explore the winding backstreets of Villefranche and take lunch al fresco by the beach.

I love being on vacation thiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much..!

A post shared by Neil Patrick Harris (@nph) on Jul 10, 2018 at 12:49pm PDT

With The Travelling Frenchy and Neil Patrick Harris both posting pics from there within the same week, I was instantly jealous and desperate to go back, as well as curious about whether the town had started to gain traction as a popular holiday destination. I could see why - it's everything we would expect from a French coastal town. There's not tonnes to do, at least there wasn't when I went three years ago, but it's picturesque, fun to explore, and the perfect spot to escape to.

Visiting this place was my first time in France, which was surprisingly late as a British student of French, but it's also one of the reasons that made me fall in love with the language, the culture, and the country. Now more than ever, I carry the image of this town around in my head, hoping to go back someday and live my best Romantic life - speaking French with the locals, sunbathing by the shore, getting lost in the labyrinthine streets, and making myself fat from French food along the sea front.