Arrive in Nice on suggested flights and make your way to the hotel. Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist you with your flights and other travel arrangements, including travel insurance (a condition of travel), private hotel transfer, accommodation before or after the tour and a room category upgrade.

In the late-afternoon, join your tour leader Lucienne Joy and fellow travellers for a welcome briefing followed by dinner.

(D)

After a talk by Lucienne, begin your exploration of Nice with an orientation tour following the footsteps of renowned Russian writers Tolstoy, Chekhov and Nabokov, who found inspiration along the sun-drenched Côte d’Azur. Visit Saint Nicholas Cathedral, one of the largest Russian Orthodox cathedrals outside of Russia built in 1912 by Tsar Nicholas II to serve the still large Russian community as well as devout visitors from the Imperial Court.

Enjoy some free time for lunch at the market on the bustling Cours Saleya and sample some socca, a pancake made of chickpea flour that is uniquely niçois.

In the afternoon, transfer to the hilly Cimiez area and visit the Matisse Museum. Henri Matisse lived on the Côte d’Azur for almost 40 years and was deeply devoted to the region, whose colourful landscapes left a vibrant imprint on his work. The museum’s collection holds an overview of works made by the ‘Master of Colour’ throughout his prolific career.

(B)

This morning, discover the charming ‘perched village’ of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, offering breathtaking views over the Mediterranean. Enjoy a guided tour of Villa E-1027, a veritable icon of modernist architecture and the first major project designed by Irish architect Eileen Gray, and Le Corbusier’s holiday home Le Cabanon next to it.

Continue to the picturesque town of Menton, which became a haven in the 1860s for English people suffering from TB, following the publication of the book Winter and Spring on the Shores of the Mediterranean by James Henry Bennett extolling its mild climate. Visitors for health reasons included Robert Louis Stevenson and the New Zealand short story writer Katherine Mansfield, who stayed at the Villa Isola Bella for twelve months, where she wrote many stories and letters.

(BL)

Today, travel to the glamourous Principality of Monaco, settled in 1276 by a runaway prince from the powerful Genoese Grimaldi family and now a tax haven, gambling mecca and luxury tourist destination. Walk the streets of Le Rocher, where the Palais Princier de Monaco overlooks the marinas of this microstate, and visit the magnificent cathedral, built in 1875 using white stone from La Turbie and housing the tombs of Monaco’s former princes.

On a guided tour of the Princess Grace Irish Library by director Paula Farquharson, discover various literary and artistic treasures, including a 1922 copy of James Joyce’s Ulysses, along with Princess Grace’s collections of musical scores.

Ater lunch, enjoy some free time to further explore the narrow streets and picturesque squares of Le Rocher at your own pace. Return to Nice in the late afternoon.

(BL)

In the morning, explore the magnificent villa and garden of Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, regarded as one of the finest on the Côte d’Azur. Built during the Belle Époque period, the palace is home to an extensive art collection and surrounded by nine themed gardens with sea views.

Return to Nice and visit the Hotel L’Oasis – formerly the pension russe, where Chekhov spent several winters, and enjoy a presentation of the hotel’s history and its famous guests.

The remainder of the day is at leisure.

(BL)

Travel to the stunning perched village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. The American writer James Baldwin moved here in 1970 from Paris, where he’d written his best-selling Go Tell It on a Mountain, and stayed until his death eighteen years later. He lived beneath the ramparts of the village in an old provençal house, which was always open to his friends, who included actors Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier, as well as musicians Nina Simone, Miles Davis and Ray Charles.

Visit the Fondation Maeght, a private foundation that presents one of the most extensive 20th-century art collections in Europe, including many important paintings and sculptures by Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, Fernand Léger and other influential modern artists.

After lunch, continue to the nearby village of Vence, where Matisse lived during World War II. Visit the Rosary Chapel, designed and decorated entirely by Matisse. The quaint white chapel with a blue- and white-tiled roof hosts stained-glass windows that cast a kaleidoscope of bold colours onto the marble floors.

(BL)

This morning, depart Nice and travel along the French Riviera to Cagnes-sur-Mer to visit the Renoir Museum, housed in his former residence. Explore this lovely estate surrounded by olive and citrus trees where Renoir lived at the end of his life.

Arrive in Antibes, a port city with rich literary associations including Graham Greene, who moved here in 1966 to escape being prosecuted by the UK’s Inland Revenue for failing to pay tax.

Enjoy some free time for lunch at the provençal market before visiting the Picasso Museum, located in the Château Grimaldi, where Picasso lived and had his studio. Picasso gave many important works to the city; the small museum presents more than 250 artworks by Picasso and other modern artists.

Check-in to the hotel in the afternoon. The remainder of the day is at leisure.

(B)

After a talk by Lucienne, embark on a walking tour of Antibes with Joel Stratte-McLure. While living in Mougins in the 1990s, the American journalist undertook to walk around the Mediterranean, starting in Antibes. Twenty years later he completed the trek, visiting everywhere from Greece to Lebanon to Morocco and Tunisia, and chronicling the walk and his ruminations on everything from Homer to alcoholism to other writers, in a trilogy called The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean. Joel will re-trace part of the first day of his trek, discussing his long journey, his writing and the writers whose homes will be passed.

The afternoon is at leisure.

This evening, before dinner, visit the Hotel Belles Rives, a glamorous Art Deco building which evokes the decadent atmosphere of the Roaring Twenties. It was the house where Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald lived in while he wrote Tender is the Night in the late 1920s.

(BD)

In the morning, visit the Bonnard Museum in Le Cannet. Housed in a restored Belle Époque villa, the museum is dedicated to the work of Pierre Bonnard, a founding member of the Post-Impressionist group Les Nabis, and displays a collection of his paintings, posters, furniture, sculptures, photographs and illustration projects.

Enjoy lunch in the nearby village of Mougins, perched on a rocky outcrop. Then, enjoy a guided tour of FAMM, the first private museum in Europe dedicated entirely to female artists, newly opened in 2024.

(BL)

Depart Antibes for Saint-Tropez, a former fishing village turned glamorous resort town which perfectly embodies the allure of the French Riviera. Visit the Annonciade Museum, housed in a former chapel and exhibiting an excellent collection of paintings by Post-Impressionist artists.

Continue to Aix-en-Provence, arriving in the late-afternoon.

(BD)

In the morning, follow in the footsteps of the city’s most celebrated son, Paul Cézanne. At the Painters’ Terrace, enjoy the panoramic view of the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, one of Cézanne’s favourite subjects. Continue with a walking tour of the old town including the Cours Mirabeau, where Emile Zola, Albert Camus and Ernest Hemingway, in their day, could often be found lunching.

Then, discover the temporary exhibition dedicated to French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle at the Hotel de Caumont, an outstanding example of 18th-century French architecture in the Quartier Mazarin.

The afternoon is at leisure to further explore Aix-en-Provence at your own pace.

Tonight, celebrate the conclusion of the tour with a special farewell dinner with Lucienne and fellow travellers.

(BD)

Tour arrangements conclude after breakfast.

Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist you with your flights and other travel arrangements, including any additional nights’ accommodation either before or after the tour and travel insurance (a condition of travel).

(B)