Cocteau, old town and lemon groves

Skirting the sea cliffs, it’s 7 km from Monaco along the Lower Corniche (D6098) and just 3 km from Italy; Menton stretches across shingle beaches beneath the bell tower of the 17th‑century Basilica of Saint‑Michael and the Genoese bastion that Cocteau turned into a museum in 1966. A mild Ligurian microclimate nurtures IGP lemons, and the old lanes climb gently. You trace the horizon, pick out the pebble mosaics on the Saint‑Michel ramps, and match the citrus yellows to Cocteau’s pigments. Little climbing, many pauses, the sea always in sight.

From there, everything runs smoothly with your dedicated driver in Menton: hotel pickup, a comfortable Mercedes on standby, and a flexible pace. You’re dropped at the Bastion while parking is handled, then eased to Place de la Conception for the softest approach to the old town, and onward to City Hall for Cocteau’s 1957–58 wedding hall. Between visits, your driver takes you to a confectioner working with Menton’s IGP lemons; you taste while they wait. Want the Biovès or Garavano gardens? The route adapts on the fly.