Sainte-Agnès and Gorbio

A whiff of wild fennel drifts through the switchbacks above Menton as light splinters across grey schist. Perched at 780 m, Sainte-Agnès hides a Maginot Line fort dug into the rock (built 1932–1938) and, from its square, a horizon running past Cap Martin and, on mistral days, as far as Corsica. Pottery with green glaze, zucchini-blossom fritters, old irrigation channels called bisses—details that anchor the climb. Then it’s on to Gorbio, where cobbled lanes weave beneath a several-centuries-old olive tree.

Your driver meets you at your Menton or Roquebrune hotel at the time you choose and keeps the Mercedes on standby for about four hours. It’s a 20‑minute run up to Sainte-Agnès (9 km) for the underground fort tour with helmet, perhaps the medieval garden if open, then a ridge road to Gorbio (12 km) for a coffee on the square and a stroll through stone archways. With a Riviera private chauffeur handling hairpins, scarce parking and waits at museums or lunch, you keep your eyes on the views.