Lemon Festival in France

The lemon festival is in France, the south of France, in the seaside of Menton. In 2019 from Feb 16 to March 3rd. (Valentine's day Feb 14 if you want to go early.

See my previous post on the Michelin starred restaurant, Mirazur.

Other lemon festivals are held in: California, USA;Turkey; and the UK.

Photo by Bohyunlee in Wikipedia article on Menton.

Useful Websites
https://www.facebook.com/Feteducitron/

French tourist board.
Channel ferry.
tripadvsor.
wikivoyage.
wikitravel.

more later.

French Mirazur Restaurant wins three Michelin Stars - Just in time for the Lemon Festival

Mirazur Restaurant has won three stars. Three Michelin Stars! Just published in January 2019, this year's Michelin guide.

Not achieved overnight, but the first star came fast, within a year, in 2006. Such a short time for a new restaurant. But three stars is a great achievement.

Where? On the borders of France and Italy, using the ingredients and ideas from both countries.

How do I remember the restaurant name? Miracle on the Cote d'Azur, the blue coast. Mira zur. Mirazur. Another M starts the name of the Italian chef, Mauro.

The restaurant overlooks seaside Menton in the south of France. The restaurant building is on three floors with panormaic views over the coast, the cliffs and the sea, as you can see from their website.

When to visit Menton? Menton's lemon festival in 2019 is from Saturday 16 February to Sunday the 3rd of March.

What does a meal at the restaurant cost? If you need to know the price, too much. The Michelin guide willl give you a clue.

If you cannot afford the restaurant, maybe you would like to visit the lemon festival. Take a look at the Mirazur. Maybe book for Valentine's Day this year or next year or some other special occasion.

Restaurant Mirazur

30, Avenue Aristide Briand
06500 Menton
Tel: +33 (0)4 92 41 86 86
reservation@mirazur.fr

Useful websites:
visitfrance.co.uk
visititaly.com
italiantouristboard.co.uk

ee.france.fr/en/discover/menton-0

Menton Tourist Office 8 avenue Boyer 06500 Menton Tel: +33 (0)4 92 41 76 76. Fax: +33 (0)4 92 41 76 78.

feteducitron.com

Translations French - English
citron - lemon
du - of the
fete - festival
feteducitron - festival of the lemon

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Bilingual English-French. Teacher of English and other languages. English language trainer for schools, colleges, business, holidaymakers.

Jean Cocteau: Museum, Sculpture, Life, in Menton, the South of France, and Trail to His Grave

Problem
What can you do in Menton (after, before, or if you missed the lemon festival)? What can you do near Nice? What can you do near Cannes, if you are not invited to the film festival, or if you are?

Answer
Go to the Jean Cocteau museum.

Who was Jean Cocteau? I recognize the name, but have trouble identifying who he was, when he lived and what he did.

All becomes clear if you visit the museum about him in Menton, in the south of France, or trawl through the internet.

Jean Cocteau Museum in Menton, South of France. Picture by Paolo Schubert, from Wikipedia.

What a beautiful picture of a beautiful museum. Modern, yet fits the landscape. A contrast of light and dark. Functional yet beautiful. Usually, I think that top-heavy columns and buildings or parts of buildings look like they are the wrong way up, unnerving and unnatural. Yet here the parts which are wider on top are elegant, like wine glasses or beakers.

Those white bendy pillars you see outside arch over the interior creating delightful secluded areas to sit with a view to the outside. 

The café, with white chairs, offers occasional buffet brunches (you can see a picture of the food the the website), which must be booked the week before, for about £9? (18 euros? - check current prices and exchange rates) to the accompaniment of free classical music.

Sculpture of Jean Cocteau. Picture by Berthold Werner in Wikipedia.

This sculpture of the man is in VilleFranche-sur-mer, next to Nice.

Villefranche means free town. Sur mer is French for on sea. At first glance this sculpture is messy, quite hideous. You are reminded of what Jean-Cocteau said:

'Art produces ugly things which frequently become beautiful. Fashion produces beautiful things which frequently become ugly.'

You can find a whole page of quotations by Jean Cocteau in Wikiquote.

He was prolific. He wrote poetry, books, wrote screenplays, directed films.

Jean Cocteau knew everybody. Modigliani. Piaf. Picasso.

 He died the day after the French singer Edith Piaf. (My favourite song of hers is Je Ne Regrette Rien - I regret nothing.) It was said that he died of a broken heart, after hearing that she had died.

The original museum opened in the 1960s, three years after he died, and features objects and art works the artist left, plus a later collection by the American benefactor Wunderman (born in Belgium).

In addition to the ultra-modern Jean Cocteau museum building, the more traditional looking Bastion Museum, only 150 yards away, has a joint ticket, and currently (October-November 2017) has an exhibition on Jean Cocteau's favourite actress, Sarah Bernhardt, who was said to be the first French international star. (For more on her see the next post.)

Your Jean Cocteau Trail:

1 Jean Cocteau Museum, Menton, France

2 Jean Cocteau Bust Sculpture, Villefranche-sur-mer, France

3 Jean Cocteau grave and artworks in Chapel.

Travel Tips And Information From These Handy Websites:
https://wikitravel.org/en/Menton
http://uk.france.fr
https://www.tourisme-menton.fr/-Menton-French-Riviera-.html?lang=en
https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/
https://www.easyjet.com/en/
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villefranche-sur-Mer
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Cocteau#/media/File:Jean_Cocteau
https://www.museecocteaumenton.fr/La-Donation-Wunderman.html
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6629 Cocteau's grave, portraits, biography.

Author

 Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Author of Quick Quotations for Authors and Speakers. Who Said What When (quotations for every day of the year, featuring people who were born or died on that day or on that day did something remarkable.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Spring Breaks: Flowers and Fruit in France in February

Problem
Where can I find flower and fruit festivals? Where can I go in February? To the south east of France. You could drive to the south west, then across to the south east and do two coasts.

Answers
Lemon Festival
Menton in France for orange and lemon festival. Menton is 'the lemon festival capital of the world'. You mean there are more? Yes, California, of course.

Lemon Festival, Fete du Citron, Menton, France. Photos by Bohyunlee from Wikipedia.

Mimosa festival in France in a whole string of towns and villages.

Story
A friend of mine, call him Richard (he's shy about being named) books every year. His top tips:
"France is not great for anybody who keeps kosher or is vegetarian or vegan. If you want vegetarian, you are better off in America or Italy.

Kosher Restaurants
"If you want kosher restaurants in France, try Nice and Cannes. In these seaside resorts you will find two or three, one opposite a Chabad place. But they are pricey.

"In France non meat eaters can eat risotto and tuna and tuna sushi. But that does get monotonous afer a while if you are staying for a week or two in summer. Okay for a long weekend spring break."

What's Free or Cheaper
"The festivals charge for seats to watch the parades. Quite expensive.

Budget Accommodation
"To economise, instead of hotels, opt for airb and b. Or bed and breakfast.

"But the French in bed and breakfast places in the south don't speak much English. Fine if you speak French."

Brush up on your French with Dulingo.com free online language courses.

White Clouds and blue skies from a plane window. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Cheap Flights
What about cheaper flights? What about Ryanair?

I am very happy with Ryanair prices.

However, my friend says, "I wouldn't go on them if you paid me. I prefer Easy Jet."

He says, "I pay extra for more leg room (he is over six foot tall) and extra luggage and seating together. Even so, my wife and I pay no more than £200,  return fares from England to France, for the two of us."

Any other advice on bargains. What about late booking?

"That's great if you just want a holiday at a reduced price, and don't mind where. But if you have a specific destination in mind, book early to get the best fares."

What to see in Menton
Jean Cocteau Museum

Jean Cocteau Museum, Menton, France. Photo by Paolo Schubert in Wikipedia.

Jean Cocteau sculpture, Villefranche-sur-mer, next along from Nice, France.

Travel Tips From These Handy Websites:
https://wikitravel.org/en/Menton
http://uk.france.fr
https://www.tourisme-menton.fr/-Menton-French-Riviera-.html?lang=en
https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/
https://www.easyjet.com/en/

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts. For more on Jean-Cocteau, see next post.