Here the new building on the former site of famous Helios restaurant is erected. In the early 90s the site remained empty for a couple of years and only in 1995 construction began to finish in 1998. This modern building provides shadow on the beach starting 17 hours though it is not yet like in Monaco where you hardly get any sunshine to the ground.
During the 1920s the Riviera was the coast to be and many artists found refuge here just beyond the italian border. Mr Balzac constructed the little park and only in the 21st century this place became known to the public. To visit adress yourself to the Tourist Office of Menton.
Above the old town the historic cemetary of Menton provides an excellent view towards Garavan and Italy. Here is seen on of the numberous graves of foreigners who spent the last days of their often much to short lifes in Menton or Monaco. English, Russian, German and some local ancestry can be found, amongst marble sculptures and personal tragedy.
This is in the socalled New Town, just behind the main beach. Formerly home to agriculture, hence the name Les Citroniers which indicates fields of lemon trees rather than homes and houses.
One of the numerous construction sites in the historic quarters on the hills. Though in France conservation of preservable buildings is enforced, creative promoters with the right connections find ways and money to build new among the old. At least the losses of the 1960s/1970s are not repeated, when a number of old villas and palaces were destroyed to make place for faceless concrete. Perhaps one day the ugly concrete vanishes with the next big earthquake.
Last not least, the Beach. This is actualy the remodeled beach from 1995/96, when the classic 70's sandy beach was washed away completely. Historic pictures of this place from the 19th century show a little pebbles in front of some rocks beyond the promenade. After every winter - and the winter 2009/10 was a hard one - the seafront beaches need to be reconstructed with truckloads of sand and pebbles.
happy days on the Riviera