Nice Carnival

Arrival in Nice.
Check-in in a warm atmosphere with pleasant carnival music in the background, while enjoying our delicious “Sekt Orange”. During this informal cocktail, one of our costumed hostesses will give you all the information needed for an enjoyable stay and its programme, together with a Carnival gift and a map of Nice. Dinner and overnight stay.
Other options for the first evening:
Enjoy a 1 hr 30 comedy show at Mado’s very own theatre (Suppl.: €14): 100% LAUGHTER GUARANTEED.
“Chantons Ensemble” dinner evening: sing along with us to the great French chansons with our 2 live musicians during your meal (Suppl.: €18, min. 30 pax).

Tanneron Massif, from Mimosa to perfume – Illuminated Parade.
After breakfast, departure for a guided tour of Cannes: the Croisette, the Palais des Festivals, the Forville market and the Suquet.
After lunch in Cannes, set off to discover the Mimosa Saga along the Route du Mimosa.
First, on the roads of the Tanneron Massif, you will discover “the largest mimosa forest in Europe”, then you will visit a forcing house. There, the mimosa grower will explain all the growing and forcing techniques used to cultivate this magnificent flower.
Then head for Grasse, “the City of Perfume”, where you will visit a perfumery. During this visit, the secrets of making perfumes from mimosa and the other “perfume flowers” grown in the region will be revealed to you, to round off the Mimosa Saga (optional: workshop to create your own personalised perfume)!
Return to Nice for dinner before taking your seats in the stands for the Illuminated Parade…
Return to the hotel by tram (ticket included).
Overnight stay.
**Other options for this day:
Breakfast, then departure with the guide to visit Grasse, “the City of Perfume”, where you will visit a perfumery before learning all there is to know about the OLIVE: an entertaining guided visit at the Espace Terroir followed by a tapenade or pistou cooking workshop and a tasting of everything with a glass of local wine (suppl.).
or
Breakfast, then departure with the guide to visit St-Paul-de-Vence, a historic village perched on a hill overlooking the countryside and the sea. In every season, its lanes and ramparts invite you to stroll. Wandering through them, you will discover the artists who left their mark on the village in the past and those who bring it to life today. While Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a land of creation, the village is also a cultural destination: its Fondation Maeght, its museums and its heritage bear witness to a rich history and an artistic tradition more than a century old.
or
Breakfast, then departure with the guide for Antibes: the famous Provençal market of Antibes delights tourists and locals alike. Here you will find genuine regional products under an open-air market hall in the heart of the old town: real tapenades, Menton orange marmalades, aubergine caviars, honeys and aniseed aperitifs, etc. Visit of a genuine absinthe bar, just like those still found in the 19th century. This aniseed-flavoured drink, nicknamed “the green fairy” and once highly prized by artists, long suffered from a bad reputation following its ban (it was supposed to drive people mad) and has only recently been rehabilitated (tasting possible for a supplement), then a stroll around the largest marina on the Côte d’Azur with its incredible “Quai des Milliardaires” (Billionaires’ Quay).
Lunch in a typical inn, then a short visit to the Florian confectionery, located between the Gorges du Loup and the mountains of the hinterland – You will watch the region’s finest fruits and prettiest flowers being turned into artisan confectionery. You will taste violet sweets, rose petal jam, etc.
Then on to the Gorges du Loup, where the road winds between narrow limestone cliffs down which waterfalls tumble. Stop and visit of Gourdon (one of the most beautiful villages in France), built on a rocky outcrop at an altitude of 760 m. Gourdon overlooks the Loup valley and offers an incomparable panorama.
Return to Nice for dinner before taking your seats in the stands for the Illuminated Parade.
Return to the hotel by tram (ticket included). Overnight stay.

A day by tram, driver’s rest day.
Breakfast, then departure with the guide to discover Nice on foot and by TRAM in Old Nice (where you can taste the famous SOCCA with a glass of rosé (not included)), the port with a guided tour of the FLORIAN Confectionery, and the famous flower market.
Lunch (restaurant close to the stands) before watching the Battle of Flowers from the stands from 2.30 pm to about 4 pm.
Afterwards, you can stroll through the lanes of Old Nice or go to the CASINO RUHL/Lucien Barrière to enjoy a glass of champagne and play your chips! (ID required for entry).
Or
Enjoy a 1 hr 30 comedy show at the theatre of MADO la Niçoise: the humour continues with the sparkling Maguy (Mado’s daughter-in-law), who will join you in her traditional Niçois costume during dinner for an introduction to the Niçois dialect, her way… 100% interNISSAtional and LAUGHTER GUARANTEED! (Suppl. €14).
Dinner and overnight stay.

Monaco/Menton and the Lemon Festival.
Breakfast, then departure with the guide along the beautiful Moyenne Corniche (possibly a short stop in Eze Village to visit a perfumery, where the secrets of making perfumes from mimosa and the other “perfume flowers” grown in the region will be revealed to you).
Then on along the Moyenne Corniche towards Monaco, a small state between the sea and the mountains: visit of the famous ROCK – the changing of the guard, etc.
Lunch in Monaco, then departure for Menton and tour of the town.
(Possibility of visiting the Jardins Biovès with their lemon and orange decorations, for a supplement).
Dinner in a restaurant in Menton close to the Corso.
8.30 pm-10 pm: Lemon Festival Night Parade.
Return to Nice and overnight stay.

Breakfast before leaving our beautiful region…