Menton, often referred to as the Pearl of France, is situated on the south-easternmost point of France bordering Italy. Sheltered by a natural mountainous amphitheatre, Menton basks in a subtropical micro-climate boasting 316 cloudless days a year. With a population of 29 000 covering 5 square miles, Menton is a town which thrives all year round although a third of properties are owned as second homes.

First founded by the Count of Ventimiglia as the Château de Puypin, Menton was initially inhabited by Ligurians. From 1346 - 1848 it fell under the rule of the Grimaldis in Monaco, but after civil unrest the locals broke away from the Principality and the town was eventually sold to France in 1861, being officially recognised by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of that year.
During the late nineteenth century Menton really began to prosper due to the influx of wealthy northern European visitors who came south to spend their winters in milder climes. It was the English doctor J.Henry Bennet who was responsible for really putting Menton on the map. Having been diagnosed with tuberculosis he closed his medical practice and headed to the South of France settling in Menton. He claimed that Menton had the best climate on the Riviera and after making a miraculous recovery, he extolled the virtues of the warm winters and healthy fruits in his book Winter and Spring on the Shores of the Mediterranean.

As Bennet remarked  'Throughout the winter we seldom wanted a fire, except on wet days, or in the evening and in January it was often hot enough to breakfast at 9 o'clock with windows open to the ground'

This resulted in many wealthier and, more often than not, sick British visitors to the town. As Henry Brougham was considered the founder of Cannes 'the town for living' J. Henry Bennet became synonymous with Menton 'the town for dying.' Before Bennet's arrival in 1859, Menton was a village subsisting almost entirely on lemons but by 1871 it was scarcely recognisable with 30 hotels and pensions making it the principal English colony on the coast.

It was perhaps the arrival of Menton's most notable visitor, Queen Victoria, in 1882, that sealed the town's popularity as a destination for wealthy Hivernants and not just the ailing. The railway had made it's way to Menton by 1869 so Queen Victoria, with her vast entourage, was able to travel directly to the town where she enjoyed four weeks as a guest of Charles Haffrey in his stylish villa the 'Chalet des Rosiers' in Menton's Garavan district.

As the Queen commented in her journal ' ...we have never, excepting for a few hours, been without sun, and it certainly has a very invigorating effect on mind and body.'

She spent four happy weeks in Menton from mid march to mid April and upon leaving wrote 'Alas! already far from beloved and beautiful Mentone! It is too sad to watch the beautiful mountains and vegetation disappearing. But I must be grateful to have been permitted to spend 4 weeks in that lovely and far famed Riviera.' 

During World War II Menton was annexed to Italy following the fall of France in 1940. Menton enjoyed a steady flow of goods and services during this period as an example of the benefits of an Italian government but in return the French residents were forced to assimilate into Italian culture. In 1943 German forces took control until Menton was finally liberated by the Allies on 8th September 1944.

Today the Italian influences of the past remain and every weekend Menton is inundated by Italian visitors, many of whom own secondary homes here. Often the predominant language heard spoken in the streets is Italian, as the stylish visitors partake in their daily passegiata while enjoying locally homemade Italian ice creams. With its Italian openness and French fussiness, Menton is also the most British of Riviera towns; the seafront Promenade du Soleil is dominated by the Balmoral and Westminster hotels and a statue in honour of Queen Victoria is illuminated every night between the old harbour and the new marina. In more recent years Menton has become a popular year round destination for many different nationalities. The British of the nineteenth century are back in force accompanied by Germans, Scandinavians, Russians, Americans and Japanese amongst others.

They all come here for the climate but also for the many attractions Menton offers. This vibrant seaside resort now offers many diversions for every type of visitor. Its world famous gardens boasting a plethora of tropical varieties of plants, its museums, its harbours, its beaches and restaurants, its covered municipal market, the winding streets of the old town with its impressive Basilica and the Casino all offer a diversity for the visitor, unmatched in a town of this size elsewhere along the coast. Every February the town comes alive as the streets vibrate to the sounds of carnival music during the famous Fête du Citron and in the summer months the pedestrian street buzzes with life until the early hours of the morning. At Christmas too, the town comes to life with the Casino gardens animated with the chosen theme, the Christmas market and the glittering lights all along the promenade turning the Pearl of France in to the town of lights.