Roquebrune: 953km (591 miles) S of Paris, 7km (4.5 miles) W of Menton, 58km (36 miles) NE of Cannes, 3km (1.75 miles) E of Monaco. Cap-Martin: 4km (2.5 miles) W of Menton, 2.5km (1.5 miles) W of Roquebrune
Roquebrune, along the Grande Corniche, is a charming mountain village with vaulted streets. The views over the Mediterranean rival the village of Èze and are equally immense. Artists’ workshops and boutiques with their pricey merchandise line rue Moncollet. In 2022, an architecturally dazzling hotel and restaurant complex called the Maybourne Riviera opened in Roquebrune, bringing with it even more new faces.
Brave visitors can hike down the hill from Roquebrune to Cap-Martin (and Ironmen can hike back up—a 45-minute long slog). This cape is a pine-covered peninsula, long associated with the rich and famous since the empress Eugénie wintered here in the 19th century. Artists and painters moved in during the 1920s. Among them were designer Eileen Gray (whose seaside cabin is set to open in late 2015) and architect Le Corbusier (after whom the coastal path that loop around the peninsula is named). Sir Winston Churchill regularly set up his easel here too. The long, pebbly plage de la Buse lies underneath Roquebrune-Cap-Martin train station. Its tranquility is disturbed only by the odd paraglider looping down to the beach from Roquebrune village.
