There are no customs or frontier formalities with France, and French coinage is valid, but you must use Monegasque postage stamps.

Within Monaco's frontiers lies Monte Carlo, now mainly devoted to business. The Casino no longer draws the elite of Europe, but is amusing to visit.

A main attraction of the Riviera is its hinterland. A very few miles from the modern resorts you can find lovely, ancient hill-villages beloved of painters- St Paul-de-Vence, Cagnes, Eze; or interesting old towns like Vence, where D.H. Lawrence died; Valbonne, with its Spanish-style arcaded streets and Grasse, the perfume centre, in its valley full of flowers.

The scenery all round here is glorious. A little further inland are some splendid mountain resorts, such as Peira-Cava, amid sub-Alpine glades and forests.

The Riviera is not ideal for bathing -Cannes and Juan have sandy beaches, but E. from Antibes the shore is pebbly. All the year round, however, there are masses of distractions -casinos, galas, festivals, exhibitions. And today the Riviera is one of the world's finest centres for modern art. Many of the great painters who lived here have left their work behind them. The Fondation Maeght, at St Paul, with its Miros and Giacomettis in the open air, is as striking and lovely an art museum as you will find anywhere. Do not miss, either, the Picasso collec­tions at Antibes and Vallauris (where he worked), the Leger Museum at Biot, the Matisse Chapel at Vence, the Cocteau Chapel at Villefranche, or Renoir's villa at Cagnes. Picasso helped to revive the Vallauris pottery industry, and nowadays you can buy excellent pottery, often quite cheaply, there or in neighbouring towns. Per­fumes and cut flowers are other local products. The food is the same as in the rest of Provence, plus a few specialities from Nice, notably ravioli and the delicious salade nicoise.

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