The Cote d’Azur and Provence may be a millionaire’s playground…but a petit visit doesn’t have to mean a grand price tag.

The Cote d’Azur and Provence may be famous as the playground of the rich and famous but you don’t have to break the bank at Monte Carlo to enjoy La Belle France.

We hopped on a budget flight over to Nice then flew home form Marseille for a break that took in all the hotspots enjoyed by the Cannes Film Festival set without the millionaire’s price tag.

First on our itinerary was two nights at Nice’s iconic Palais De Le Mediterranee Hotel, right on the Promenade des Anglais, the main beachfront walkway running the length of the town.

The imposing art deco frontage – a listed historical monument – gives a flavour of the area’s decadent past, but internally the hotel, completely rebuilt and re-opened in 2004, is the last word in modern-day luxury.

The amazing sea view from our room’s balcony could not fail to get the day off to a good start. There’s a private area of beach for hotel guests to sunbathe but we loved the open-air pool nestled behind that original grand facade.

If you fancy going further afield, day trips to Cannes, St Tropez, Monaco or picturesque Menton right beside the Italian border are all easy by train. We’d visited before so we decided to stay put in Nice and investigate the historical old town. A few streets back from the sea, it’s stunning with its ornate opera house and quaint
traditional shops and market stalls.

On day three, we hired a car through Holiday Autos and headed west for the rest of our stay. With hubby and I expecting our first baby soon, some sedate promenading in Provence seemed like just the ticket for our last holiday à deux.

Swapping city slicker chic for country elegance, we settled into the Dolce Fregate hotel, 90 minutes drive from Nice and nestled beside a beautiful hilltop vineyard between the seaside towns of St-Cyr-Sur-Mer and Bandol.

The 133 guest rooms really had a sense of place, decorated in traditional Provençal style with colourwashed plaster on the walls, terracotta tiles on the floors and decked out with quaint wooden painted furniture.

The view from our terrace was a real feast for the senses with the three-tiered swimming pool directly below, the picturesque 18th hole of the on-site golf course immediately after and the hilltop vines and big blue of the Med on the horizon.

It was the ideal place to enjoy an evening sundowner, although sadly with Orangina in my case rather than some of the acclaimed rose produced at the vineyard next door.

I joined my golf-mad other half for a game on the Fregate 18-holer but wasn’t up to playing in the 80-degree heat so was happy to steer the golf buggy instead. Even for non-players, the view of the countryside stretching to the Med from the hilltop 10th tee is simply stunning. Out and about, the small harbour town of Bandol is just
a five-minute drive away.

By day there’s seafront shopping, but most visitors laze about on the sandy beach. Another option is to take the seven-minute ferry ride to the nearby Isle de Bendor.

Having a hire car at your disposal, you’re never far from new discoveries in Provence. Just 25 minutes away in Cassis, we found our favourite spot of the trip.

hat started off as a pretty little fishing village is now a popular tourist destination but it has never lost its charm with brightlycoloured boats bobbing away in the harbour against a backdrop of higgledy-piggledy pastel-painted buildings and winding cobbled back streets.

Eating out in France can be expensive but we found a real bargain in Cassis – a fisherman’s menu at the aptly-named La Poisonnerie, coming in at 19euros each for authentic French fish soup followed by freshly barbecued seabass. Delish.

After lunch we took a 90-minute boat trip to see the famous Calanques de Cassis, a series of fjord-like inlets carved into the white limestone cliffs on the 10-mile stretch of coast between Cassis and Marseille.

This wonder of nature makes for a great photo opportunity, although I must admit I was in no hurry to join the extreme sunbathers who’d chosen a spot on the sheer cliff face to lay down their towels and catch some rays.

For more culture, Aix En Provence, the former capital of Provence, is 45 minutes away by car and for kids you can’t go wrong with a trip to Aqualand at St-Cyr-Sur-Mer.
It’s also worth seeking out local vineyards and wine producers for ‘try and buy’ visits if you’re a wine buff.

Missing out this time around as a temporary teetotaller means there’s all the more excuse to return and make the French connection all over again next year.

Download Sunday Mail article about the Dolce Fregate Provence hotel.