Meridian

A private travel office · Amsterdam You were given a word.

The Riviera · In season May to July and September

Cannes

Famed for the festival, and more than its starlets and sunburns — a charming seaside town, and the natural base for the rest of the Riviera.

Eat

  1. La Guérite Reached only by water, which is the point — the crossing from Cannes empties the day of everything but lunch. The kitchen leans Greek, the afternoon runs long, and the sunbed after the table is less a booking than an inevitability. Île Sainte-Marguerite
  2. La Môme Plage The seaside arm of La Môme — a seafood feast and an iced drink straight off the beach, salt still on. Centre Ville
  3. Astoux et Brun Seafood without detours — platters of oysters, langoustine and lobster, the Mediterranean by the plateful. Le Suquet
  4. Bar Fouquet’s Four signature cocktails built from the garden — verbena-scented water in the Grande Dame, homemade melissa jam in the Daïqui Mélisse. A bar with its own agriculture. Centre Ville
  5. Bar°58 Tucked inside the Carlton — right any day of the week, and best on Fridays, when the saxophones come out. La Croisette
  6. Bobo Bistro A menu that moves with the seasons and ingredients sourced close by — the bistro answer for most occasions in Cannes. La Croisette

Stay

  1. Carlton Cannes On the Croisette since 1911, facing the sea — the legend among the palace hotels, and run like one. La Croisette
  2. Hotel Belle Plage An artsy Riviera stay — rooftop bar, serious restaurant, a large spa — with the ocean views making the closing argument. Le Suquet
  3. Hôtel le Fouquet’s Rooms and apartments in the heart of Cannes — the location beyond improvement, the rest arranged accordingly. Centre Ville

Do

  1. Carlton Beach Club A spritz, bar bites and a lounger with the sea a few metres off — the Croisette’s version of doing nothing, done well. La Croisette
  2. Île Saint-Honorat Minutes by boat, and a different century on arrival — the island of the abbey, for an afternoon off the clock. Île Saint-Honorat
  3. Île Sainte-Marguerite The largest of the Lérins — a short crossing for woods to walk, water to swim, and lunch at La Guérite. Île Sainte-Marguerite
  4. Mademoiselle Gray The Barrière beach on the Croisette — a lounger, the crystal-blue water, and a day spent exactly as intended. Centre Ville

Shop

  1. Marché Forville The produce and flower market — high colour, high energy, and everything needed for dinner or a picnic in the sun. Le Suquet
  2. Poissonnerie Forville The fishmonger of record — the day’s catches on ice, oysters that need no dressing, and lunch on the spot for the uncommitted. Centre Ville

The office can arrange any of this.

You were given a word.