Fotografen in Menton

Menton is the warmest corner of France, pressed against the Italian border with mountains at its back, and the microclimate is the reason half of it is a garden. The picture everyone comes for is the same one every time: from the Quai Bonaparte and the Promenade du Soleil, the old town rises straight out of the sea in ochre, apricot and faded rose, tier on tier, up to the twin bell towers of the Basilique Saint-Michel-Archange and the Chapelle des Pénitents-Blancs. Climb into it and the parvis Saint-Michel opens out halfway up — a small baroque square paved in black and white pebble mosaic, with a long flight of steps dropping back toward the port and the sea filling the gap. The gardens are the other half of the town. Serre de la Madone, Lawrence Johnston's terraced garden in the hills west of the centre, is all stone stairs, pools and rare planting under cypresses; the Val Rahmeh botanical garden in Garavan, on the Italian side, is smaller, denser and full of citrus and subtropical foliage. Both are ticketed, both close on certain days and both set their own conditions for professional photography — check each one before it goes in a plan. Season matters here more than on the rest of the coast: mimosa and citrus carry January and February, the Fête du Citron fills the seafront for two weeks around then, and the gardens are at their best in spring rather than high summer, when the old-town stairs bake.