The blue chairs on the Promenade des Anglais at sunrise

The chaises bleues are the city's own piece of furniture: rows of pale blue seats set along the Promenade des Anglais, facing the Baie des Anges. In the middle of the day they are occupied and the promenade behind them is a river of joggers, cyclists and tour groups. At sunrise they are empty, the sea is silver and flat, and the curve of the bay runs uninterrupted to the airport headland.

The stretch in front of the Hôtel Negresco is the classic: the belle-époque facade on one side, the sea on the other, and the palms of the promenade giving vertical rhythm. Shoot along the row for repetition, from behind a single chair for the couple-facing-the-sea frame, and down onto the pebbles for a low horizon. The light arrives from the east, straight along the bay — that is why sunrise here beats sunset, when the sun drops behind the hills at your back.

Seasons change the character more than most seafronts. In summer first light comes before six and the promenade is already awake by seven; in winter sunrise lands at a civilised hour and the low sun rakes along the whole facade line. Storms rearrange the pebble bank and occasionally the chairs, so a scout the evening before saves time.

Practical notes: the beach is pebbles, not sand — flat shoes for anyone posing at the waterline, and expect an unsteady walk down to it. The chairs are public, so nothing to book, but they are also not yours: if someone is sitting, work the next set along. The cycle lane runs the length of the promenade and is used at speed — keep gear and dresses out of it.