The Cap-Ferrat coast path and Paloma beach

The sentier du littoral runs the whole way round Cap-Ferrat on a shelf cut into the limestone, mostly a metre or two above the water. The eastern section from Paloma beach out to the Pointe Saint-Hospice is the one to shoot: Aleppo pines leaning over the path, low walls, white rock, and water that goes from turquoise to deep blue within a few metres of the shore.

The Pointe itself is the payoff. The path opens onto a headland with a small chapel and a bronze madonna on it, the sea on three sides, and Beaulieu and the mountains closing the frame to the north-east. It is the widest horizon within walking distance of Villefranche.

Early morning is the working window. The path is narrow, unshaded and popular with walkers and runners from mid-morning, and by midday the white rock is glaring. First light comes across the water from the east, which is exactly the right direction here.

Dress for it. This is a real footpath — uneven stone, steps, occasional loose gravel — so long dresses and thin soles need managing, and there is no shade and no water on the way. Allow twenty minutes on foot from the parking above Paloma to the headland, more if you are stopping to shoot.