Menton France | Lemon Festival

Last weekend we took a road trip to Menton, France to catch the end of the Fete du Citron, a lemon festival held each February-March. Menton is located right along the Mediterranean coast in the French Riviera and the views were absolutely gorgeous! Our drive from Como was only about 3 1/2 hours long - and it went really smoothly. We're always a little nervous driving across the borders, and always have our passports, permits to stay, driving licenses, etc. out and ready to go, but we've never been stopped or questioned.

We arrived in Menton Saturday afternoon and checked into our hotel - and headed across the street for a walk along the shoreline and late lunch. Yep. Cheeseburgers and "French" fries. :) We couldn't resist. Don't worry - we later ate some delicious fresh seafood and yummy crepes, too..

The sea has a way of calming your soul - there's something about the sound of the waves that is so peaceful! Fortunately, the weather was sunny and warm, so that helps in the relaxation department, too...

Sunday we watched the most theatrical and elaborate parade we had ever seen! Many of the floats were made out of lemons and oranges. Others were groups of dancers or actors. This was the 80th year for the festival and the theme was "travels around the globe" so the floats were all based on different cultures from throughout the world.

One of our favorite things about the parade was the confetti! No candy was thrown - instead they tossed handfuls of confetti. It was a disaster  to clean up, I'm sure. But so much fun - especially for the kids!

We also walked through an exhibit of displays with some enormous citrus structures - again keeping with the global theme...

There was a fireworks display to close out the festival, as well. The fireworks were set to a dramatic narration and music - in French of course. We couldn't understand a word, but the overall effect was really neat...