Real estate Menton

The Vieille Ville
The tali, narrow in7th-century houses of Menton'sVieille Ville, overlooking the Vieux Port east of the Musee Cocteau, are re miniscent of the old quarter of Genoa, knitted together by anti-earthquake arches that span stepped lanes named after old pirate captalns and saints.lt's hard to believe that the quiet main Street, Rue Longue (the Roman Via Julia Augusta), was until the higth
century the main route between France and Italy. Accordingto legend.the lady atthe Palais Princier received a secret nocturnal visit from Casanova, who crept in through the sewers.<br />
From Rue Longue.the shallow stairs of the Rampes St-Michel lead uptotheparv/sof the ice-cream-coloured church of St-Michel (1675), the largest and one of the most ornate Baroque churches of the region,decked out and madefitforthe princes of Monaco by two Mentonnais artists, Puppo and Vento. Agloomy Iate-i7th-century painting depicts Sainte Devote looking suitably martyrish in front of the Rock of Monaco. Honore I of Monaco tied the knot in the church in 1757 and presented the damask hangings,which are stili brought out on special occasions, as a celebratory gift. <br />
St-Michel's Baroque neighbour.the pert little Chapelle des Penitents Blancs, was headquarters of one of the old Riviera is many religious confraternities,and wasfeverishly restored in the i9th century with elaborate festooning and stucco. The three Theological Virtues glower uneasily among all the frills. The parvis (square in front of the church) has a pebble mosaic of Jf the Grimaldi arms.lt is used as the setting for Menton's megastar chamber music festival in August.<br />
The Montee du Souvenir leads to the top of the Vieille Ville, where the citadel was replaced in theigth century by the romantic, panoramic Vieux Chateau, windy and pine-scented. Curiously, it is not marked on the tourist map, but is just a quick steep haul up from those sitting out their last years below; as if a foretaste of death, it's the one place in Menton wherethey can't bring their poodles. Guy de Maupassant called it 'the most aristocratic cemetery in Europe'-the venerable names inscribed on the hierarchical array of ornate tombs and little pavilions include William Webb-Ellis, the'inventor of rugby', and a handful of Russian grand princes. Many immigrants, like Aubrey Beardsley, were consumptives in their teens and twenties and only carne to