Photographers can travel the world but they will find it hard to match the unique and unrivalled beauty of the Cote d’Azur to showcase their talents.

With so many inspiring landmarks, eccentric and unusual discoveries and stunning natural beauty, swathed by an azure sky and sea, achieving inimitable and motivating photographs on this stretch of French coastline is attainable for even the most amateur of photographers.

In celebration of the Cote d’Azur’s perpetual capacity to enthuse photographers, the Chateau St Julien d’Aille is holding a photography workshop.

Named the ‘Scrapbook Event’, the workshop will enable photographers of all abilities to speak to and gain advice from professionals to help them make photographic scrapbooks with their own photos.

Alongside attending talks dedicated to helping photographers mount and display their work in a professional scrapbook, the event will include several wine tasting sessions, allowing photographers to sample the delicious local wine that is produced in the Cote d’Azur region.

Situated close to Vidauban on the Cote d’Azur, is the grand and impressive Chateau St Julien d’Aille, which, for centuries, has been tended by people whose passion in winemaking has been proven by the quality of the wine produced here.

In combining both modern and ancient winemaking techniques, the experience visitors to this stately chateau discover delves much deeper than simply tasting some of the most divine wine that France has to offer.

Being blessed with 80 hectares of vines surrounded by a swarm beautiful natural resources including holly oaks, pine trees, heather, thyme, junipers and pine trees, it isn’t difficult to envisage why the photography professionals that will be gracing the Chateau St Julien d’Aille with their presence decided to hold the Scrapbook Event at this truly inspirational venue.

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Southern France was once again been invaded by citrus fruits, as Menton celebrated its traditional lemon festival earlier this month.

The 79^th addition of the festival was not only a celebration of lemons, but also a celebration of France as the theme was ‘regions of France’.

The patriotic theme was demonstrated through the traditional sculptures, made up of around 145 ton of lemons and oranges. This year’s citrus fruit creations included a bottle of champagne, a stork and a Parisian Metro station sign.

La fete du Citron (as it is known in France) originated in 1929 when Menton became Europe’s premier producer of lemons. The local Hotel Riviera launched the festival to celebrate the first flowering of the citrus fruits.

The celebration also includes wagons that parade through the streets with a variety of entertainment. It is well known for being a unique event and attracts around 230,000 visitors a year.

2012’s festival is running  from 17^th February – 7^th March, and highlights included the “Corso des fruits d’or” – The golden fruits parade that runs along the Promenade du Soleil with floats decorated in lemons and oranges, as well as moving figures.

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It’s one of the most glamorous locations in the world. Yet a trip to the Cote d’Azur can be made significantly even more glamorous by taking a helicopter transfer from Nice International Airport to Monaco.

This stretch of road is renowned for donning expensive sports cars, with their drivers and passengers enjoying an exhilarating drive in a hoodless vehicle with only blue sky above them journeying between two of the most glamorous cities in the world, in truly awe-inspiring surroundings.

This stimulating drive takes around 30 minutes in a car, 20 minutes on a motorbike, and can be drastically reduced in a helicopter to just seven minutes.

Heli Air Monaco has more than 20 flights daily departing from Nice International Airport to Monaco Airport.

While the views this journey provides are stunning enough by car, taking in the rolling and verdant countryside, the pretty and ancient hillside villages, the flawless turquoise Mediterranean blinking under the sun and breathing in the luscious aromas radiating from this stretch of coastline’s diverse and exotic flora, accomplishing the trip from Nice to Monaco by air is even more unforgettable.

Since 1976 Heli Air Monaco has been providing shuttles to passengers arriving in the Principality between hotels, homes and meeting places on the Cote d’Azur.

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Cannes is gearing up to host its world famous race once again this year, so what better time to pay a visit to the city and explore the glamorous La Croisette.

The half-marathon attracts nearly 3,000 participants every year and promises to be a test of fitness and endurance. The race consists of a 21.1km marathon, with the addition of the 10km footrace that covers the scenic stretch of Promenade de la Croisette.

The place of departure is the Boulevard Way North Pantiéro, which is a few metres from Palais des Festivals. The course is entirely on the waterfront and it goes via la Croisette, La Pantiéro, Le Quai St Pierre, Le Boulevard Jean Hibert and Le Boulevard du Midi.

In 1992 the half-marathon was created after a succession of marathons and 20km races in the Cannes area. In the past, the starting point and the date of the event was changed several times and these variations stopped the half-marathon from becoming an established annual occurrence.

The date was finally changed and it was decided that the race would take place in late February, which then helped the half-marathon of Cannes to gain momentum and recognition.

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Antibes is preparing to get into the Valentines spirit with the Bread, Love and Chocolate festival.

The event was organised by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Nice in collaboration with The Chamber of Trades and Crafts of the Alpes-Martimes.

It is the 6^th consecutive year that the festival has taken place in the most romantic city on the French Riviera. Bread, Love and Chocolate brings together the original and the best international producers of breads, pastries, chocolates, sweets and gift ideas – all in the theme of love.

The Chamber of Trades and Crafts of the Alpes-Maritimes will also introduce and showcase talented artists, ceramists and fashion designers. There will be an array of hand-crafted jewellery, leather goods, mosaic and glass, which also represent the ‘love’ theme.

The items demonstrate the skill and passion these jobs require and how much they contribute to the prosperity of the businesses on the French Riviera. With over 26,000 companies on the Riviera that dedicate themselves to crafts, the artisans are a vital part of the local economy.

The turnover for the handicrafts sector in the Alpes Maritimes is more than €3 billion.

Love it or loathe it, Valentines day has been a celebration of love for centuries. A similar event dates back to Ancient Rome where they held a festival dedicated to Lupesco – a celebration for the God of fertility that encouraged the principles of Christian love.

Over time there has been a mixture of stories of how Valentines actually originated, however the most popular is that Saint Valentine brought together any boys and girls that passed through his garden.

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