I noticed I have never written about this trip and this destination. This was a flight done in June 2020 and I just came across the photos again.
This flight was from Luebeck (EDHL) to Cannes (LFMD), with a fuel (and immigration 
) stop at St. Dié (LFGY). The first flight was done IFR, second one VFR. Our actual destination was St-Paul-de-Vence. For who doesn’t know it, it’s a beautiful little village up in the hills, just west of Nîce. It’s a posh place.
This time we took with a different SR22, also based in Luebeck. As usual, departure was rather early in the morning. The weather was no factor throughout the route.
Nothing particular to report from the flight to St. Dié. The Mittelrheintal, between Bingen and Koblenz.
Our fuel and picnic stop, St. Dié – Remomeix.
Lac de Neuchâtel.
Lac Léman:
Arve Valley, south of Cluses.
Mont-Blanc.
Megève (LFHM), with its impossible go-around,
Just a few mountain pics.
Albertville (LFKA).
Much further down towards Cannes, this is the beautiful strip of Cipières Alpes d’Azur:
And the approach into Cannes-Mandelieu (LFMD) from the north:
Always some good hardware there, of course…
This is the (in)famous Mike/Golf parking at LFMD.
Of course, we pushed the aircraft in by hand. Anyway, it’s a royal mess. Anyone have a recent pirep from spring 2022?
Anyway. As ours was a domestic flight, we were able to just walk out via the guard post below the tower.
Here is the map showing the drive from the airport to our destination, St-Paul-de-Vence. Thanks to UBER, the drive is quick, pleasant, and not all too expensive (about 55€, IIRC).
I didn’t take a picture of the village as we approached it, but it is as a beautiful as it gets. The picture perfect Provence / Côte d’Azur hilltop village. Check out the village’s website here.
In the 20th century, several celebrities and artists stayed there, amongst them Jean-Paul Sartre and Pablo Picasso. At gave way to the place becoming a touristic and art village nowadays, with countless galleries. The most famous establishment in town is the 5-star, very nice art hotel “La Colombe d’Or” where the above celebrities used to stay. Check out their website here, which is a model of understatement. They have real Picasso paintings here and there in the hotel.
Well, I don’t usually stay in expensive hotels, but this was a one-off exception. For one night. Beware, it is expensive. Only go there if you have something special to celebrate (or something to make up for something with your wife 
). The sign at the entrance speaks clearly:
The hotel and its swimming pool area.
View from the room.
The beautiful garden restaurant.
A stroll through the village. Everything is kept perfectly clean, a clear sign that there is a lot of money there.
The next day was spent at the beach at Cannes and at another beautiful village, Mougins.
Day three was the return flight home. In reverse, the first leg was flown VFR and the second leg IFR. At Cannes airport, we filled in the flight details sheet in the terminal, then walked over to the guard post below the tower and walked over to the aircraft. Of course, we again pushed the aircraft out of the weeds before starting it up (3 people pushing hard). We pushed it into a gap between other aircraft on the apron on the opposite side of the taxiway, which is always packed and “private”. No other way to do it.
The departure out towards the sea is always a beauty.
And a few more mountain pics of out flight up north. Mont-Dauphin (LFNC).
Forgot which lake that was.
Colmar (LFGA) was our mid-way stop. Here we are approaching the field, with the beautiful vineyards and villages on the foothills of the Vosges.
I’ll skip the pics of downtown Colmar, where we had another nice picnic on a bench.
Strasbourg.
EDDF, with airliners parked on 25R and with 18 closed, too.
Frankfurt city.
Back in EDHL.
Great report and pics as usual I somehow totally missed that part of France and it’s definitely time to correct this.
Interesting… for most pilots, particularly those coming from the “south” of Europe, Cannes is the first destination they ever go to in France.
Generally, the Cote d’Azur is amazing:
The downsides, of course, are:
Very nice and inspirational! If you are in to perched villages, fly to Carpentras (LFNH) and visit the Luberon area. Drive up to Menerbes, Gordes, Roussillon and quite a few more… so so nice.
Can one land at LFMD without any restrictions?
Bobo wrote:
Can one land at LFMD without any restrictions?
I think there are very few places totally without restrictions.
But I guess I know what you mean. Well, LFMD has a lot:
But to put it more positively: if you stay out of the days published by NOTAM, and if you fly day-VFR, and accept the dreadful grass parking, then yes, you can “just fly there” anytime.
It’s also a great place for flying scenic VFR, mountain, lakes and sea in the same place.
There are some drawbacks also: Italy on the East, Alps on the north that cannot be always crossed as it’s very convective.
On the north west, you have Mils (Canjuers, danger area up to FL560 with artillery testing – ukrainian are currently trained there), you have some more mils around LeLuc, and further again near Toulon. And from Nice to Montpelier, this crowded with TMA.
Franckly speaking, I flew some times 3 weeks ago arounf Blois, very flat and no TMA to contact, I was lost… :D
For Cannes LFMD itself, you have to stick to IFR Arrival (VPT17) or to the VAC chart. It has arrival point for VFR not tha complex to follow if you read it before arrival. Pattern can be busy with flight schools and clubs.
Nice report by the way!
We spent our honeymoon in this area. Very nice
We live there. Even nicer… all the advantages are true. And the disadvantages, while true, don’t get in the way much.
It’s a nice area. I’ve stayed at a particular place in Vence. It’s a nice stop after coming from Corsica on the ferry, en route to the French Alps. But never in St-Paul-de-Vence. Looks nice. Next time
