The Lemon Festival of Menton

Carol finds February glows in Menton, where the Lemon Festival banishes winter blues…

There is a bit of a dull patch after Christmas when the joys and camaraderie of welcoming in the New Year are behind us. Even in one of the sunniest and bluest-sky places in Europe, February can be dare I say it? -a colourless month.

Historically, it is the wettest month of the year along the Côte d’Azur. We do have the almond trees in heavenly-scented pink blossom and we have our lemons and oranges to brighten up the land. Our breakfast vitamin C is guaranteed thanks to the fat and super-juicy eating oranges we planted a few years back. Tangerines and clementines, too, though they seem to be slow growers, the fruits barely bigger than our olives!

If we need a further injection of winter’s golden fruits, there is the Fête du Citron in Menton, close to the Italian border. Menton has the mildest climate along this littoral. Sub-tropical with especially good air, it was in past times a health resort for those suffering from bronchial illnesses and lung diseases. Robert Louis Stevenson and Katherine Mansfield were but two renowned writers who wintered in Menton.

MENTON’S GOLDEN TOUCH

Today, 200,000 visitors arrive each February to celebrate Menton’s Lemon Festival, which in 2019 was awarded Intangible Cultural Heritage status by the French Ministry of Culture. This year it starts on Valentine’s Day and will party through to March 1. The theme will be Wonders of Life, which strikes me as a much-needed philosophy right now. If you haven’t stayed in this pretty, hilly seaside town, this is the moment.

The festival is a sensationally uplifting and quite crazy experience: brass bands, throngs of people dancing in the streets, floats aplenty, excellent food and oodles of it. If you can’t bear to leave and are still in Menton as the fête is winding down, keep an eye out for the sale of the 140 tonnes of fruits used for the floats. Citrus fruits aplenty can be purchased by Mentonnais citizens and tourists alike..

While you are filling up your suitcase, leave space for a jar or two of master jam maker Maison Herbin’s citron-flavoured jams. These confitures will add zest to your toast. Never tasted Menton lemon ravioli, an artisanal speciality? Well, as they say, you haven’t lived. You might also find yourself a pint of the unique Menton lemon beer. Personally, I prefer a shot of citronella as an apéritif.

MORE REASONS TO LINGER

There is also a marvellous Orchid Show to see and the Winter Garden to visit before you fly off. Nothing to do with the floats and Golden Fruit Parade but while in town, do slip into the Jean Cocteau Museum. Housed in Le Bastion down at the port, it is an inspiring tribute to a genius, an artist who loved the south of France and has left us several examples of his work all along the coast. Perhaps we should create the Jean Cocteau Route! So, that has cheered up February and got us dancing through to March. The days are getting longer now. My spirits are rising. I am preparing the outline for a new novel, but before I chain myself to my desk, this is the season for nature blossoming, for landscape, for exotic gardens. The weather is kind, walking is not a hot bother and the stunning arrays of flowers will knock you dead. When you live in the south of France, there is no dull month.

Carol Drinkwater is an award-winning actress and author. Her latest novel is One Summer in Provence.

From France Today Magazine

Lead photo credit : Photo: Shutterstock