We lived at the foot of Mt. Ste. Victoire (a year) years ago and loved it. My favorite city/town is mentioned above: Villefranche Sur Mer half way between Nice and Monacco and just a train trip over the border to Italy. The climb to Eze and the walks to St Jean Cap Ferrat are lovely and the hilly town, great. We are spending a month, however, this time in Beziers on the west towards Spain and loving it. Places seem to be larger for less but a new up and coming town that has loads of beautifully restored, and being restored, Haussmann buildings. It was the 4th largest city in France in 1900, in the Languedoc wine region, but went downhill for decades now being renewed. The Allee Paul Riquet is beautiful, the markets great, the vibe good, people helpful and it has loads of events. The Canal du Midi runs through it with small pleasure boats and lovely walk and bike paths. It almost sounds like a sales pitch lol but we are loving it and I think it has more to go. Sharon