This fabulous peninsula jutting out into the Mediterranean between Villefranche-sur-Mer and Beaulieu-sur-Mer is undoubtedly one the most sought after addresses in the world! It is certainly the second most expensive after nearby Monaco according to a survey carried out in 2012.

Famous residents past and present have included Somerset Maugham, King Leopold II of Belgium, Charlie Chaplin, David Niven, Jean Cocteau, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Winston Churchill and, more recently, Andrew Lloyd Webber.

One of the less well-known original inhabitants was the 6th century monk St Hospitius and sometimes the cape is still called Cap Saint Hospice or Saint Sospis. Later it was occupied by the Saracens who used it is a base to carry out their piratical operations. At the end of the 14th Century the Cape was ceded to Savoy along with the County of Nice and did not become French till 1860.