Nice ... €4m:In Nice, the Mont Boron area is just a step from the city, not unlike Dublin's Killiney, with its mansions sitting into the steep hillside.
Here in Parc Louisa is the most perfect miniature Venetian palace. Built around 1890 by an Italian aristocrat for his beautiful Russian princess, the Palais Vénitien was originally built on the Promenade des Anglais. In 1924, the Palais was ordered demolished to make way for the Palais de la Mediterranee; the foreman on the job, a M Giacinti, fell in love with the palace and decided to cart it away stone by stone and rebuild it in Parc Louisa.
Years passed, the house changed hands and in 1992 the last owner stripped everything - marble floors, chimneys, panelling - from it. And so it lay abandoned until 2000 when the present owner found it one day out walking and fell in love with its numerous façades, columns and statues. She bought it and spent the next four years restoring it to its original condition.
Now the three-storey 450sq m (4,844sq ft) building is a palace fit for a princess again. The top two floors are the main house with a grand salon, diningroom, large kitchen, study and three double suites with marble bathrooms and dressing area. Downstairs is a self-contained two-bedroom apartment opening onto a terrace.
Most of the rooms have terraces or balconies, one a beautiful minstrel's balcony. The house is in immaculate condition and surrounded by lovely gardens. There is no swimming pool, but plenty of space for one. The sea is visible from the upper floors and the roof terrace is perfect for parties. Its asking price is around €4 million.
Villefranche sur Mer ... €15m:
Villefranche sur Mer is one of the loveliest towns on the Côte d'Azur. Built around a little port and climbing back up the hillside, it is picture perfect. The harbour side has a lovely little church for the fishermen painted with frescoes by Cocteau, and there are lots of lovely restaurants for eating out. Villefranche attracts people from all along the Côte for its antiques markets.
La Pigeonniere, a magnificent residence high on the hill above the town, is a contemporary home full of stunning modern art. And, as befits a home of such treasures, the security system is based on that in the White House.
La Pigeonniere is laid out in a series of terraces and suites, apartments, gardens, balconies, swimming pools and hot tubs, and it even has an amphitheatre that can seat around 60 guests for concerts.
The present owner loves to cook and this is obvious from its great selection of kitchens: there is a huge indoor kitchen with every type of appliance, enough to cook for an army. There is another fully fitted outdoor kitchen with a shady arbour for al fresco dining.
There is a kitchen by the pool for casual dining and another in the entertainment area for parties. This is a great house for a big family with lots of space for everyone to find a little bit of privacy and also an ideal house for parties and entertainment from the most formal to the casually informal. Its price: around €15 million.
Théoule sur Mer ... daily rental: €27,000
The most extraordinary house on the Côte d'Azur is owned by one of the major icons of French fashion, Pierre Cardin, and though not for sale, it is available to rent. Set high on the hill above Théoule sur Mer, it is beyond imagination.
Le Palais Bulles is a 1,200sq m (12,915sq ft) series of ochre bubbles and organic architecture at its most exciting.
Finnish architect Antti Lovag designed it for M Cardin and took his inspiration from caves and grottoes; the house sits into the red hillside of the Estérel mountains in an unobtrusive way.
The ochre theme continues inside with red Carrera marble floors.
Rooms merge into each other, stairs go up and down and twist and turn.
You never know what to expect behind the coloured fibreglass doors.
The main salon has magnificent views over the Côte and all of the 10 bedroom suites, with their circular beds, were decorated by different contemporary artists, including Jerome Tisserand, Daniel You, François Chauvin and Gérard la Cloarec.
All the furniture and fixtures are bespoke.
Every level has a swimming pool, pond or fountain and the gardens spill down the hillside with lots of trees and little paths for exploring.
Le Palais Bulles also has an extraordinary amphitheatre, which can seat 500 people and has been used for events by MTV, film companies, corporations, and for premieres, conventions and product launches.
Daily rental rates from €27,000.
Family's home near Toulouse for €575,000
An Irish family living on the outskirts of Toulouse in southern France is selling their home overlooking a field of sunflowers.
The four-bedroom home where they've lived for 10 years is in a village in a rural setting about 20 minutes from the centre of Toulouse. Accommodation includes three reception rooms, a modern fully-equipped kitchen and two bathrooms. It sits on large landscaped gardens and comes with a pool and poolhouse.
Although it's effectively in a suburb of Toulouse - about as far from the city centre as Blackrock from Dublin - the 175sq m (1,750sq ft) house is surrounded by farmland.
It is for sale for €575,000 through local English-speaking agent Cherry Honeywill. The property is about 45 minutes from Carcassonne airport (served by Ryanair) and 20 minutes from Toulouse (served by Aer Lingus).
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