Table with a View: Bar Le 300, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France

As golden hour descends over the French Riviera, the rumble of supercars echos with increasing urgency across the Bay of Monte Carlo. Bar Le 300 doesn’t take reservations, so it’s first come, first served — and not everybody will get in. But when you do, ask the adorable head bartender, Julien Lecharpentier (bronze winner at France’s premier cocktail competition, Trophées du Bar), for his twist on a classic martini. Then brace yourself: not just for the drink — sage-butter vodka, Cocchi Americano aperitivo, sage hydrosol and peated olives — but for the view.

It’s genuinely hard to overstate how truly breathtaking the sunsets are from The Maybourne Riviera, the highest Bugatti-accessible perch on the mountain behind Monaco, in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. Le 300 looks down on the former villas of Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld, with the Mediterranean seascape beyond.

Note: There’s virtually no difference in the view from Le 300 and the hotel’s adjoining restaurant, Riviera, which does take reservations. And there, if you see something on chef Guillaume Boumati’s Escoffier-inspired menu that appears to translate to poached leeks with egg white and anchovy sauce, don’t ask questions: Just get it. Ditto the 30-hour lamb shoulder with roasted potatoes, burnt onions and preserved lemon.

Bar Le 300 and head bartender Julien Lecharpentier (right) at Maybourne Riviera in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

Hotel room rates from about $3,000/night; infinity-pool duplex suite from about $8,000/night. Maybourne Riviera, 1551 Rte de la Turbie, 06190 Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France; maybourne.com.

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Table with a View: Bar Le 300, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France

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