India, Dec. 21 -- There's a popular image often used to illustrate the enduring beauty of not only the Cote d'Azur, but Mediterranean Europe as a whole: a huddle of colorful, waterfront houses cascading down to a calm, yacht-speckled sea. Every time I see it, on an Instagram post or magazine cover (or as the lead image of this guide), I pinch myself. Because one of those buildings in the picture is my home.

The place in question is Villefranche-sur-Mer, a coastal resort town so close to Nice that it begins where the popular French city ends. I moved here eight years ago, after a decade of living in Nice, to a chorus of disappointment from my city-dwelling friends. "You're moving to the suburbs," they moaned. "We'll never see you again."...