I started out from Monaco this year, and I walked through Nice -- I'd actually advise starting at Saint-Raphaël or Fréjus, as the walk out from towards Nice either makes some lengthy detours through mostly uninteresting woodland hillsides, whilst the traditional route takes you through the very extensive suburbs and dormitory towns between Nice and Mandelieu.
Having said that, Vence would be a good place to start as an alternative -- it's a lovely town, and the walk down from there towards Mandelieu isn't so bad.
I'd advise following the coast between Mandelieu and Saint-Raphaël -- it's tarmac, but the Estérel coastline is extremely beautiful, and in season you should be able to easily find yourself a place to sleep at campsites or wherever
There is actually a fair amount of pilgrim accommodation available on the route, but it can often be a little bit hard to get the info -- but there's a partial list on the local association web site :
http://www.compostelle-paca-corse.i...info/files/page/318/gr653amaj19-05-2019-1.pdf --- I have a more detailed list than this, but due to multiple problems with some people who have abused people's trust, that list has to be kept confidential, and I cannot abuse it either by sharing it (truth is, I'm not even supposed to have it myself) ; BUT, once you're on the way and people can see you're trustworthy, you can get the information at least piecemeal -- this pdf list as you can see mainly gives addresses mainly for the more commercial possibilities available to all, not just pilgrims.
The one commercial pilgrim's lodging that I can recommend is the Hotel du Parc at Lorgues, especially if the morning after is a market day -- I slept there in unusual conditions, but normally there's a pilgrim price for those with their
credencial including the evening meal, and their beds are most comfortable
So what I'd advise is contacting the various parishes locally, and there's even some pilgrim accommodations available that are not on ANY list, public or private. It does help a lot in this respect if you are a practising Catholic. The tourist offices will tend to direct you towards youth hostels.
There are two actual pilgrim refugios between Menton and Arles -- the one at Puget sur Argens is a truly excellent one -- so that would definitely be a place you'd want to stop for the night ; and then a little out of the way, there's another at La Fare les Oliviers, a bit more old school and so a little less comfortable, but the hospitaleros there are wonderful people and the village itself is very pleasant, and with many useful shops and &c, and I would unhesitatingly recommend making the detour via La Fare
It's generally a good idea to finish your daily walking before 4 PM for sleeping purposes, as volunteers who help pilgrims out down here are nearly always the sorts of retired French pilgrims who keep those sorts of habits, and they can get confused and even annoyed by people arriving "late".
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The route from Arles onwards is well frequented, and so from that point on you should have little trouble finding
refugios.