It had to be an illusion, the previous night out taking its toll. What other explanation could there be for coming face to face with a 50ft sculpture of Alice, made entirely of delicately placed lemons, sitting on a vitamin-packed wonderland of citrus fruits? Even Lewis Carroll couldn’t have made it up.

Things got curiouser and curiouser. To one side, a distinctly off-white rabbit appeared. To the other perched an orange-beaked dodo and, down towards the sea, a Mad Hatter’s tea party was under way. This strange display couldn’t all be down to the effects of a heavy night on the tiles. Especially considering it had been in Monaco, where even the mineral water might as well have been labelled “don’t drink me”, with its £20-a-bottle price tag.

It turned out that this was Menton, France’s self-appointed lemon capital, in the middle of the annual lemon festival. This small town, which is squeezed into the Côte d’Azur between Monaco and Italy, has just the right climate to grow the fruit. And to celebrate the happy accident of geography that causes this (plenty of sunshine and a sudden descent of the Alps from 10,000ft to sea level), Menton goes lemon-crazy for three weeks each February.

The result is one of the kitschest festivals in the world, a St Clements-style citrus frenzy branching out to include oranges and limes. Eating them, crushing them, buying them or shaping them into two-storey-high sculptures, whatever you want to do with a lemon, Menton is the place to do it. As a way of upping your winter immunity, it’s also a lot more fun than a flu jab.

The festival started in the 1800s when the local hoteliers decided they needed to spice up the options for Europe’s holidaying elite. Now, after Nice’s carnival, it has become the biggest event on the French Riviera, based around a different theme each year and bringing in an estimated 400,000 visitors.

A kind of ritzy French Eastbourne, the town boasts the highest average age in France. But you wouldn’t think it during the festival, as its belle époque seafront is strangled in crazy foam during the rowdy Sunday afternoon street parades and the shops alongside the elegant Jardins Biovès set out lively open-air stalls selling lemon sweets, orange marmalade and citronella candles.

This sleepy little town even wakes up to the idea of nightlife. As well as evening parades and fireworks, the cafes along the grandiose Promenade du Soleil are packed, and the casino and nightclub at the seafront end of the Jardins Biovès give Monaco some gentle competition.

If you prefer things more sedate, there’s plenty to do in Menton outside carnival time. In the summer, like the rest of the Riviera, it gets very busy. But during spring and autumn you can easily spend a day soaking up the sun from the terrace of one of its seafront restaurants, strolling around the back streets peeking into gardens filled with palm and fig trees or winding your way up the hill to admire the views from the old town.

Menton was also the one-time home of the poet, writer, artist and film maker Jean Cocteau and the town’s 17th-century fort now houses a museum dedicated to the famous jack of all artistic trades, as well as displaying works by his friend Picasso.

But if you do plan to visit during this year’s festival, prepare to take the Mickey. Showing a true zest for commerce, the theme is set to move on from Alice in Wonderland to Walt Disney.

Details: This year’s festival runs from February 13-29. Tickets to the main festival areas start at around £9.80 for adults and £7.70 for children 6-14 years of age. For more information visit www.feteducitron.com or contact the local tourist information office (00 33 4 9241 7695, www.villedementon.com).

Getting there: There are no direct flights from Scotland to Nice, the closest airport, during winter, although Globespan starts flying from April (08705 561 522, www.flyglobespan.com). In the meantime, fares from £100 return are available from Glasgow or Edinburgh via London with BMI if you book well in advance, although they will soar during the carnival (0870 60 70 555, www.flybmi.com). If you’re on a budget, check fares from Stansted with EasyJet (0870 600 0000, www.easyjet.com). There is a direct bus from Nice airport to Menton.

Where to stay: The best place to stay in Menton is the four-star, pink-hued hôtel des Ambassadeurs (00 33 4 9328 7575, www.clarionhotel-ambassadeurs-menton.com), which has rooms from £50. But while the festival is on, it may be more relaxing to stay elsewhere and visit Menton for the day. A good luxury option nearby is the Columbus hotel in Monaco (00 377 9205 9000, www.columbushotels.com), which is owned by Ken McCullogh and David Coulthard. It has all the glitz but none of the kitsch of most other places on the Côte d’Azur and rooms start at £130.

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