For days I have been debating with myself which place in the French Riviera I should begin to write about for the blog. So to make things easy I thought of starting my travel tale experiences alphabetically. Firstly with Antibes.
Antibes: Fort Carre on Port Vauban. Antibes used to be called Antipolis, it is now a playground of the rich, and sometimes the famous.
Antibes sits between Cannes and Nice. Founded by the Greeks, this sightly town used to be an important trading port in the 5th century. Although severe urbanization has caught up enormously in and around Antibes or Antibes-Juan-les-Pins as popularly called, this trendy seaside town has managed to maintain its old magnetic charm. The narrow high alleys and the fortified walls along the coast evoked back the life and times of the medieval ages, when it was then called Antipolis during the Greek and Roman periods.
Yachting is the big life, and business as well, in Antibes. Walking around the marina filled and seeing these massive white yachts looking like water mansions dotting the harbour speaks for itself. Many would probably be impressed at these luxurious vessels but nothing more could have offered me a much better distraction than the bastion jutting out regally of Port Vauban from where I stood – Fort Carre.
Lunch was spent in an outside terrace in one of the petite corner squares in the old part of the town, and for the time of the year (November), the place was amazingly buzzing with holidaymakers. I can only imagine what summer is like here. A place I know for sure I would not visit, lol.
I will have to say that the weather was just super amazing. It was fluctuating between 19C-20C by day. Just lovely! That explains I guess why the moneyed northern Europeans buy their second homes in this part of the continent. I also want one in the near future but Dutchman prefers Spain over France and I still have to learn Spanish. I can understand a wee bit though.
My favorite pastime in the process of being lost in places like these is to check out the windows. They always offer some sort of artistic venue for photography. I love stretching out my neck up here haha. The different colors of the wooden shutters, the suspended flower pots and if I am lucky they will be stuffed with gorgeous flowers drooping down meters above my head, and of course, what always makes me smile is the ubiquituos laundry hanging from the windows. So typical south of France, and Italy as well. They, to me are my simple yet beautiful finds, my treasures when lost while strolling in old charismatic towns like Antibes.
So simple, so mundane, yet so charming.
It is busy here for a late November day.
Even in these places there are beggars.
This is a very cozy alley with rows of restaurants.
The cafe where I had lunch and I forgot to take a foto of my food and drinks. I had crepes with fruits, white wine and espresso.
More window, shop and street scenes in Antibes.
The posh and big yachts in Port Vauban with Fort Carre looming at the distance.
Smaller yachts and fishing boats.
Trivia: Did you know that the obra maestro Pablo Picasso lived here for a time and left many of his works here in the Picasso Museum?
To check out my fotos, please go here: Antibes, France
Travel Period: November-December 2007
Destination: Antibes (Alpes Cote d’Azur – Provence-Alpes), France