Saturday we took the train to Antibes (about 20 minutes by train vs. 60-75 minutes by bus). Antibes is a towns with a decided English flair. There is even an English bookstore (which I frequently visited when we lived here). Our agenda started with walking through the magnificent Provencal market. This is one of those wonderful outdoor markets which has a zillioins of kinds of spices in one place, then a zillion flavors and kinds of olives, followed by flowers, soap, souvenirs, meat (best not to look too closely at that - they use much more of the animal than we do). It is always fun to peruse the stuff. But it is hard to capture it well in pictures.
Then we headed for the town square where our favorite Antibes restaurant used to be. We examined three and couldn't conclude for sure which one it was. They all had Pasta Arribiata on the menu (spicy), so we picked one at random and had a great lunch. We later concluded it must have been the one next door but lunch was great anyway.
Then it was off to the bus station a few blocks away to get a bus down to Cap d'Antibes (the peninsula which sticks out into the Med. below Antibes). It is a very, very exclusive area with many impressive mansions which you can't see because they are behind tall walls. However, we had read that there was a lovely (but rugged) walk along the sea. We had enjoyed the one from Cap d'Ail to Monaco so much, we were definitely up for another one.
On the way to the start of the walk we met a woman from Paris who was heading to the beach. She had been in Antibes for 10 days visiting her mother. She said she would love to move there, but the unemployment rate down here is horrendous and the only place you can find jobs these days is in Paris. She showed us a neat little swimming area - one that only locals would know about. Unfortunately, we were committed to walking, so we didn't get to try it. Perhaps another time.
The walk was definitely rugged but it was spectacular. Since it was the weekend, there were also tons of boats out and about. At one particular point I stopped and took stock of what I could see: an airplane, a helicopter, a jet ski, many sail boats, a kayak, a snorkler, a dive boat, fisherman, swimmers, walkers, sun bathers - and all that without taking a single step in any direction. There was something for absolutely everyone right there along the walk.
It was hot and when we rounded the bend and could see the wonderful Cote d'Azur coastline again, we were ready for a soda and ice cream.
The walk was probably about 2 miles but we had walked quite a bit before we got there and we had to walk quite a bit to get back to the train. All in all I calculated we probably walked about 6-7 miles on Saturday! Phew.
We had planned to stop and take a swim (the beaches in Antibes are sandy) but it sounded like a lot of effort to put on our suits and then ride home wet on the train, so we skipped that part of the plan for the day.
Instead we designated Sunday as an official beach day. We hit the beach around 1 pm and stayed til about 4:30, I think. It was magnificent. The beach is rocky/pebbly but the rocks are very smooth and well rounded, so all you need is a thin straw mat and you can lie quite comfortably on the beach. We went in multiple times to the lovely cool water. When you are about 10 feet from shore, you can no long touch - it drops off very quickly. It was great and I am hoping that we can get in at least one or two more beach days before we leave Nice next Monday.
Today - we went to see the lovely Musee Massena. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera (can you believe it?) It was a wonderful old palace right on the coast near the center of Nice built back in the late 1800s. It had just undergone a huge renovation and the building was fabulous and very ornate. The dining room was to die for, especially. Sorry for the lack of pictures. If we pass by it again I will slip in and take some, I promise.
After resting (I think we are beginning to wear ourselves out) we took several buses to get to the top of Mount Boron on the east side of Nice. We had never been there but had read that it provided great views of Nice, Nice harbor, the Med and Villefranche. It is on the spit of land that separates the Nice harbor from the next harbor going east (Villefranche). The top of Mount Boron is pretty heavily wooded - and has lots of cactus (go figure), so we didn't get a lot of great views, but what we did see was wonderful.
This walk was not rugged and was all down-hill - two really good points in its favor.
Tonight we are dining in again. We found some Arribiata sauce in the super market this morning, so we bought some spagetti and will give it a try. I'm looking forward to a relaxing night at home.
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