Morocco and now Menton, France 2018 | Antibes

We headed west today to Antibes, about half the way from here to Cannes. It's a  charming city once you get into it. There is an old fort high up on a hill which we did not see, and an old walled city where we spent the morning. The bus dropped us off at the harbour. This big yacht is known locally as the billionaire yacht. It doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It's owned by a Russian billionaire and is the fourth largest yacht in the world.  I wonder if they offer rooms on airbnb?

Inside the walls there is The Provencal Market, with cheeses and meats, lots of spices and herbs and ready-made seasoning mixes, nougat, flowers, local chick pea pastas, and of course fresh vegetables.   And there were breads and French pastries.

There is a Picasso Museum (more on that later), bakeries, small shops, bakeries. Did I mention bakeries? Needless to say I walked right by them, not daring to look, because I cannot touch. Margaret successfully walked by them all, with great restraint, and possibly a wee bit of regret.

The Picasso museum has a collection of works far surpassing anything I've seen. Picasso had several long stays in Antibes and painted the local scenery, the town and culture. I knew nothing of the early work and it was interesting to see how he moved from fairly realistic painting to the obscure geometric shapes of his later work. There we a lot of sketches, often titled 'three women on a beach' but aside from that it was a great journey through his time on the French Riviera.


It was so hard to decide where to have lunch, but fortune was smiling on us and we came upon a little cafe on the corner of nowhere and no place called Choopy's with a gluten free menu! Seeing is believing so check it out here. I ate a wrap, and took away a caramel cup cake. I think I'm in heaven.  Much as I say I don't miss breads and sweets, after almost three weeks without, I am in paradise.

Our walk today was on Cap Antibes, another outlying bit of land completely private, along a public pathway for about 5 km. The early part is on well-constructed trail of what looks like flagstone patched together with cement and smoothed over. But my ankles are reminding me of the ups and downs and frequently-broken trail. The later section is treed and soft underfoot before reaching the road and making our way back to the bus.

There were lots of surprises along the way. There are tiny hidden coves and beaches. The sailboat in the photo is anchored in Baie de Faux d'Agneau (the bay of false money)? It's evidence of the incalculable wealth here in the French Riviera.