Sat 30th Aug
Our Antibes Apartment: here
The trip from Mallemort, Provence, down to Antibes, on the French Riviera, took 2.5 hrs and went very smoothly and our host kindly let us check in at 2 pm rather than the scheduled 4 pm which was greatly appreciated. Our townhouse was absolutely lovely and perfect for our needs for the next 5 nights as it was well located, right in the middle of the Old Town area, and just a short walk to a sandy beach and a huge array of shops, cafes and restaurants. There was even a supply of beach equipment; toys, umbrellas and chairs.
We set out at around 5 pm to explore the local area and headed straight to the Port and beachfront region. Antibes was a Greek fortified town in the 5th Century BC, and later a Roman town, but has always been an active port for trading along the Mediterranean. However, the Port area we could see was awash with uber-luxury yachts of the kind you’d expect to see further up the coast near Monaco. Antibes was busy on this particular Saturday evening; along the port area, on the beach and all throughout the Od Town, but it had a rather relaxed and festive vibe and it was a pleasant experience to stroll around soaking up the atmosphere. We stopped off for dinner in Place Nationale, at Le Cameo (no website), and this provided good food and excellent people watching opportunity. Matt was especially intrigued by a man with Mr T type jewelry, brandishing an electric drill complete with attached drill bit. Whereas Annabelle and I were impressed by the waiter who had a water pistol bazooka that he would occasionally fire off to scatter the pigeons. I consider this restaurant to be much better than its 3.2 Google rating implies and would happily return for another meal.
We drifted home via a gelato stop and turned in for a relatively early night. The day of travel had exhausted us all and we were glad for a quiet and early night.
Sun 31st Aug
It was a glorious sunny morning and we all set out early to further explore the local area and seek out a cafe. It was such a delight to have an extensive coastal path, parts of this being along the 16th Century bastion walls, to stroll and enjoy the sea view of the Côte d’Azur and the magnificent historic buildings lining this section of the coast.
Tara had alerted our family about a global coffee app, Beany, that identifies good cafes to help serious coffee fans seek out a great brew. It just so happens that one of the identified cafes, Petit Monsieur, was literally around the corner from our accommodation; less than a one minute walk away. So this was where we headed for our morning coffee and it was to the great delight of all in the group; Mark said it was the best coffee he’d had since he left Australia.
Our morning was spent on the beach at Plage de la Gravette. We thought we’d hit a winner by avoiding a pebbled beach when we saw the sandy shoreline but, no, the rocks were lurking just ahead, about a meter on from the water’s edge. This didn’t stop the others from enjoying the Mediterranean though. However I was just happy on my beach chair, under the umbrella, and watching the crowd as well as assessing which of the super yachts, parked just off the beach, would suit my needs! The beach was very busy and the water looked pretty clean although I think the mornings would support better water quality than the late afternoon.
Mark and I had a quiet afternoon back at the townhouse and it was 5 pm before we all ventured out again. Our plan was to find somewhere serving pizzas where we could share a light and early dinner. We stopped at ‘32 Pizza & Bar’ but this isn’t somewhere I’d recommend. However I would recommend Gelateria Del Porto, where we stopped for ice cream on the way home. We’d seen a steady queue out the door of this place every time we passed thus far and we now know why! The ice cream was delicious and this is somewhere I’d highly recommend you visit. It had been a full and enjoyable day but we were all rather tired so it was then off home for an early night.
Mon 1st Sept
It was a bit of a surprise when we woke to drizzle this morning so Matt and Annabelle had a change of plans and headed to Cannes for the morning. Mark and I had a walking tour booked for 10 am and this turned out to be excellent. Our guide, Lucia, took us around parts of Antibes that we had not yet explored and gave us a wealth of information about the place. She explained how Antibes is often forgotten, as it’s between the bigger and more popular Nice and Cannes, and tourism has really only got going in the last 10 years. That’s why there are no large fashion shops, eg Zara, in the area and they are trying to keep it this way.
Antibes apparently has the deepest port along the French Riviera and could accommodate cruise ships but they’re not allowed in as they don’t want to spoil their beaches. The Port actually provides the main source of income for Antibes but this has taken a bit of a hit since the start of the Russian war on Ukraine. There used to be lots of Russian Oligarchs coming and going in the Port, and to and from their luxury villas, before the war but all that has changed as they’ve been banned from the Port and their villas have been closed.
We had already noticed a strong Italian influence with the food in Antibes but Lucia gave us some context for this observation. She explained that Antibes used to be the border between what is now known as France and Italy and it was only in 1860 when Napoleon and Garibaldi split the territories that the border moved. Monaco was excluded from this division because it was the home of King and the army generals had no power over the monarchy so Monaco was not obligated to comply with the new border arrangement.
We also leaned that French salaries are double those of Italian and that is why France is generally so much more expensive than Italy. For example: cigarettes in France cost €15 vs €5 in Italy. People in Antibes will often take the one hour drive to Italy to do their bulk grocery and other shopping.
It was after 12.30 pm by the time our tour finished and Mark and I went on to get some lunch. It was a lazy afternoon after that and Annabelle and I used the downtime to get a pedicure. We were all a bit tired of trying to find decent food at a reasonable price so we ended up dining at home.
Tues 2nd Sept
It was a most glorious morning that we woke to so Mark headed out for an early ride and I took a walk. We all then gathered for a coffee at Petit Monsieur before heading to the beach. We went to Plage de Ponteil this time, a 13 minute walk from our town house, and it was a much nicer experience. There were fewer pebbles in the water and I even managed to get in for a swim. The other advantage of this beach was that it offered the most glorious sweeping view for swimmers; moving from left to right your view takes in the newer part of Antibes, then the Old Town and then across to Nice, way off in the distance, and the Alps capping this off as a magnificent backdrop. It was just stunning and could have kept me sitting there all day but for the fact we had a few things we wanted to achieve. This included a visit to the Picasso Museum and then an afternoon visit to Nice.
Mark and I visited the Picasso Museum but spent longer in the queue to get in than we did inside the Museum. The displays were well spaced out, throughout the inside of the old Grimaldi Castle, and not too crowded so getting around and viewing the art was quick and easy but it was less impressive than other Picasso museums we’d visited. There was an exhibition by another artists, Bernar Venet, that was was rather impressive as well as his works that were on display were all geometric in nature as his subject is ‘the line’; whether straight curve or arced and this made for some very unique pieces.
It was around 3pm by the time we made it to Nice and we spent the next few hours exploring the Old Town and having dinner. Our meal at Les Mimosas Du Cours was delicious and the whole evening was a delight, especially given the staff were so friendly and helpful. It was a lovely way to spend our last evening in France and to finish on a high. We’d actually had to make a slight change to our itinerary. We were meant to be staying in Antibes until Thursday and then making an almost 6 hour drive across to Florence. We subsequently realised that was too ambitious a plan and decided to leave Antibes one day early so as to split up the drive. You live and you learn… eventually! We will spend tomorrow morning back at the beach and then head off around lunchtime. See you next in Italy!
We had all loved our time in Antibes and it is a place to where I’d happily return. It’s a most charming and pretty seaside town that remains mostly unaffected by large-scale retail and commercial development. The general vibe here aligns more closely with our lifestyle as well; you’ll find others out walking, cycling or jogging in the mornings, there was a variety of cafes to choose for an early coffee and I loved having the beautiful waterside promenade & bastion walls for my morning walk. Antibes is fairly compact and not too hilly which making for easy exploring. Our accommodation was great for the 5 of us and I’d highly recommend this townhouse for anyone planning a visit to Antibes.