Back on the Coast and Moving On!

After our two night stay in L'Isle sur La Sorgue, we headed back to the coast for our last evening together.  We picked Antibes, for several reasons:  its proximity to the Cote d'Azur airport; its charming, walled old town; and its scenic location.  

We drove mostly along the toll autoroute to get back to the coast and the drive was easy and pretty much stress-free.  At times the traffic was heavy but it still only took just under 3 hours to get to Antibes, and that was with a rest stop.  We found our hotels easily - but the parking with mine was "interesting"!  The spiral drive down to the -2 level was narrow and a bit scary.  Nonetheless, I managed it with Jeff's steady guidance.  Our car, a Nissan, has been a pleasure to drive and I was upgraded to an automatic which really help going down and up to that parkade!


We started our exploration of the town by wandering around the old town and stopping in the main square for a light (and not so great) lunch.  The framboise and mangue sorbet at the nearby gelateria was sure tasty thought!  By later in the afternoon, there were children in costumes "trick or treating" in the various shops.  








After a "happy hour" at Jeff and Jo's, we went back out.  Our first stop was checking out the yachts and mega-yachts in the Port du Vaubon, Antibes harbour.  There was some serious money tied up in those boats!!  




The Vauban Castle lit up


From there, we went back into the old town and stopped at a restaurant just inside the old wall where we had drinks and appetizers.  All the servers in the restaurant, and in others as well, were in costume.  As the evening wore on, more and more people were walking around in costume and everyone, adults and children alike, seemed to embrace their adoption of Halloween culture.
Jo's Halloween-themed cocktail called Mike Myers





November 1st is a holiday in France (La Toussaint or All Saints' Day) and, for us, it required an earlier start.  I met up with the Dubneys at 8:40 and we successfully retrieved the car from the nightmare parkade and took the coastal road along the sea from Antibes, through Cagnes sur Mer, to the Nice airport.  That drive took less than 1/2 hour.  We returned the rental car and went to Terminal 2 where we said our good byes.  The Dubneys were headed to Morocco and I headed into Nice for a couple of days.  

This time, I am staying at a hotel called Le Saint Paul.  I think it is a former convent and it is quite lovely.  However, it isn't centrally located so, without a car, you have to rely on Uber, taxis or, possibly public transit (not sure there is anything close by in that regard).
 

 Because I was sick when we were in Nice a couple of weeks ago, I didn't get a chance to visit my favourite place, Villefranche sur Mer.  So, I took the opportunity to go there for lunch.  Even though it was the beginning of November, the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny.  So, I sat in one of my favourite places in the world, sipping my favourite rose wine (Minuty), eating my favourite meal (rack of lamb with rosemary-roasted potatoes).  It was a memory to be cherished.





Back at my hotel, I sat on the terrace enjoying the view, reading, and sipping a Campari Spritz before calling it a day.






Saturday, my last full day in France this time, was another beautiful day.  I wanted to go to Nice Old Town (Vieux Ville) and, rather than order an Uber, I decided to walk the nearly 3 km there.  It was great as I got to see some lovely scenery along the way.








The reason I wanted to go was to check out a store there which sells Provencal tablecloths and placemats.  I didn't find what I was looking for even though previously I have had good luck at Boutique a l'Opera.  However, it was still interesting wandering around the Cours Saleya.  I stopped at Ballenger again to have some orange juice and a lemon/sugar crepe (my breakfast).  I then just ordered an Uber back to the hotel.  I noticed that there seems to be a little bus shuttle (navette) that seems to go by the hotel and into the harbour.  That is good to know as I'd like to stay here again but not without always needing to use an Uber or taxi.









At 12:30, I met Elaine Baldi and her family (Christophe, Emily, Louis) along with his mother, Monique, her sister (Edith) and Charlie to have lunch on the terrace.  We spent the next 2 1/2 hours there and it was lovely sitting in the sun enjoying the views, the company and the food.





So, with that, except for going to the airport in the morning, my time in the south of France is finished.  It was extremely disappointing to lose those 3 days being so sick but I'm now looking forward to seeing some new places I've never visited before.  Next stop:  Mykonos where I will stay until Friday.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Life in Ruins

Image
The last three days involved visiting the ruins of three ancient cities:  Heiropolis, Aphrodisias and Pergamon.  Last Thursday , we visited Heiropolis – an ancient Hellenistic Greek city.  It was famous for its hot springs and its high quality wool fabrics and dyes.  Atahan had arranged in advance for a cart with a driver to take us around the site and that was very helpful because, as interesting as it all was, there was a lot of space in between the ruins which would have taken us hours walk.  Our first stop was at the “cemetery” where you could still see the crypts where people had been buried.   We next stopped at one of the gates to the town which, Atahan said was a city of about 100,000 people.  The wide street was a bit reminiscent of Ephesus although on a smaller scale.   Our next stop was at the Amphitheatre which was quite amazing.   From there, we went to see the amazing calcified pools which Pamakkale is best know f...
Read more

From the Lake to the Sea

Image
The night before we left Bellagio, we ate at a restaurant called Carillon.  We'd stopped there for a quick meal a couple of days ago.  This time we were able to relax and enjoy the fabulous food secure in the promise that the maitre d' would make sure we had a taxi available to take us back up the hill to our apartments.  We both ordered filet mignon and shared a bottle of wine from Chianti.  It was presented perfectly with asparagus, carrots and small roasted potatoes.  For dessert, Delcie ordered the Tiramisu again.  I had a trio of panna cotta – fig, pineapple, and salted caramel sauces – with a glass of vin santo dessert wine.  The panna cotta was presented as little balls but was actually two halves that had been put together.  I'd love to figure out how to do that!  All in all, the meal was perfect.  The bill was €161 and worth every penny of it!  This time, as promised, the maître d’ ensured there was a taxi to take us back t...
Read more

Our Days in Venice

Image
Well, what can I say except that our days in this unique and fabulous city flew by?  Tuesday, we crossed over the Rialto Bridge to see the Mercato (market) on the other side of the Grand Canal.  The selection of fresh seafood was amazing. We continued walking staying on that side of the canal gradually making our way through Campo San Polo and Campo San Toma heading toward the Accademia Bridge.  On the way, we saw more picturesque canals and, as well, we dropped into the famous mask store, where I'd gone a mask making demonstration my last time in Venice, called Ca’ Macana.   Then we reached the bridge, we crossed over and headed toward Piazza San Marco but not without stopping to take some iconic shots of the Grand Canal.  We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Trattoria La Colonete which I gotten to know well on my last time here as it is just around the corner from the apartment I'd rented then.  We sat down just in time as the rains came ...
Read more