Winter Sunshine in Antibes, along the French Riviera

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Another train ride into Antibes, France. This is the final leg of our Mediterranean trip. It is the French Riviera, but there are no crowds and no suntans. Traveling during the off season is perfect, if you don't like crowds. Places like this are sun havens, even at this time of year in Europe, and it is what we appreciated.

One day was spent staying in Antibes just to walk around the tip of the Cap d'Antibes peninsula. It is a dramatic public coastline with gates that must be leading from luxurious mansions on the other side of the walls. All along the 6 mile walk we ran into others perched on the rocks resting with their dogs or having a bite of lunch. The path abruptly turns into the woods, and we later learned that it was the boundary of the famous hotel getaway of Marlena Dietrich, dukes and duchesses, and Churchill. Infamous for the affair of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. I shouldn't be surprised, it is the French Riviera!


Monaco is the second smallest country in the world, 54 acres, and just a train ride north, so that kept us occupied for another day. (Do you know which is the smallest country?) It goes with out saying it has the most fabulous cars and yachts we have ever seen. No - we didn't gamble at the casino, we only stood outside with other yankees taking pictures! The uniformed doormen and the valets parking the Rolls were intimidating!
We did visit the Oceanographic Museum, where every baby boomers hero, Jacques Cousteau was the director for many years in the 60's and 70's.

Another Picasso museum, this one recently opened, in the castle of Antibes. He resided and worked from here during 1946, and left those drawings, lithos, ceramics and paintings in town. We loved seeing more of his work, and in such a beautiful setting.

Our little hotel was unique, on an alley just up from the beach. Eclectic orange and pink decor in the breakfast-sitting room. Each morning we were met by Yves who would press coffee for us and slice the fresh bread. The tables were set with different fruit and jams. Tommy, the little dog, always waited to see if we remembered that he could not be fed from the table. The rooms all opened out onto a courtyard with tables and chairs and candles, but it was too cold to enjoy. The place was so open and comfortable, Keith even liked the flamboyant colors.

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Photos

an early start to her tan
Nice's plage

blue water by the sea
Nice, France

Le Rocher cafe on the rocks
we ate a little snack here before beginning our trek around the pennisula

a little elderly lady wanted to take our picture
and after much to do, finally snapped this!

shiny reflection of us
seen on the yachts hull in Nice

Tommy
our hotel's receptionist and security guard

landing back in Krakow
airport snow movers working to clear the way for the planes

Comments

[liliram]

Hey there!
Here's from your #1 reader........I could have taken a better picture than the elderly lady!

[Keith and Pete]

Thanks for reading Lili. Don't you just love that picture! I told Keith I would take photos for tourists in our home town, when I get old. And he said for all we know the ones I have taken so far, might have turned out like hers!

[anonymous]

Pete, I think when you get home, you should become a professional photographer. Seriously!

[Keith and Pete]

to anonymous, "Dziekuje bardzo" (Thank you very much)

[Jub and Anna]

Fantastic panorama
That is a beautiful shot - the mountains are stunning. Cheers!