A Glimpse of Antibes, France

In the south of France, on the Cote d’Azure, about half way between Cannes and Nice, one finds the town of Antibes. There are many  towns along this coast but this one caught our attention because of a recommendation in one of Rick Steves wonderful travel books.

He is right…Antibes is a charming place to visit.

Following his travel suggestions, we parked right next to the harbor.

Did you know Antibes has Europe’s biggest yacht harbor? 1600 stalls!

And we are able to park right next to that harbor.

Aside: I really like the practical advice in the Rick Steves books. If not for his guide book we would not known about the best place to park and likely would have stopped at the first parking area we came to. 

 

Antibes Harbor with Fort Carre in background

We spot one of the free shuttle buses that take you over to the area of Fort Carre, so we hop on. The Fort itself is not open for tours (or at least it was not open when we were there in November) but one could walk around the grounds and get some interesting views of it and the Mediterranean.  If we were pressed for time I would have been sorry we took the bus over here…but we are in no hurry so enjoy the scenery, visit the huge World War I memorial, and watch some kids playing in the nearby Football Club field.

We do catch the first bus back to town though!

Back in the Old Town we come across this huge, lovely map made of tiles and get our bearings as to where we want to walk.

Hint: Click on photo to enlarge it.

Walking along Ave de Verdun we come across this reminder that here, as at home, it was recently Remembrance Day.

The floral tributes here are very different than the wreaths of poppies that we are familiar with in Canada.

Antibes is small enough to wander through and be happily engaged without getting tired out on the narrow, hilly, attractive streets.

We found interesting shop areas…

and residential areas

In Place Nationale we found this carousel

(Carousels are popular in France. At home we usually only see them at special events.)

Excellent signs make it easy for the walker to explore Antibes.

Can you find your way to the Musee Picasso?

(Remember you can click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Chateau Grimaldi is now the home of the Musee Picasso, Antibes but throughout history this spot has seen/been home to many things…a Greek acropolis, a Roman fort, a medieval bishop’s palace, and a home to the Grimaldi family.

Next door to the museum is this lovely cathedral whose bells were chiming a lovely tune as we visited the area.

Conclusion: The travel guide was correct…the town of Antibes on the French Riviera that is well worth visiting.

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Happy travels!