Bride Cometh Before the Fall: Sizzling Beach 2: Antibes and St. Paul

After Cannes, we made a beeline for another coastal community.

Antibes is the anti-Cannes, an ancient graeco-roman town on the Mediterranean coast of France that
trickles with history and reminders of past grandeur. The Cape of Antibes naturally protected the old ports until necessity resulted in later fortification, making it the only town on this coast surrounded by ramparts.

Fort Carre

Between Cannes and the historic center of Antibes is Juan-les-Pins, which is famous for its Jazz festival and its trendy clubs.

The Cap d'Antibes as seen from Juan-les-Pins.
Behind are Nice and Monaco, while the mountains are the last of the Alps before it surrenders to the sea.

H said there was a "secret beach" there where he used to go with his father because no one else would dare to swim on the rocky beach.

Death to the argonaut.

But actually, there is very little sand in Antibes. When H met up with a friend from Australia who now lives here, I begged off swimming and they told me to meet them at the other side of the "beach." So they jumped in the water and I made my way through four beach spots in ten minutes.

H and his friend in the water (center).

Not enough beach? No problem.

Equal opportunity top optional.

In one beach, the space was so small that as I tried to climb up some slippery rocks to reach the next beach, a kid taking a shower splashed water all over me. Might as well have taken that dip.

H's friend is a fashion photographer now, so he gave H a quick lesson.

Aside from its 48 beaches (thank you, Wikipedia!), Antibes has a very interesting town center.

So close to Italy, the architecture ceases to be as "French" as I know it (like Notre Dame), but more "Latin."

The Church of the Immaculate Conception, with a grand baroque-style altar.

The largest Picasso collection can be found in the Picasso Museum of Antibes.

The hotel held to be the most beautiful in the world (and therefore out of my price range), Hotel Cap-Eden Roc, is on the tip of the cape. It was where Liz Taylor and Richard Burton honeymooned! But even little inconspicuous streets can lead to surprising discoveries.

I wanted to take it down and take it home :)

But the best surprise is reserved for those willing to see the view from the church on top of the cape.

From here you can see the entire French Riviera, from Cannes to Monaco and even Italy. It was easy to see why his parents loved this place and brought the kids here for vacations: It's the classier sister of Cannes.

But it was with St. Paul de Vence that I truly fell in love with this part of Provence-Cote d'Azur.

St. Paul as seen from the parking lot.

It's a tiny village on top of a green hill that reminded me so much of Gordes.

Gordes in winter, from my Feb 2009 soloista tour.

St. Paul is the artists' commune in the Alpes Maritimes department. All the streets (save for a few houses) are dedicated to art. There were galleries, wineries, a little vineyard on one side, handicraft shops and about three expensive restaurants (we were getting hungry, so we noticed).