Any destination on the French Rivera would be a nice place to be, I’m sure, but we chose to make Antibes our home base for the next four days. I’ve read that it’s a good walking town. It’s close to a lot of high-priced real estate, but Antibes itself seems to have escaped the hype and high prices. Let’s get to know Antibes.
Settling In
We arrived by car, after making the 4-hour drive from Carcassonne. The last 30 minutes of an otherwise beautiful drive were something of a nightmare, but we made it, of course, so here we are. Our hotel has an open-air breakfast room that turns into a lounge in the afternoon and evening. It’s a perfect place to relax.
The receptionist who greeted us provided a wealth of information. She made a dinner reservation for us tonight at a restaurant she likes. She even drew us a map showing how to walk there. We felt like we were in good hands.
Nice Neighborhood
Antibes, pronounced AN-TEEB, with no “s” sound, (but you knew that), is on the French Riviera, seven miles down the coast from Cannes. A peninsula here called Cap d’Antibes, (Cape Antibes), juts out into the blue Mediterranean. Antibes lies on one side of the cape. Juan-les-Pins lies across the cape on the opposite side.
Cap d’Antibes could be re-named Billionaire Central. You probably thought the rich and famous around here reside down the road in Cannes. Nope. As I understand it, a big mansion nestled in the forested heights of Cap d’Antibes is the place to be.
You can moor your yacht at Juan-les-Pins or in Antibe’s Port Vaubin, and hang out at the area’s numerous beaches without having to deal with the lookie-loo’s wandering around Cannes.
Based on a quick look at our surroundings in downtown Antibes, you’d never know we’re in the midst of such wealth. So far, Antibes looks to us like any other medium-sized French city.
Downtown Antibes
Our hotel is in the center of town. Even though we’re downtown, big trees and greenery are everywhere. There’s a huge tree just outside the window of our 3rd-floor room.
In France, the “first floor” is floor zero. They call it the rez de chaussée – the ground floor. Their first floor is what we’d call the second floor. So our room is actually on the fourth floor. It’s comfortable and has glass doors opening out onto a small balcony.
After settling in and taking a break in the hotel lounge, we headed out to explore our immediate surroundings. We walked a block, turned left, and came to something like a small park in the middle of town. It was Place Général de Gaulle.
Place Général de Gaulle is lined with stores and restaurants. And to my delight, a “Paul” bakery. “Paul” is a chain of bakeries in France. They have outlets everywhere – even in airports.
Paul is the place to go in the morning for a baguette, if you’re French. If you’re me, it’s the place to go for a pain aux raisins. And if you want to have something easy, quick, and delicious for lunch, you can’t do better than a sandwich, (perhaps the caprese?), from Paul.
We were impressed with the area around Place Général de Gaulle. Little did we know that the REAL Antibes lies just on the other side of our hotel. We’re heading in that direction for dinner tonight.
To be continued…
