The South of France – the Côte d’Azur
Saturday, 26 October 2024
◄ Villefranche, squeezed between Nice and Monaco, could you ask for a more postcard-like French coastal town?
Who doesn’t like the south of France, that golden coastline, the Côte d’Azur? I travelled along that coast while I was still at university in the late ‘60s. Then again in 1991 with our children – Tashi and Kieran – when we were researching the very first Lonely Planet Europe guides. In 2004 – so 20 years ago – Maureen and I arrived in Nice, picked up a rent-a-car and drove to Barcelona for a wedding and then spent a leisurely two weeks making our way back to Nice and wishing we could extend the trip by another week, another month.
Only a year ago I stayed in Cassis and explored the Calanques, the coastal inlets towards Marseille, then travelled by train along the coast, overnighting in Monaco. The wealthy principality is a place I’d visited more than once – I even spent the whole Grand Prix week there in 1970 – but never stayed a night in Monte Carlo itself. On that 1970 Grand Prix visit I was in a tent, in a campsite just outside Monaco.
◄ In September this year, after a week in Albania, we made a few stops along the coast with the same group of UK-based friends. Our first stop was Villefranche, the place to go if you want to learn French. Maureen spent a month there at the language school – was it in 2000? – which is why her French is so much better than mine. We also stopped in Villefranche for a few days on our 2004 coast trip. Yes, it’s still pretty as picture and the St Pierre Church with its 1957 wall art by Jean Cocteau is a waterfront attraction.
▲ Next stop Antibes which has a host of Nicolas Lavarenne nude statues, particularly along the harbour wall. This one is obviously going to be an Instagram favourite.
▲ Or try Le Nomade, along on the harbour wall at its eastern end, it looks particularly good at night.
▲ Picasso Plates in the Antibes Picasso Museum, you can buy Picasso plate placemats from the museum’s shop. This is my second recent Picasso Museum, since I’ve also been in Malaga, his birthplace in Spain, earlier in the year.
◄ We also travelled along the coast to Cannes and followed Lonely Planet’s cinema art walk around the festival town, passing this Buster Keaton mural on the end of one house
▲ And this more extensive collection of movie star portraits.
◄ Les Chemin des Etoiles – the Path of the Stars – features the handprints of numerous Cannes stars including Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni. Blowup is my favourite film of the ‘60s and the Thames Path walk, which I’ve featured in assorted blogs this year, ends near the Thames Barrage and close to Maryon Park where David Hemmings takes the photograph of Vanessa Redgrave which Blowup is all about.
▲ Ice cream delivery, Sainte-Marguerite Island off Cannes – close to the beach at this island, a short ferry ride from Cannes, six giant underwater heads by British artist Jason DeCaires Taylor were submerged in 2021. They’re modelled on assorted Cannes citizen from age seven to 78 and they are just deep enough for enjoyable snorkelling. If you’ve anchored your boat off the beach to dive the art works you can buy an ice cream from this passing delivery boat. Or a slice of pizza, there’s also a floating pizza delivery service! At the western end of the island is Fort Royal where the ‘man in the iron mask’ was imprisoned for 11 years.
▲ And finally we flew out from Nice back to London. I’m unhappy if I don’t get a window seat and miss an opportunity to add to my aerial views collection. This time our British Airways A320 gave me this shot, looking back along the coast, Juan les Pins just below the wingtop, Antibes town and its harbour just above the wing and Nice Airport and its runways further towards the top of the frame.
