Wednesday in Antibe & Biot.

Wed. April 6: After yesterday’s trip east, nearly to Italy, today we headed west to Antibe, aka Juan de Pines. Despite not leaving until nearly 10:00 the 4€ train ticket assured that we would get there in time to enjoy a full day before we returned by bus. Once again we found our way to the Vielle Ville (Old Town) and we roughly followed a Rick Steves walking tour combined with one they suggested at the Tourist Information. On our way we passed along the “Billionaires Quai”, lined with many, many yachts from modest to outrageous. From the waterfront one can look east and see pretty much the whole coast line, with Nice and Monaco, the protective foot hills, which keeps the cold air away from the coastline, and the snow covered Alps beyond in the distance. It is a stunning view!!! We entered the Old Town through the ancient gate that was the only way to get within the fortified city walls from the Port for centuries. First stop was at the outstanding Marché Provençal (farmers’ market) where we bought cheese, olives, bread, marinated artichoke hearts, sausages and wine for our lunch. Winding our way through streets and passageways we found our way to the west embankments along the water. We found a park looking over the bay and shared our delicious lunch sitting on a park bench. A sailing club or school was putting in boats as we finished and they had 5 or 6 dozen boats on the water by the time we finished. Wandering back along the bay we arrived at the Garibaldi Chateau, which is now the Picasso Museum. Picasso worked in the chateau for a few years where, like many artists before and since, he was transfixed by the luminescent light on the Mediterranean. He was also struck by the antiquity of the setting, because the Chateau was built in the 1300s on top of the ancient Greek city of Antipolis which claimed the easily defended area 3000 years ago. The fort on the other side of the bay, which we had hoped to see, closed at 4:00 and so instead of touring it, we made our way down to a protected beach and rested in the warm sunlight while dipping our tootsies into the Mediterranean waters. Passing again through the Old Town, we walked up to Place General de Gaulle and found how and where we could catch a bus up to Biot, where artisans make ceramic and glass pieces, among other crafts. We had hoped to eat dinner there but the timing didn’t work out so we looked around the Old Town up on the hill for a bit before catching a late bus back to Nice. We had a nice dinner of the traditional Niçoisse beef stew at Lulu’s before returning to the hotel, not as exhausted as last night, but well satisfied with our travels.