Oh là là Côte d’Azur

September 2023

Piggybacking on Laurie's business trip to Sophia Antipolis (who could resist, right?), hence will make our HQs in Antibes.
Truly looking forward to explore as much as we can, and of course Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez beaucoup :) Read more

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France
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Newest first

Footprints
Photos

Traveler Oh là là Côte d’Azur
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- Day 6
- Sep 19, 2023, 1:37pm
- ☀️ 82 °F
- Altitude: 49 ft
- France Couvent des Bernadines d'Antibes 43.58005, 7.12512843°34’48” N 7°7’30” E
Église Notre-Dame d'Espérance
September 19, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F
Replacing the old chapel Sainte-Anne, the Eglise Notre-Dame de l'Esperance was completed in 1627, after more than a century of work.

Created in a late Gothic style, it stands out for its Renaissance porch and its square Romanesque bell tower separated by an archway. The adjoining square offers an exceptional view of the entire city. It has been classified as an historical monument since July 1937.Read more
TravelerBeautiful chapel! Does "Esperance" mean "Hope?"
9/20/23Reply
TravelerOui, mon ami
9/20/23ReplyTranslate
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Traveler Oh là là Côte d’Azur
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- Day 6
- Sep 19, 2023, 1:51pm
- ☀️ 82 °F
- Altitude: 115 ft
- France Musée de la Castre 43.549848, 7.00988343°32’59” N 7°0’36” E
More of old town
September 19, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F
We enjoyed the sites,
I liked the castlelike structure on the other side of Cannes (no idea what it is), Laurie descended into the green topiary to pet the cat,
Yes, we sang THAT song! 🐵...you know..
pondered on the significance of the memorial bench and why some passages on it are in English and headed down.
Walked the streets some more before going back to the station and grabbing the bus back homeRead more
TravelerGreat photo of you in the sunglasses! And I also like that castle-like structure. How beautiful the day looks!
9/20/23Reply
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Traveler Oh là là Côte d’Azur
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- Day 6–8
- Sep 19, 2023, 5:11pm
- ☀️ 81 °F
- Altitude: 46 ft
- France Plage de la Gravette 43.582622, 7.12810243°34’57” N 7°7’41” E
Antibes musings
September 19, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F
If you go up this street, will you get a headache?
Laurie S. Blue Period #29 with a door knob
A horse is a horse, of course
The Year of Le Chat
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Traveler Oh là là Côte d’Azur
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- Day 7
- Sep 20, 2023, 1:09am
- ⛅ 70 °F
- Altitude: 49 ft
- France Couvent des Bernadines d'Antibes 43.580027, 7.12507243°34’48” N 7°7’30” E
(Not so) French Dinner
September 20, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
Although I beg to differ as it's all in perspective.

Une bouteille de vin rosé Française
Eau du robinet Française de qualité supérieure
Utah Burger à la Française
Burrito Californien à la Française
FRENCH fries
Écleir Français aux pistaches
..and an apple
VOILA!!!

So had ended Day 6Read more
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- Day 7–9
- Sep 20, 2023, 7:49am
- ☁️ 68 °F
- Altitude: 49 ft
- France Couvent des Bernadines d'Antibes 43.579975, 7.12507343°34’48” N 7°7’30” E
Breakfast at rue du Marc
September 20, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
Early morning again, so cannot wait for places to open.
Stocked up on provisions last night and treated ourselves this morning to,IMHO, a pretty decent spread:
Orange juice, baguette, Tomme Corsica cheese, tomatoes, Peach & Blueberry fruit yogurts, coffee and tea followedRead more
TravelerWhat a great-looking breakfast!
9/20/23Reply
TravelerSounds yummy!
9/20/23Reply
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Traveler Oh là là Côte d’Azur
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- Day 7
- Sep 20, 2023, 9:28am
- ☁️ 70 °F
- Altitude: 39 ft
- France Antibes Railway Station 43.585775, 7.11923543°35’9” N 7°7’9” E
Gare de Antibes
September 20, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F
We are off on a little cruise to one of the Legrins islands, specifically Ile St. Marguerite. We'll get off on the island, do some sightseeing, and then catch the same boat and go past Corniche d'Or.
The weather is very iffy today...it supposed to rain pretty much throughout the whole day, but we are changing it. Hopefully, it will turn out to be OKRead more
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- Day 7
- Sep 20, 2023, 9:56am
- ☁️ 72 °F
- Altitude: 33 ft
- France Golfe-Juan-Vallauris Railway Station 43.566402, 7.07445543°33’59” N 7°4’28” E
Riviera lines cruise in Port Golfe Juan
September 20, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
Well, I can tell you now that although the day did mot go completely as planned, I came across some stuff that completely blew my mind off and also connected the dots with some stuff from yesterday.

It was a very short hop on the train to Port Golfe Juan. It turned out that it was HERE in Golfe Juan that Napoleon had landed after his escape from Elba!!!
Getting off the train, we were met with this mural.
Then we made our way to where we were supposed to get on the boat, and while we were waiting, I asked our captain, Blaize, where exactly did he land and Blaize pointed to the beach RIGHT NEXT TO US!!!!!🫨
Like Not NEVAH, in a 1,000,000 years would I ever dreamed that I'd be starting near that spot!! 😍
I had plenty of time to make a quick dash and snap some pics (6 & 7)

On 1 March 1815, on his return from Elba, Napoleon landed in Golfe-Juan with a small band of 1100 loyal soldiers. And from here he set out on the extraordinary adventure that was to lead to the return to power two and a half weeks later, 20 March, with his triumphal entry into the Tuileries palace which had been hastily abandoned by Louis XVIII. This was the beginning of the Hundred Days.

On disembarking from the brig l'Inconstant, Napoleon exclaimed 'Hail, France, land of heroes'. To mark this event, there is a commemorative plaque on the quay in the port. (missed that one 😒) There is also a plaque signaling the start of the Route Napoléon (The road christened so, is that taken by the Emperor from Golfe-Juan to Grenoble) and (mounted on a column erected at the side of the N7 road) a bust of the Emperor. (and that 😫). Napoleon and his troops were initially delayed by the taking of Antibes (WHAAAAT?! 😲), but that having been done, they soon got en route for Cannes where they made their first bivouac (a plaque on the church Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Voyage marks the spot). - and that we saw and visited yesterday....

As we got on the boat, 1st "misfortune of the day" happened as we were informed that they were canceling part 2 of the cruise to Corniche d'Or. Like it or not, the weather was still iffy, and with expectations of it getting worse and apparently Laurie and I being the only 2 people signed up, it didn't make sense for Riviera to go there. They did refund us the difference, and we got on the way to Île Sainte-MargueriteRead more
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- Day 7
- Sep 20, 2023, 10:52am
- ☁️ 73 °F
- Altitude: 23 ft
- France Îles de Lérins 43.521908, 7.03880543°31’19” N 7°2’20” E
Île Sainte-Marguerite
September 20, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F
The Île Sainte-Marguerite is the largest of the Lérins Islands, about half a mile off shore from the Cannes. The island is approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) in length (east to west) and 900 meters (0.56 miles) across. It was occupied, at least, from the V Century BC

The ancient name of Sainte-Marguerite Island is Léro . This name must have come from a local deity, Leron, whose sanctuary is dedicated to him on the island.

You can get more pretty fascinating history of the island at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Île_Sainte-Marg…, but I can tell you that my initial interest of going there was the fact, that the island's Fort Royal owes its notoriety to its most famous prisoner, the Man in the Iron Mask, incarcerated there for eleven years when the fort housed a state prison.

..and that's where "misfortune #2 happened. Due to the fact that the overall number of people that Riviera brought from Golfe-Juan was abysmal, they scrapped all the ongoing service and informed us that there will be only 1 boat back - at 5:00PM.
(We'll get to all of this a little bit later)

Fort Royal, as seen from our boat
Remnants of Tour de Saint Anne
More steps to climb
Forest with trails
Same Pines as we saw at Botanical GardensRead more
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- Day 7
- Sep 20, 2023, 11:18am
- ☁️ 73 °F
- Altitude: 62 ft
- France Île Sainte-Marguerite 43.523357, 7.04338843°31’24” N 7°2’36” E
Fort Royal - Ile Sainte-Marguerite
September 20, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F
Built between 1624 and 1627 on the site of old Roman fortifications, the fort began as a simple fortified house. During Spanish occupation in 1635, the little fort was extended and reinforced. Winning back the island in 1637, the French named the citadel Fort Royal and added reinforcements: deeper ditches, higher outer defence walls, two half-moons joining the fort by raised footbridges (gone today) and, later, a low bastion in front of the entry gates. The military architect Vauban gave the fort its pentagonal shape flanked by four bastions.

An advanced surveillance post was added during WWII.

Inside, there is a chapel, le, the artillery storerooms including the immense wall-enclosed powder keg and the building.

There are also some claims that it was build by the orders of Louis XIV to house le Masque de Fer...

Le Mediterraneoscope is an exibit about marine life in the sea

We thought the seagull was kinda cute and pondered if it followed us from Notre Dame le EsperanseRead more
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- Day 7
- Sep 20, 2023, 11:39am
- 🌧 72 °F
- Altitude: 13 ft
- France Les Salins-d'Hyères 43.117593, 6.21615743°7’3” N 6°12’58” E
The Prison
September 20, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌧 72 °F
I have to say that the sizes of the cells surprised me. Not only relatively speaking they were roomy, but they had bathroom and fireplaces
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