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Oh là là Côte d’Azur
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Oh là là Côte d’Azur

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 :) En savoir plus
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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Bus

    19 septembre 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    That's right, my Fellow Virtual Pilgrims
    We'z on our way to CANNES!!!
    Love European Public transportation!
    For lousy €2.50 you can get from one town to another on a clean, comfortable bus. And they are efficient
    Just for the heck of it, it's the same bus I took from Nice Airport.
    So anyone could go from NCE to Cannes for €2.50...    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Cannes

    19 septembre 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    I don't think Cannes needs any introduction.
    Long a playground of Rich and Famous, punctuated by the annual Cannes Film Festival (until 2003 called the International Film Festival (Festival international du film)) it aptly speaks for itself.
    In a weird way it shows in the fact that when you walk the streets the majority of the store fronts only have various designer names on them.
    I also took couple of shots of some toys, incl. Alpha Romeo Spider    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Église Notre-Dame de Bon Voyage

    19 septembre 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    Church of Our Lady of Good Voyage.
    What was once a small chapel and fishermen’s shelter in the XVth century later become Notre Dame of the Seaside, then Notre Dame of Bon Port and finally the church Notre Dame de Bon Voyage at the end of the XIXth century, in designed its current form by the architect Laurent Vianey.
    A historic building was the first stop of Emperor Napoleon on his return from the Island of Elba on March 1, 1815, after his landing at Golfe Juan. It was under the walls of this chapel, unknown to all, that Napoleon spent his first night on French soil.

    Pictures of a plaque commemorating the above mentioned bivouac, front entry. side chapels, some Stations of The Cross and St. Joseph    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel

    19 septembre 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    BORN OUT OF A RUSSIAN PASSION
    It all started like a Russian novel. In 1909, the Grand Duke Michael of Russia, grandson of the Tsar, moved to Cannes to flee the imperial court and live a forbidden love with Sophie De Meremberg, granddaughter of the writer Alexander Pushkin, a commoner judged a rank lower than his. Banished from Russia, the Grand Duke renounced the title of Tsar for her.

    Cannes’ accomodations having neither the desired comfort nor the splendor expected for the receptions he intended to host there, he financed almost all of the hotel’s construction which was named “Carlton”, meaning “free man” in Scandinavian.

    Henri Ruhl, famous hotelier and sponsor, and Charles Dalmas, renowned architect, took over the project.

    In 1913, the most beautiful hotel that Cannes had ever seen, a monumental building in a neoclassical style with a Belle Époque spirit, opened.

    The Carlton's distinctive domes on both seaward corners were reputedly designed to resemble the breasts of Caroline Otero ("La Belle Otero") the most famous courtesan of the French Riviera, during the years surrounding World War I.

    The hotel was a central location for the Alfred Hitchcock film To Catch a Thief, starring Grace Kelly and Cary Grant. While staying at the Carlton during the 1955 Cannes Film Festival, Kelly had an arranged meeting and photo shoot with Prince Rainier III of Monaco; they married in 1956.    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    To Old Town Cannes

    19 septembre 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    We also checked out parts of Old Town Cannes which of course had to include a climb on the gradient and steps 😊
    We were met by the seagull once we got to the top... and wonderful views

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Tour du Masque

    19 septembre 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    Tour du Masque (Mask Tower)

    The Man in the Iron Mask was a prisoner during King Louis XIV region. He was confined to various French prisons--including the infamous Bastille. The man wore a black velvet mask covering his face, and his identity has never been discovered.

    It is unknown when the man was born. He was arrested around 1670 and died in 1703.

    The Man in the Iron Mask found sanctuary in this XIIth century "Mask Tower" for the last years of his life. The story was made famous by writers Alexandre Dumas and Voltaire. In Voltaire's retelling, the man wore an iron mask. Historical records show that the man wore a velvet mask, but Voltaire's version has proved popular.    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Église Notre-Dame d'Espérance

    19 septembre 2023, 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.En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    More of old town

    19 septembre 2023, 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 home    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Breakfast at rue du Marc

    20–22 sept. 2023, 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 followedEn savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Gare de Antibes

    20 septembre 2023, 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 OK    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Riviera lines cruise in Port Golfe Juan

    20 septembre 2023, 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-Marguerite    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Île Sainte-Marguerite

    20 septembre 2023, 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 Gardens    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Fort Royal - Ile Sainte-Marguerite

    20 septembre 2023, 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 Esperanse    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Man with the Iron Mask

    20 septembre 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    The special exibit concerning The Man in The Iron Mask includes panels explaining historical and other facts and his cell,
    When we arrived, the cell was closed to the public. Seems they had restoration specialists and fresco artists working in there. However, a nice lady who works in Musem let me in.

    So much is out there in print, digital, internet and social media that it numbs the mind and yet we still cannot conclusively put our finger on The Man's identity, and some facts are lesser known.
    It also seems that he did escape from here only to, somehow, wind ip in the place we saw in Cannes yesterday.    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    The Huguenot Martyrs memorial

    20 septembre 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    In memory of the long martyrdom of Protestant ministers
    Along with the Castle of If, in Marseilles, the Tower of Constance, in Aigues-Mortes, and the Fort of Brescou, in Agde, the fort on the île Sainte-Marguerite is one of the four royal prisons where Protestants were imprisoned in the fort for “religious offenses” in the 17th and 18th centuries.

    In 1950 a Huguenot memorial was placed in a former cell. It pays homage to six Protestant ministers jailed for life:

    Paul Cardel called Noyer,
    Pierre Bruneton called Valsec,
    Gabriel Mathurin called Lestang,
    Matthieu de Malzac called Bastide, Molen or de Lisle,
    Elisée Giraud
    Gardien Givry.    En savoir plus

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  • CWBuffOh là là Côte d’AzurVoyageur

    Dragon's Alley and Dragon's Point

    20 septembre 2023, France ⋅ 🌩️ 75 °F

    Finished at the Fort, we climbed a couple of stairs and walked the Dragon's Alley to Dragon's Point.
    Pointe du Dragon is located in the southeast of the island and is home to a very pleasant cove, below an observatory and an orientation table.
    A corner of peace and greenery, in an idyllic setting.

    Unfortunately, it started to rain around this time.
    I guess you can say that the activities on the island are very limited. If you are not into fishing, beaches, and/or any water sports, you may spend 3-3.5 hours there tops. The inclement weather will ruin that.
    There is no place to hide save for buildings at the Fort, and there is only 1 restaurant with very limited seating.... and now we had 4 more hours to kill with absolutely nothing to do and no place to go...    En savoir plus

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