France
Pointe Grenille

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    • Day 5

      Villa Thuret

      September 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

      This was our 1st object of the day: Jardin botanique de la Villa Thuret a.k.a. Thuret Botanical Gardens.
      The Gardens were created by Gustave Thuret, a French botanist with a special interest in algae, and was the first privately funded research laboratory in France.
      Scientists were not the only ones to visit Gustave Thuret’s garden - it was also popular with diplomats and artists. In 1868, in “Letters of a Traveller”, Georges Sand wrote that it was “...The loveliest garden I have ever seen...”
      More info can be glimpsed at on Wiki:
      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardin_botaniqu….

      So, as " botanical," it's more focused on trees, shrubs, etc. There were some things in Bloom, but not much.
      What we found out was the fact that there are many artwork sculptures there.
      as you can see, I took my share of pics.

      It was also while we were there that rain caught up with us for a spell. Thankfully, it was not heavy, and we were able to shelter in a gazebo for perhaps 20 minutes. After that, it was more of a slight nuisance, and finally the skies brightened up
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    • Day 5

      On the Plateau Garoupe

      September 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

      The Garoupe plateau is a plateau located on the Cap d'Antibes peninsula , in the commune of Antibes Juan-les-Pins .
      The name of the place refers to the camelea , a Mediterranean shrub very present on the site and whose Provencal name is garopa , transcribed garoupe in French.

      La Garoupe lighthouse is on the peninsula of Cap d'Antibes, at the top of the Plateau de la Garoupe.
      The lighthouse is again open to the public after 25 years of closure,and is the only lighthouse in the region open to the public.
      116 steps will take you to 103 meters of altitude and will allow you to enjoy the magnificent 180° view of the sea, the Esterel, the Mercantour...
      This lighthouse, built in 1948 in limestone is the most powerful on the Mediterranean coast and belongs to the Conservatoire du Littoral.

      There are also a XIIth Station of the Cross and a depiction of Christ being laid in the tomb. More on that later
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    • Day 5

      Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Garoupe

      September 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

      Former Ligurian oppidum , the site has long had a spiritual vocation. The Romans celebrated the Moon goddess Selene there . In the V century , the place was equipped with an oratory dedicated to Saint Helena following her stopover in Antibes (then Antipolis) on her return from Jerusalem .
      The construction of a first chapel dates back to the Middle Ages. Around 1520 , the Cordeliers built a convent there, the sanctuary of which was dedicated to Notre-Dame de la Garde thanks to a donation from René de Savoie .

      Around 300 ex-votos are placed on the walls and in the church, the oldest of which dates from 1506 . Also worth noting is a painting of the Assumption from the Brea school , a Byzantine icon from 1575 and objects collected during the siege of Sevastopol .
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    • Day 5

      The Way to Calvary

      September 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

      Saying Adieu to Plateau, we started our descend back to the sea level.
      At first, I did not pay too much attention to the street we were taking being The Way to Calvary. The not so nice boulders lining it all the way down and just as well reminding me of descend to Zubiri on Camino initially took a chunk of my attention as well..
      Only when I stopped to snap a photo and saw what it was it clicked. We were traversing The Stations of The Cross only in reverse!!!(Now you can make the connection to the Station XII depiction we've talked about earlier)
      As you can see, it is a steep and treacherous path. I wondered if in ancient times folks did The Stations while walking up. While not the same, turns out, every year, a festival recalls and solicits the protections that the Virgin has offered to sailors since in the XVIth century, her invocation chased away the bubonic plague from Antibes. Traditionally, the statue of Virgin from The Chapel, sculpted in the trunk of a fig tree is lowered to The Cathedral on the 1st Thursday of July by the way of Calvary, then raised the following Sunday, carried by barefoot sailors 😐.
      It is also a part of the annual ‘Calvaire Antibois’ - a 10km road race through the streets of Cap d’Antibes. The race starts and ends in Le Ponteil.
      The route takes the 500 runners along the coast road of the Cap before leading them through the back streets, up to the Phare, and back down to the start point; The Way of Calvary thus must be run both ways up and down

      The initial sign is for Garoupe Woods, which are next to the Way. Eagle eyes might also notice a missing station, and they would be correct; it seems Station II is nowhere to be found....
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    • Day 5

      Camino re-visited.

      September 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

      Completing our visit to the Gardens, we set out to our 2nd object of interest.
      Almost immediately our route became a rocky, craggy set of steps that fast ly reminded me of ascent on the way to Zubiri

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Pointe Grenille

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