Tuesday, January 3, 2017

A Different Kind of Color
#7
Finale
 miles of walking
Friday April 22
Antibes - Cap D'Antibes - Juan-les-Pins - Golfe Juan - Vallauris
11.66 miles
just to see l'Hôtel Belles Rives 
F. Scott Fitzgerald's home for a while
why not? 
   Saturday April 23

Exhibition: Maison du Quartier Vallauris (photos by Caro DeOtero)
 Sunday April 24
Train to Nice, for a few days with my friends, then another train to San Remo, Italy
for lunch 
again why not?
7.93 miles

San Remo - Villefranche for a drink
Villefranche

it was a lot of walking 
and a lot of trains

then back to Nice

Monday April 25
13.48 miles 
Musée Matisse

 Tuesday April 26
8.88 miles 
Marché aux Fleurs Nice, Vieille Ville  

 Wednesday April 27
4.26 miles
Promenade des Anglais
Place Massena

Pack up in Vallauris and hit the road again back to Marseille

Friday April 29
8.51 miles 
Saturday April 30
10.15 Miles 


 Mucem

Notre-Dame de la Garde

Sunday May 1 
4.01 miles 
Marseille - London - New York
 

Monday, December 19, 2016

A Different Kind of Color
#6
Cannes
+
St Honorat
   miles of walking  
Twice a week I took the dollar bus to Cannes running across 
the Allées de La Liberté and the Vieux Port 
to get to the Quai Croisière and the boat to St Honorat.
The streets were relatively quiet at that hour, their upscale shops still closed, 
the tourists and celebs still asleep
Dashing around I was amazed how difficult it was to find a croissant, 
and forget about a coffee to go....
A completely different story on my way back

Overlooking Cannes from Notre Dame de L'Esperance
On the island things were really coming into their own, and with spring came more tourists
and lots of yachts anchoring close by.
It was a bit of an invasion in my estimation
 

    My painting spot changed each visit, but the rocks and colors on the north and west sides were my favorites.

April 14, 2016
4.72 miles
Caravan


Boogie Street

April 19, 2016
5.25 miles
Cry Me a River

On my  last trip to the island I concentrated on the western edge, gleefully commandeering an entire picnic table to the chagrin of the 
picnic people who inevitably came
l'oiseau en avance attrape le vers
 (the early bird catches the worm) 

Santa Maria de Buen Ayres

What's the Matter with You
It was a perfect finale

 trespassing in the vineyard


Depending on the week, Cannes could be relatively empty, 
or there could be hoards of press, tourists and the beautiful people, 
for some sort of film opening or highbrow event.
Always rushing to catch the boat, or the bus on my way back, 
I didn't really investigate much more than the Old Town and harbor.  
Cannes was just a pit stop on my way to somewhere else.

But a pretty one



Up next:
The final chapter
 on the Côte D'Azur


Sunday, October 23, 2016

Excursions
#1
Antibes
miles of walking

April 8, 2016
8.36 miles
Marché Provençal  Salt
 Vallauris was boring, I needed a break from working, and I was desperate to have my hair blown out (guilty pleasure) so I took off for Antibes, to visit the Picasso Museum, the Provencal Market, and to wander around

Antibes is just too beautiful for (too many) words



First of the season
Musée Picasso: "Nature Morte aux deux oursins, murène, sole, poulpe, seiche et un citron" 1946
Olive oil and salted anchovies
A Different Kind of Color: Antibes
Luna à côté de la mer
Port Vauban with Fort Carre in the distance, you can moor your super yacht here for a lot of euros....
Musée Picasso: "Nature Morte aux volets noirs avec citron, murène, rougets, seiche et trois oursins" 1946
Plage de la Salis Antibes
Antibes in the distance
Excursion
#2
 Vence
Saturday April 16
5.75 miles

A week later I headed to Vence, a bus a train and another bus
looking for more adventure

Maybe it was the gypsy woman, toddler in tow, who accosted me with her bus pass vs euro scam, while waiting for bus 2 who put me in a mood....
 it was too early for there to be much going on at the market, the lilacs a bright spot, as well as the wisteria blooming all over
 I liked the famous Tree of Vence, an ancient frêne (ash) supposedly planted in 1538
just outside the Porte du Peyra, one of five gates leading into the old town
"Tree of Vence" Chaim Soutine 1929
and roaming the maze of tiny streets 

that suddenly opened up to sunny squares
I liked that it was pretty empty
 but after circling around 5 times or so, I had seen enough and was done, feeling like those thick stone walls were closing in on me
I think I expected more
 I walked to the Chapelle du Rosaire des Dominicaines de Vence
also known as the Matisse Chapel about a kilometer away

Artist Henri Matisse sitting in the interior of chapel he designed. Vence, France, 1951 photo by
Dmitri Kessel
But it was closed....
still cranky I went back to have lunch at Le Pigeonnier, 
an ironic necessity considering the roosting villains back in Vallauris
Isn't it always good to sit down, enjoy the food and sun?
Lunch: Salad with artichokes, warm chevre and duck (not pigeon pie)
And it was super, mood lifted, I got back on bus 1 wondering if I should have visited St Paul de Vence, its more famous neighbor down the road instead

But when, the bus stopped for several minutes outside St Paul de Vence, allowing hoards of turistas to cross the road I was glad I hadn't