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

 

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

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