Saturday 7 October
Wednesday 4 October
Genoa was much more interesting than I anticipated, but it was time to head west towards France. Liguria, where Genoa is the biggest city, is squeezed between the mountains and the sea. The flat land is never more than a few miles wide, but is where the resorts of the Cinque Terre and Italian Riviera are.
The railway runs along the narrow corridor and is frequently either close to the sea or passing through a tunnel.
To get to France we had to take the train to Ventimiglia close to the border, and then change onto a French train. Just before the actual border two Border guards came down the carriage and spoke to the only black people. They asked for passports to get into France, but they didn’t have any with them, so they were told to leave the train. No white people were asked for their passports.
Once in France, the train stopped at every station, so it was very slow. We eventually arrived at Golfe Juan – Vallauris station, half way between Cannes and Antibes. After getting a bit lost (Google Maps was wrong) we found Didier, our host, outside the gates of the apartments where we were staying. The flat is tiny, but has everything we need, plus a balcony overlooking attractive gardens and a swimming pool.
There is a Super U market close by, so we stocked up and had salmon, potatoes and green beans for dinner. It made a change from Italian food and was cooked to perfection. By me.
Thursday 5 October
Another day in paradise! It’s great to sit on the balcony for coffee in the sunshine and look at palm trees. I used to do that in my garden at home, but the palm tree was growing a foot a year so I had it cut down.
I have booked 6 nights here, so we can explore all the local towns along the Cote D’Azur and enjoy some seaside time.
The marina at Golfe Juan is huge, and full of ostentatious superyachts, one of them even had a helicopter on the back of it. Just beyond the marina is Pablo Picasso beach.
The man himself was a resident from 1946 to 1951. It is a lovely sandy beach with warm(ish) water. I did my usual bob around in the sea looking for fish, of course I couldn’t see any. It was fairly quiet since it is October, well out of season, but with summer weather:freaky.
We went back to the flat for lunch of smoked salmon on blinis, rillette on baguette and salad. Then we lounged around for the afternoon at “our” pool, it doesn’t come much better than that.
In the evening we walked into town and went for dinner in a little Asian cafe. It was great to have Pad Thai with a pichet of rose wine.
Friday 6 October
Time for a bit of glamour. The bus goes right past our flats, so we caught it into Cannes, a few miles west of here. It took us to the SNCF station,and we walked through the busy town centre to the sea front. There’s a big marina at the front, but not as many superyachts as in Golfe Juan, it’s probably too expensive to moor there. Just beyond the marina is the small “old town” called Suquet, more of a village really. There is a hill with the remains of a castle and a rather plain church, but great views over the centre of Cannes.
There are a few narrow streets with some lovely pastel coloured houses and pricey restaurants. Being British, we had brought some sandwiches with us, thus saving about 50 Euros. BTW our accommodation is about 70 euros a night, so it’s worthwhile being stingy with meals.
After our picnic lunch we walked along the Croisette (the promenade) past all the private beaches where you can pay 500 euros for a bottle of champagne if you wish. Beyond those are the public beaches where I went for a swim, and Julie read a book (on her phone).
I thought Cannes was beautiful, but a bit too, yer know, posh.
So we walked back to the station and caught the 16.08 train to Juan le Pins, which took a modest 8 minutes. It is a much smaller scale resort, but still quite upmarket with lots of private beaches. The public beach was fine and I took another dip with the other paupers. Once again, Julie sat under a tree and declined to dip.
Once I had dried off in the hot sun we walked west back to Golfe Juan to our flat for a well earned beer (Heineken) salad Nicoise and Vigonier wine, all from our fridge.
It is very nice here, I can see why it attracts all the super wealthy. But you can visit on the cheap, if you pick the right place to stay and don’t eat out much.
Saturday 7 October
The great thing about the Interrail pass is that we can get on the train anytime we fancy it. Just find it on the app, flick a digital switch and the ticket is generated.
Golfe Juan (pronounced Golfa Jzooan) is on the line along the Cote d’Azur that runs through all the seaside towns, so it’s easy to get along the coast
Today we got the train to Grasse, which is in the hills north of Canne. It is the home of the French perfume industry. They started off making (honestly) scented gloves for the court of Louis XIV, and then developed the perfume side of the business big time in the 18th century.
The old town is at the top of a hill, so it’s a 15 minute walk up steps to the little Romanesque cathedral. The old town is full of narrow streets with the houses painted in yellow, pink and orange. The main shopping streets are decorated with hanging pink umbrellas. It is very pretty, and there are great views down towards the sea at Cannes.
Growing flowers for perfume used to be a huge local industry. We visited the former Fragonard factory, which is a museum now full of perfume bottles and antique distilling equipment. Of course the perfume shop is huge, but I naturally smell delightful so I don’t need any perfume.
The narrow winding streets with old doors and shutters make Grasse look like a film set. It is not a big place but great to visit for half a day.
There was a marvellous artwork on the rendered end wall of a house. A pioneering photographer called Charles Negre came from Grasse and his image has been reproduced by hitting the render with a hammer to make marks on it.
The direct train from Golfe Juan to Grasse only takes 40 minutes, so it’s an easy place to visit.
For dinner we had homemade ratatouille with a can of Super U cassoulet, which was a winning combination.
Sunday 8 October
Last night we decided to stay another 3 nights in Golfe Juan, it’s a great place and costs us only £56 a night.
Today we took the train east a few stops to Nice. It is the ”le weekend”, the weather is hot, so it was very busy. I was feeling less than my perky self and had a runny nose, so I probably got a virus from someone French, the filthy beasts.
It was very hot at the station waiting for the train, Julie retired beneath her hat.
The charm has worn off a bit since we came last year, but the sea is still very blue.
The old town is full of restaurants, and none of them are cheap! Trouble is I am cheap and don’t want to pay more for a meal than I do for my accommodation.
But the views from the top of the old fortifications down the Promenade Anglais are quite wonderful.
Monday 9 October
I was still feeling a bit yukky this morning, so we made the very easy decision to do bugger-all.
We walked to the the big Super U on the main road to Antibes, and bought more supplies. The food is noticeably more expensive than at home, one big onion costs a Euro! Bloody hell in 1974 I could go out and get pissed on Courage Best for that much (15p a pint in the Students Union).
Exhausted from carrying beer and wine back to the flat, we had to lay by the swimming pool and read . We dined royally on our balcony (renamed by me the balconioni) and rehydrated with lager.
After a little rest we walked for 5 minutes down to the little beach squeezed between the main line to Nice and the sea, it was heavenly. I made myself a backrest from a heap of sand and settled down to read The Martian again. It’s the second time I have read it, so I’m now a fully qualified astronaut, NASA I’m waiting for your call.
Monday 10 October 2023
If its Monday it must be Antibes, which is just 6 minutes away on the train. We could walk there in about an hour, but I’m feeling wishy washy again, and let the train take the strain.
Antibes was a border town between France and Italy, when Nice belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. Its a complicated story, but Nice became French only 150 years ago. Consequently there are some big walls and a huge fortress and port built by Vauban, who you may remember built a dam in Strasburg.
The old town is very pretty with narrow streets and colourful shutters like in Nice and Cannes. I think it is a better place to visit than both of them, it’s less busy and has some lovely beaches with benches in the shade. So I could go for a swim while Julie read in the shade.
Early this morning I went to the boulangerie 10 minutes away from our flat, so we could have baguettes for our lunch while sitting outside the Picasso Museum. Needless to say he spent a lot of time in Antibes as well, probably working his way through ladies of the town.
The old town had lots of arty shops selling pottery, prints, jewellery and tinned sardines. I think sardines must be in fashion, probably because of the colourful cans rather than the fish.
When we were sat on the beach I spotted a very big superyacht. I took a picture and used Google Lens to identify it, it was Symphony belonging to Bernard Arnault who is the wealthest man in Europe and paid for the museum we went to in Paris. Its 101.5 metres (333ft) long, and is designed to carry 20 passengers with 38 crew.
Luckliy I also got a photo of a man in flippers doing a hand stand!
October 11 2023
Go East, the great pop song the Pet Shop Boys never recorded, but the theme song for our trip today. We took the riviera train through Antibes, Nice and Monaco to Menton, very close to the Italian border.
Our destination was a botanic garden called Val Rahmeh which was founded by and Englishman called Lord Percy Radcliffe in 1905. It is small but stunning, with many species of tropical plants from all over the world growing outside. It is supremely relaxing and peaceful, all it needs is a National Trust tea shop with a good selection of hot beverages and baked goods.
After eating our packed lunch (saving money to buy a Spritz later) we walked down to the beach. As per usual, Julie listened to her audio book and I went for a dip in the briny and then stared out to sea.
The old town of Menton is on a hill overlooking the beach. Once again (like the other old towns) it had narrow steep streets and ochre coloured 5 and 6 story houses. IThey must have planning regulations which tell them to use only yellow, pink and orange muted colours. It is also very well maintained, a definite feeling of civic pride that I haven’t seen as much in other towns. There’s a lovely baroque basilica which is newly painted on the outside with Farrow and Ball colours.
At the top of the town is the old cemetery where William Webb Ellis is buried, and a statue to commemorate him. He has the ultimate accolade in Twickenham, a ‘Spoons named after him.
After enjoying the dead centre of Menton (geddit?) We walked towards the station. But a reasonably priced Aperol Spritz caught our eyes, so we stopped for a swifty.
The town centre is very pretty, with some colourful “Belle Epoque” grand hotels, and the only town hall I have seen with banana trees outside.
Menton is delightful, definitely a more classy resort than any of the others we have visited.
On the train back to Golfe Juan our tickets were checked twice by inspectores who had their own guards. There were also lots of beefy cops on the train, I suppose they are after illegal immigrants.
October 12
Our last full day on the Cote D’Azur, and we took another short train ride to Cagne Sur Mer. The original town is on top of a hill with the Chateau Grimaldi at the top. The Grimaldi family still rule Monaco, which is only about 10 miles east along the coast.
Our destination was the Renoir Museum, the home of Renoir in his later years. It is a former farm called Les Collettes, set amongst ancient olive trees, overlooking the sea and the old town. The setting is stunning, but the museum itself is a bit… sparse.
There are a few lovely paintings by Pierre-August Renoir, but more by artists of the same school and his assistants. He was able to take up sculpture with the assistance of a young artist called Richard Guino, who slapped around the clay under Renoir’s direction. There are some lovely paintings and some furniture, but you can see it all in about 45 minutes.
In one of the farm buildings there was a silent film running of Renoir and an assistant (his son possibly) sitting in his wheelchair painting. His assistant charges his brush, and he paints a canvas, while smoking like a chimney.
In the afternoon we returned to Golfe Juan and lazed on the beach for a few hours. The beach is sandy, the sea is warm (warm for me, icy to Julie) and there are lots of yachts to watch. The beach is populated mostly by retired people who are filly equiped with loungers, cool boxes and umbrellas that they trundle down to the beach on trolleys
I listened to my favourite podcast “the Rest is History” with Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland. They are a first class double act who are entertaining as well as knowledgeable. It was about the Ummyad and Abbasid dynasties that ruled the Islamic Caliphate in the 7th and 8th centuries.
I’ve lost you now haven’t I? All the brain space that most people devote to sport, I devote to science and history. That’s why I’m so fascinating 😉
timharnesstravels 