Antibes

What a difference a day makes! Brian is back to the land of the living and the sun is once again shining. To take advantage of the beautiful weather, we decided to go to Antibes for lunch. Antibes is a resort town between Nice and Cannes and easy to get to by public transport. It is home to Port Vauban which is the largest harbour in Europe and serves both fishing boats and luxury yachts. Some of the world's largest and most lavish yachts have Port Vauban as their home port where typical rates for a berth in the port are between 1 and 1.4 m €.

Our first stop was a lovely restaurant called Le Jardin. Brian ordered a demi bottle of white wine, but the server landed up bringing us a full one - oh darn! The manager came to our table shortly thereafter and explained the error, but said he would not charge us for the difference. This is the second time we have had such an experience. People here, for the most part, are very kind and generous which is contrary to their reputation. After an enjoyable pasta lunch and a full bottle of white wine, we spent our afternoon exploring the old city and walking around the port just imagining what it would be like to own one of those incredible yachts. 

What an unusual door ornament - a horse's head.

This shop was pretty interesting. It felt like a cross between Dollarama and Target. We landed up buying some inexpensive wine glasses to replace a couple that broke in our dishwasher.

One view of the port with Fort Carré in the background. Fort Carré was built in the 16th century. Although the exterior is interesting, word has it that there isn't much worth seeing in the interior today. I did read that it was used as the villain's fortress in the James Bond film "Never Say Never Again" from 1983. 

The beach adjacent to the port. The walls of the old city on the right.

From this angle, you can see a large sculpture called the Nomad that faces the sea. It was created by the Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. It consists of a number of letters and numbers in the shape of a person overlooking the horizon. Behind it are the tops of some of the huge yachts you will see in a minute. In the background, you can see the snow covered Alps.

The promenade reminded me a bit of the promenade on the island of Hvar off the coast of Croatia. It too had enormous yachts.

Brian checking out which one he would buy.

This boat was called the Dilbar. If you look closely, there is a guard on the front deck keeping an eye on us as Brian took our picture.

A close-up of the Nomad complete with birds. You are able to see some of the numbers and letters that are welded together to create a human form.

A view of Fort Carré from the opposite side.

After the better part of a week of rain,overcast skies and illness, it was a real treat to spend a lovely afternoon in Antibes!