Yesterday when we arrived in Antibes on the train, we traveled through Nice. It did not look nice at all - it was huge and busy and crowded. On the train ride into France, we had to stand for the last hour. We both decided right then and there that we didn’t want to spend our only day on the French Riviera in this busy town. And once we experienced the difficulties of transit in this area - that decision was finalized. But it turned out okay.
This morning we borrowed 2 bicycles from the hotel and rode down to the beach. There we were able to rent two lounge chairs and an umbrella for only 10 Euros. We spent about 3 hours there, including having a small lunch at the snack bar right next to where we were laying. We then kept the bikes locked up and went on a walk along the sea. We then rode/walked home to freshen up for the evening.
So, in order to go into the town of Antibes, we had to find a Taxi, which again was difficult. The hotel helped us, but it still took about 15 minutes on the phone. Anyway, after a 20 Euro ride into town, we went to the Picasso Museum. The building was an old beautiful building, and the artwork only had a few of Picasso’s better works. It was too heavy on the scribbling for me.
We then walked through old town and the Marche Provencal… where we found an Absinthe Bar museum - which was very spooky. It was the drink that supposedly “helped” Van Gogh to lose his mind (or at least his ear). We were both too afraid to imbibe even though they sold shots of it there.
We then continued our walk, turned the corner and found a Thai restaurant, which was a welcome change, and turned out to be delicious.
After another long walk through town looking for a taxi, we finally went into a restaurant and asked if they could call us a cab, which he was happy to do. We sure have not encountered any of the “stereotypical” French snootiness we were warned about. Most everyone has been extremely helpful. After arriving back at the hotel, we watched a movie on our laptop and then called it an evening.
