Tuesday 23rd August

It’s a funny feeling seeing buses with Cannes, Nice, St Tropez on the front and ordinary people getting on them. We never hear anything but glamor about these places back home. Today we decided to go to the Isle Sainte Marguerite for the day. We caught the bus into Antibes and then there was a bit of a muckup as we didn’t really know where the bus to Juan les Pins went from. You can use your one euro ticket for one hour so we got to and from for €1 each. We got off the bus at Juan and walked fast along the promenade as the boat was about to go but as it turned out we had plenty of time.

The boat trip took about an hour which was extra to what the timetable said but we did call in to a yacht harbour near Cannes and a whole lot of extra people got on board. The size of the boats in the harbour staggered us and we have read that the biggest pleasure boats in the world are able to moor in any of three or four harbours on the French Rivera. We got off the boat on the island and went looking for some place to put our togs on – couldn’t find a toilet so next best thing a beer at the bar and use their toilet. We bought bagettes and went looking for a beach. There was none but we found a spot under a tree on a shore where the ground had a lot of wood chip on it. Not too many people and the temperature was cooler than it had been previous days and there was a breeze. Lay our towels out and lay down – it was lovely. Eventually we had lunch and then after the prescribed time we went for a swim. Getting into the water wasn’t easy as the stones under foot were sharp but once in the luke warm water we didn’t have to worry until we got out.

Whilst we were swimming hordes of people descended onto our strip of shady land and started laying out their towels and blankets. Talk about close. If I hadn’t left my hat off the side of my towel the woman next to me would have been within .500mm away and that could have been closer. No place for us to stretch out and anyway it was about half an hour until our return boat came so we up sticks and wandered off. We got back to Juan and the first thing that hit us was the temperature – so much hotter than our day on the island. Two buses and back to the pool at our hotel to cool off.

I might now tell you a little about the history of this place. Antibes – Juan les Pins, two names for a single town in the heart of the Cote d’Azur. This is a very old part of the world. The Greeks used Antibes, know as Antipolis, as a trading port 300BC. Then the Romans used it and every other nation laid claim to it at some stage until the Grimaldi Family put walls up around the town in the 17th century to stop the Barbary pirates and other enemies. The Grimaldi Castle is now the Picasso Museum and was also once the home of Graham Greene. Victor Hugo spent time here and a bust bears witness to the poets’ awe. Guy de Maupassant dropped anchor often on Bel Ami. Juan les Pins was nothing one hundred years ago apart from a lot of pine trees. Some fellow and I can’t remember his name saw Florida with its palm trees and thought that he would like to create the same here. There are luxury hotels and shops here and it was the home of Rudolf Valentino. There is an annual jazz festival that the likes of Ray Charles and Miles Davis made their European debuts at the sandy beaches and promenades and this is where waterskiing was born. High society from all over the world came here to be admired and we haven’t seen anyone we know?