Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Monaco

Thursday 12th June

Up bright and early and on the road to the places of the rich and famous.

We head back to Pampalona Beach to take a look. Disappointed as access to beach is all closed off except for a small patch which is screened off. A few nice boats in the bay. No celebrity spotting!

The traffic to get from where we were staying to St Tropez was horrendous - worse than Auckland peak hour! Think this place is outgrowing its roads.

Off to Cannes and Antibes just a bit further up coast.

Cannes

Just a few nice boats - no red carpet for our arrival. Lovely beachfront area, but as with most of this coastline, a lot of the beach areas are designated to hotels.  We decide to stop in Antibes for a swim.

Beautiful day 30+ degrees again.

This is the old Antibes town - medieval fort. The super yachts are parked up on the other side.

The water's lovely. Nice to cool off.

The view looking down to Nice. Nice is a huge city - very sprawled out over hills.

The drive down into Monaco is really winding. Can imagine Grace Kelly all those years ago on these roads and sure that wouldn't be as good as they are now.

Downtown Monaco. Some monster boats! Very flash cars driving about. Pretty busy place. Not really our kind of place, but great to see it.

We head back to our hotel at Cagnes Sur Mer, not far from Nice, and a bit quieter, for a swim and dinner. Still 30 degrees outside at 7pm!  Love the warmth.

Fantastic French Riviera

Wednesday 11th June

Car packed and heading for the famous French Riviera. It's already 28 degrees at 9am.

We head through Marseilles, it's a huge city. We hit there at rush hour. it's crazy almost as bad as Hanoi. Cars coming from all directions. Sam manages to dodge them. I'm sure the blood pressure must be up though.

Cassis is our first stop for brunch. It's gorgeous  - could definitely stay here. Not a bad spot for brunch. A beautiful fishing village. Today is market day. All sorts for sale.  All fresh produce plus cheese, olives, salamis - yum!

The water is so clear here.

Fresh fish and all veges etc you need at the market.

There are gorgeous places all along the coast. All are pretty built up areas, much like the Gold Coast. The beaches are nice, but I personally think New Zealand beaches are way nicer, it's just that we don't have the lovely warm climate and warm water to swim in.

A boat is a bit of a must around these parts. There are plenty of them.

 

  We stopped off in Bandol for a swim and a bit of a bite to eat.

We make our way to St Maxime. Passing through, Toulon - another huge city,

St Maxime is just around the bay from St Tropez. The famous Pampalona Beach is a bit out of town, will check that out tomorrow.

Time to check in and have a swim. Nearly 6.30pm, but still 30 degrees outside and sun shining.

Then the all important part finding a place for dinner!

Beautiful Gelato ice cream to finish!

Nimes - Pont du Gard - Aix en Provence

Tuesday 10th May

This morning we head to Nimes, bit of a back track, but yesterday we just got too hot.

Today's looking like it's going to be even hotter!

Nimes has the best preserved Colosseum in the world. It's second biggest to the Colosseum in Rome. Built in 100AD. It is still used today for concerts and most of all bull fighting. It seated 24,000 in its hey day, but now seats 10,000. We take the tour - incredible to imagine being in the Colosseum all those years ago. The thought of men being sent in to the lions is horrible. Would have been plenty of blood shed here in the past.

The tunnels below

The view from the top - so steep. It's 37 degrees here, certainly too hot to sit and watch anything. Years ago they had like big sails that went over the top. Could do with them today.

The view of Monument and over the city.

Matadors costume - very sparkly and intricate designs.

One of the champion bulls - weighed 575kg - frightening to be in the ring with that.

The Maison Carree - one of the best preserved roman temples of its kind. Built in 20BC.

Next stop Pont du Gard about 26 kms from Nimes. The Romans built this aqueduct to supply water to many to Nimes and surrounding villages in Nimes in 1 AD. 

This is the very top of the bridge - open to walk along in the height of summer. Unfortunately we're a bit early. An incredible construction. 

It's probably the hottest day we've had 38 on car temperature gauge. We head for cold drinks and food - late lunch at a nearby village and the in Aix en Provence to our hotel.

Aix en Provence is famous for its fountains. There are 40 in all, but this is the biggest standing 12 metres high and representing agriculture, justice and the arts.

Another lovely meal in the city centre and home for an early night. The heat has been really zapping today.