In the summer of 2011, I spent a week in the French Riviera with my then fiance and soon to be wife. We traveled there shortly after our engagement. We spent three days in Monaco, two days in Nice, and a day each in Cannes and Antibes. We were very impressed by the magnificent blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the pretty but crowded beaches, and the buzz of some of the pretty towns dotting the coastline.
The Cathedral is dedicated to Ste Reparate. The Baroque church
dates back to the 17th century.
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| Cathedral |
The Russian Church was completed in
1912 in memory of a member of the Russian royal family who died in Nice in
1965. The exterior has pink brick and grey marble. Inside, there is an
impressive collection of icons.
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| Russian Church |
Notre
Dame du Port was completed in
1853. It has a facade with classical colonnades added in 1896.
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| Notre Dame du Port |
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| Interior, Notre Dame du Port |
Monastere de Cimiez is
situated on a hill overlooking the town. It is surrounded by a cemetery, Lower
down the hill is a place called Les Arenes,
remains of a Roman colony, with an old amphitheatre.
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| Monastere de Cimiez |
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| Death of Christ, Monastere de Cimiez |
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| Death of the Virgin, Monastere de Cimiez |
Place
Massena is the town’s main
square. The large square is a place for public gatherings and concerts.
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| Place Massena |
Cannes, a
town with a population of about 75,000, is known for its association with the
rich and famous, its beaches, its iconic luxury hotels, and its annual Cannes
Film Festival and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The town
started off as a Greek settlement in the 2nd century BC.
Hotels like Hotel Carlton and Grand Hotel lie along Promenade de la Croisette, a waterfront avenue
lined with palm trees, and full of hotels, restaurants, cafes and boutiques.
Hotel
Carlton was completed in 1913
for Henry Ruhl, a Swiss hotelier.
The hotel has over 300 rooms. It is part of the Intercontinental Group of
hotels. Many celebrities and movie stars regularly stay at the hotel, and
several movies have been shot there.
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| Hotel Carlton |
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| Grand Hotel |
Cannes
Cinema Mural is a well known mural on the facade of a cinema at Place Cornut-Gentille.
The mural features famous names from the world of cinema, like Charlie Chaplin and Mickey Mouse.
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| Cannes Cinema |
Musee de la Castre has
objects from the Pacific, Peruvian relics and Mayan pottery.
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| Musee de la Castre |
War
Memorial is a memorial built
to commemorate French soldiers who died in World War I.
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| War Memorial |
Notre
Dame de Bon Voyage started
as a small chapel and fisherman’s shelter in the 15th century. The current structure dates back to the 19th century. The church has some exquisite stain glass windows. In 1815, the church
was the first stop of Napoleon when he returned from Elba.
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| Notre Dame de Bon Voyage |
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| Stain Glass, Notre Dame de Bon Voyage |
Notre
Dame de l’Esperance was completed in
1627. It is a Gothic style church with a Romanesque bell tower. Above the main
altar, there is a statue of Our Lady Of Hope in gilded wood.
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| Bell Tower, Notre Dame de l'Esperance |
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| Virgin and Child Statue, Notre Dame de l'Esperance |
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| View of Hotel de Ville, Notre Dame de l'Esperance |
Antibes
has a population of around 75,000, and is a prosperous town, with many wealthy
people having their luxurious villas there. Antibes was formed in the 4th century BC as a Greek colony and was originally called Antipolis. The town is known
for its large yachting harbour, its Cathedral, several interesting museums
(including a Picasso Museum) and Marine Land (a water park with regular shows).
Port Vauban is the largest yachting harbour in Europe, with over 2,000 yachts. It's a testament to the great wealth of the town.
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| Port Vauban |
Fort
Carre is a 16th century star shaped fort on the outskirts of Antibes. The fort’s fortifications
are supposed to have been built by the Romans but Henry III built the fort in
the mid 16th century. The fort was strengthened by Vauban in the 1680s. In 1794, Napoleon was briefly
imprisoned in the fort.
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| Fort Carre |
Antibes
Cathedral dates back to 1747,
though there was a church at the site of the present cathedral as far back as
the 6th century.
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| Antibes Cathedral |
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| High Altar, Antibes Cathedral |
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| Pieta, Antibes Cathedral |
Marche
Provincial is the local market
that has stalls selling vegetables, fruits and other necessities.
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| Marche Provincial |
Hotel
de Ville is the Town Hall of
Antibes.
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| Hotel de Ville |
Marineland was founded in 1970.
It has a marine zoological park, where one can see polar bears, penguins, seals
, sharks, turtles and other marine
animals. The park is also famous for its dolphin and killer whale shows.
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| Dolphin, Marine Land |
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| Killer Whale, Marine Land |
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| Penguins, Marine Land |
A week in the region was enough to give us a good flavour of the French Riviera, but it certainly wasn't enough for us to do full justice. Traveling around was easy because of the great train service in the region, and the fact that towns are very close to one another. I was very keen on seeing Musee Renoir, the house of the impressionist painter Auguste Renoir, in Cagnes-sur-Mer. We caught a train and went there, but unfortunately the museum was shut that day, so it was a wasted trip. It would have been great fun to explore other towns like Saint Tropez too, but time didn't permit. All in all, it was an exciting, fun packed week for us!
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