Our Stay On The French Riviera

We left New York on Monday, July 11th, and had a very comfortable flight, although our flight left an hour later due to a lot of traffic. We arrived in Nice seven and a half hours later, on Tuesday, July 12th, but 10:30 France’s time. The sun was shining brightly. A taxi met us and drove us to our hotel, Le Grimaldi, a lovely inn with a great restaurant and just 5 guest rooms. It in Cagnes sur Mer and was in a medieval village at the very top of Haut de Sur. Our mouths dropped open as the driver went up steep winding roads that were narrow and two way “streets.” The view at the top was glorious where we were able to see the towns below and the Alps. We were nicely greeted and our room was most comfortable with the same beautiful view. Our room did not have a TV or a phone (the owner said that was because everyone has a cell phone). Most of the guests we saw and patrons of the restaurant were European as this is where they come to vacation. After we settled, we took a shuttle bus that went down to the Village of Cagnes de Sur and then took a bus for a brief ride to pick up our car rental. Our car was a Pugeot with a manual transmission. Nelson did great although we were a little nervous at first. We did admit thatthe French drive at a respectable pace (nothing like in Rome or we would have been wiped out)! We then drove to Nice. Another thing, the signs for getting around were excellent and made it unlikely to get too lost. We walked around the town, mind you were somewhat sleepy due to our long journey, but we were determined to make it through the day so that we could transition to European time. We had a drink/soda at a Cuban restaurant, La Havane, and ate dinner at a Moroccan restaurant, Le Tajine d’Or---no French food as yet, could you believe? We then headed back to our inn, back up the winding narrow streets, holding our breath. As I already said, there was a restaurant at our inn with about 4 others adjoining. As well, our inn was located right next to a major tourist site, so there was no parking to be had. Cars were double and tripled parked and it didn’t seem to bother a soul as folks just left their cars and went off to eat and have a merry time. Mind you, we Americans are more “type A” so Nelson & I were disturbed, as we were sleepy and tired, from our long journey, and just wanted to shower and hit the sack. After our prodding the head hostess “somewhat”, we were able to get her spot. You can’t imagine the chaos with the cars—it was quite amazing, especially that no gave it a second thought! How I wish I could be like that! We slept very well that night.
In the morning, Wednesday, July 13th, we had wonderful croissants and coffee and met the owner, Rick, who was from guess where? Good old New York! He was a banker---a young guy, maybe in his 30’s and left Manhattan for France to buy this inn. He was friendly enough and readily acknowledged our parking dilemma the night before. He said he would work it out for us to get a parking pass at the lot below (which was full the night before). He also advised us that the inn was having a band and dancing on Bastille Day, Thursday, July 14th (nothing could beat Paris as far as we were concerned)!


Cannes, France
Nelson and I then headed down the winding steep roads to Antibes to the beach Juan les Pin where we “rented” a spot for the day—chaise lounges, towels, sunshine and a magnificent view. We were able to have beverages and lunch, all on site and just had to pay once at the end of the day. There we sat for 6 wonderful hours. The sea was delicious. The Europeans were there in full force enjoying their own time off. Afterward, we were able to shower and walked on the boardwalk enjoying the sites, stopping at some of the shops where I bought a cute pair of pink clogs, had some gelato and the best dinner at Festival de la Mer. Nelson had sea bass and I had duck. We then shared a trio of crème Brule that had 3 different flavors, one being raspberry---just deeelicious! We walked around to take it all in and then headed back to our inn where we readily got parking ion this underground garage near our inn, where our host had made prior arrangements. Neither Nelson or I had ever seen a garage like this—we had to drive the car into a “room” into the right position, step out, and the car then descended into the ground. There was a camera that allowed us to see what was happening and we saw the car taken away and parked. Nelson didn't get it quite right and the attendant got a little exasperated but I sympathized with him and he calmed down. A wonderful day it was!

Thursday, July 14th: Bastille Day, After breakfast, we took off for St. Paul de Vence, which is four miles from the coast and was built as a border fortification between Province and Savoy. The ramparts that surround the village were built in 1536 and remain intact. We had lunch in a charming restaurant surrounded by olive trees with a gorgeous view. I bought some pottery and Nelson bought a straw hat. We then headed to the beach at Juan le Pin and hung out there for a few hours. Both Nelson and I had a massage by a lady who made her living by giving massages to folks on the beach. We were then lucky to find a table at a restaurant (Bulon Bleu where the young waiter was just terrific), facing the sea, had a good dinner and sat there to watch the fire works on the sea. We had the best time and all was just terrific, What was most fun was the “ boardwalk parade” or watching all the folks walking on the boardwalk, especially the older couples who were dressed beautifully. We then headed back to our inn and faced another parking mishap at the underground parking garage. Nelson just couldn't get it right and the attendant didn't hesitate to roll his eyes. Once again, He calmed down when I sympathizied with him. We laughed our way up the hill to our inn.

On Friday, July 15th, we took a ride to San Remo in Italy, on the Italian Riviera. It was most beautiful with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other side. We had lunch at a beach resort and had our dinner(home made as we bought delicious salami, cheeses, and bread to make our Italian style sandwiches from local shops) sitting on a ledge right near the sea, where there were little boats docked on the bay side and sailboats on the sea. It was a beautiful sight! We spent the day there roaming through the old streets and stopping at some shops. Nelson bought shoes today –sandals and sneakers! Actually tonight we called it any early night as we hit the sack about 11 vs. our usual 2am. We are planning to spend the day in Nice tomorrow, as we didn’t really see it well enough on our first day here.
Saturday, July 16th was spent in Nice. We had a glorious day walking on the Promenade, stopping in to shop at the Gallerie Lafayette (a beautiful well known store in France) and walking in Old Nice. We walked all the way up to the top of Nice where we could clearly see its magnificence with the sea and the mountains surrounding it. We had some Perrier at a small café at the top just taking in as much of the view that we possibly could. We then walked around the old town that is full of galleries and merchants. We enjoyed a very good paella (nothing like Nelson’s but good) at one of the many restaurants. While Nelson sipped his expresso, I walked around to see some of the goods being sold at an outside market. We then walked around the old town some more and strolled along the Promenade which was bustling with folks strolling and entertainers of all sorts. We sat to enjoy the sea on this most magnificent night with the moon a glow. It is truly a gorgeous town and clearly the place where Europeans from every country visit for a wonderful vacation. It has been so much fun to see folks from everywhere in beautiful clothes, talking different languages (but mostly French). My Nelson and I had a beautiful day on the French Riviera!
On Sunday, July 17, 2005, we took a “vacation from our vacation” and decided to just sit on the beach all day at the Beau Rivage Hotel. We started our day by going into town to have our breakfast. It was fun sitting there with the locals. And the French actually do carry baskets as they shop so they can put their groceries in them. We then headed to the beach in Nice. It was glorious seeing the sites, taking in the sun, and just being pampered. And yes, women can and do go topless if they wish—it’s not even thought about. At our beach, we had lounge chairs, towels, beverages, food, etc., all at our fingertips.The day was gorgeous and to swim in the see facing the coastline is just unbelievably beautiful. The beaches are full of rocks, however, not sand like ours, so it can be rough on your feet. During the afternoon, I took a walk into town to visit the market. We were at the beach from 10 until 630, took our showers, and headed for town. We visited a casino and had something to drink and visited Hotel Negresco which was just gorgeous. We then had dinner and headed for our inn. And yes, Nelson still didn't get the parking right. The attendant was about to strangle him. What a funny sight! Oh, what a wonderful and exhausting day!!!
Monday, July 18, 2005, was a raining day. We went into town so that we could do some laundry. Then we went off to Antibes to visit the Picasso museum, which was unfortunately closed. We then walked through Antibes' old town, had crepes for lunch, and then headed for Cannes. We saw the famous film festival location, walked through the town's main streets, and had dinner at Aus…where we enjoyed a wonderful fresh fish platter. We experienced an interesting event at the restaurant. The restaurant, we were seated ouysaide, was full of guests. Most were enjoying fresh fish and bottles of wine. There suddenly was an angry outburst by one of the waiters against another waiter. He was yelling in French,of course, and was furious. He also pounded his fist on one of the tables. Suddendly and simultaneously, all of the guests (who were mostly French but there were other Europeans as well), got up and just left their tables where they were either starting , in the middle of, or ending their meals. They just got up and left—folks from at least 6 tables. Since we didn't understand what the French waiter was yelling about, he did look threatening, so we just followed everyone's lead and left. None of us paid, we just left, and no one stopped us, The waiters were paying close attention to the fight and it appered that they were concerned about preventing a disaster. We wondered if maybe the really angry waiter made some threatening remarks. We felt bad about not paying but we thiught it best to follow everyone's lead as we didn't understand what was being said. We easily decompressed by walking through the town and walking up hill to the tower at the top of Cannes. The view was lovely. The day eventually cleared up.There were very upscale stores with clothes and shoes that were one of a kind designer items and such that I have never seen the likes of except on the Academy Awards shows. We had coffee and I had gelato (coco) and we headed back to our hotel. Guess what? Nelson parked just right tonoght. The attendant and I made the sign of the cross.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005_breakfast in town, Monaco—palace, cathedral, museum (Napoleon), casino, Hotel de Paris, yachts, view, gardens, film, dinner near Monte Carlo. toilet seats, family from the night before in Cannes.
Wednesday, July 29th, was a beach bum day for us at Antibes. Nelson still enjoyed looking at the topless bathers and he said with much glee that he was “all boobed out”. We also went on a boat ride that took us to the Cap de Antibes. We had dinner at Festival de Mer where the food is delicious especially their tri flavored crème de brulee—um um good! We then walked around on the pier and sat in the park listening to a jazz band. We had a beautiful day!
Thursday, July 21: car, market (oil from vat, goat cheese, parma, bologna, & bread), chateaux (Suzy Solidor)(lunch in the square-ate what we got at the market). Real estate, Eze, hat, Limoge, pizza.
Alas, Friday, July 22, was our last day:( And how did we spend our last day? On the beach, in Nice, of course! As Nelson wouldn't budge from the beach, it was just as well as it allowed me to take my last walk into the old town to say my farewell to Jacque, Pierre, Andre, and Philippe. They pleaded with me to stay but I told them, weeping fiercely, that I had to return to Nelson and to my sweet daughter, Katie. We made a pact to meet again next year at the same time and place. It was so difficult to say our farewells but I needed to do what was right. Oh, a conscience can be such an awful thing! After the beach, we returned to our inn. We had a fabulous dinner there while a jazz band played in the square. We then went to a jazz bar next door where a great trio was playing. We had a beautiful last day.
We left on Saurday, July 23, to return home. We left with wonderful memories and a sad heart. Once again, our vacation was far better than any honeymoon, and I had two! Thank you to my Nelson for yet another fabulous and loving vacation.

http://nnavarro.blogspot.com/