Our first stop in France was in Antibes, a city of just over 75,000 people on what is known as the French Riviera, the Mediterranean coastline in Southeast France. It was founded as Antipolis by the Greeks in approximately the 4th century BC, and then was later part of the Roman Empire, Genoa, and eventually France in 1481.
Like most of our stops in Italy, there was a great seafront walk and also a great local market. The market was a bit more expensive than the ones in Italy, probably because it is in a tourist area and the market gets tourists daily, sometimes by the busload as was the case during our first visit (later markets in France have been less expensive than the one in Antibes).
Marché Provencal, AntibesIncredible spice/seasoning shop in the market
We had a great yard at our Airbnb and great weather the majority of the time allowing us to enjoy it.
Snail in the backyard of our AirbnbWhere we ate lunch and dinner most days
We also enjoyed some art while in the area, along the seafront walk in general, and specifically in the local Picasso Museum. Picasso spent the last part of his life in the area, so work from that time is displayed in the museum. Works by other artists were also on display, including Xavier, whose art we particularly enjoyed. He is Picasso’s great nephew and has a very whimsical style.
Sculpture along the seafront. The seagull is not part of it 😉Sculpture on someone’s terrace near the seafrontDisplay of a painting of the seafront, depicting the same scene that is in the distancePhoto near the entrance to the Picasso museum. This portrait of Picasso was taken with an owl that he rescued that stayed with him in his studio in this location when he lived here. Some of the art on display by XavierThis was a small section of a room painted by Xavier depicting being under the sea. It is hard to photograph or get a scense of the scale of it, but it was very creative and funPart of the “under the sea” room by XavierSome of Picasso’s work displayed was of plates of food he ate. It seems he was eating squid or octopus this day.One of the Picasso exhibits was of a collection of nudes. I liked this one’s smile.Painting of Antibes by PicassoPicasso is not as well-known for his ceramics, but there are several on display at his namesake museum in AntibesDoing a little shopping in Antibes after visiting the museum
