Scenery on the train from Arles to Marseille was incredibly ugly, so many factories. Things improved after we transited through Marseille and on to Antibes. Beautiful seascapes and red tiled roofs typical on the Cote d’Azur. A three night stop in Antibes was perfect. The town was packed with tourists but still relatively pleasant. We stayed in the old town – narrow, cobbled streets, old houses, and plenty of restaurants and boutiques. Wandered the town and ancient ramparts, then chowed down on moules frites (Ross’ favourite).
Weather was unsettled the next day, but decided to train to Nice in the afternoon anyway. Extremely crowded there and it had changed considerably since we lived there in 1980. Checked out the interesting Chagall Museum, poked around the old town (more narrow, cobbled streets), strolled along the Promenade des Anglais, then ate more moule frites for dinner! Highlight was finding a socca booth so that we could once again nibble our favourite Nicoise snack. Socca is a sort of savory crepe made with chickpea flour and seasoned with pepper. Ross has been unable to satisfactorily recreate it at home.
Time to visit another country! Trained to Monaco the following morning in time to do an audio tour of the famous Monte Carlo Casino. Lavishly, garishly decorated with a fascinating history. Treated ourselves to lunch in its ‘Le Salon Rose’ overlooking the Mediterranean. Kind of nice to spend Canada Day in another country with red and white as its flag colours. Train back to Antibes in time to visit their Picasso Museum in the old Grimaldi Chateau. Pieces on display were not to our taste. A socca dinner to end our day before heading to Marseille in the next morning.
See some pix of the Cote d’Azur at: www.flickr.com/photos/100countries/albums/72177720309588727
