FRANCE
Antibes
Antibes is a city on the Riviera with a historical wellpreserved core with narrow streets and squares, surrounded by the wellpreserved city walls, through its gate you enter the old town. A much more modern city has been built around the walls of the old town, so it is much larger than it appears when you are in the old town, Antibes is actually the 2nd largest city on the Riviera. But in the center, Antibes is much more typical French than its neighbours Nice and Cannes, and it is the favourite town on the Riviera for some of my friends. Antibes and is the closest city to Roquefort-les-Pins, the village where we stayed. Antibes is really an art city where many famous artists such as Picasso and the Swedish poet Evert Taube have been active, that you can see in the art shops and museums. Antibes has a twin town, Juan-les-Pins, that is now actually a part of Antibes, together with Golf Juan. That is where most of the hotels and nightclubs in the commune are.
The gate to the medieval city center of Antibes, that is a part of the old city wall. You can walk on top of the wall.
The street on top of the wall. You can see Nice in the background, where the helicopter is.
The beach of Antibes with views to the Alps.
Le Fort Carré from 1550. The yachts are between the old town walls and the fort.
A map of the old town, Le Vieil Antibes, sits on the city wall.
The Picasso museum inside the old stronghold, built by Grimaldi.
Church of the Immaculate Conception from the 18th century, originally from the 11th century.
One of the winding streets of Antibes.
An absinthe bar, the forbidden drink in some countries!
La Taille de Guêpe is a very special restaurant, since you get you diner together with eatable flowers. A unique experience!
The beautiful Cap d'Antibes.
Antibes from above, taken from our airplane.
JUAN-LES-PINS:
Juan-les-Pins is a twin town to Antibes, now incorporated in Antibes. It is a 24 hour tourist town and that is where most of the hotels and nightclubs in the commune are.
Juan-les-Pins is like a separate town, but is part of the city Antibes-Juan-les-Pins. It is where the jetset comes to party. The luxiorious hotels, the flashy casinos, the expensive bars, the nightclubs and the longest beaches are all in Juan-les-Pins.
In Juan-les-Pins many stores are open 24 hours a day, every day. Even if you come to Juan-les-Pins on a Monday night or a Sunday night, it is crowded with people and luxury cars, everywhere.
The is a tropical park in the middle with many palms, where the casino also is.
Along the beach there are open air bars and restaurant right next to the shoreline.
If the town of Antibes is where the cultural people come, Juan is where you come to party. A bit too crowded and busy for my taste!
There is a star walk where you can see the hand prints of some famous people. This one is from the jazz guitarist Pat Metheny.
An abandoned hotel i Juan.
On our visit of Juan-les-Pins in 2008, me and my girlfriend were lucky to see fireworks on our last night, before we continued to Italy.
VILLENEUVE-LOUBET:
Villeneuve-Loubet is a small town with just 13 000 inhabitants, between Antibes and Nice. Despite its small size, there is a striking residential complex with curvy design that is one of the few examples of exciting highrise design on the French Riviera. This photo is taken from the airplane, just before landing in Nice.
ANTIBES-JUAN-LES-PINS:
Population:
73 000 (together with Juan-les-Pins)
Year: 2001, 2002 and 2008
Region: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur