After our visit to the Cinque Terre which I described in the last post we set off along the Riviera Highway through Italy and France for Antibes 200 miles/320 ks away to see Gaz and the
super-yacht of which he is a Chief Engineer.
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| Diane, Mo and MY Ecstasea |
We booked in at a splendid hotel Gaz had found for us:
Hotel Josse.
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| The bland looks belied the interior |
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| Comfy modern rooms with the best bathroom possible in an hotel |
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| Reception area |
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| Breakfast on the terrace served by the most chic person ever to have served me breakfast |
Then wandered through the wonderful old town of Antibes
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| Antibes Old Town |
with the new work of art mentioned in Gaz's blog
here.
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| Figure by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa |
until we went for dinner at this
delightful restaurant run by two ladies who seemed to do everything including turn away a lot of potential customers (because they were full) and treat each customer as the most important they had ever had. The Girls decided this was the best restaurant of the holiday so far.
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| The unassuming entrance gives an idea of the friendly and informal inside |
One can't have an untidy beach now can one?
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| An Antibes beach morning makeover |
I saw Plensa's house of knowledge at Chatsworth. brilliant I spent ages wandering around it.
ReplyDeleteThe ship is like the owners out of this world. Not in the best of taste but then neither is Facebook.
You ate in Antibes and still had petrol money home? You'll be buying a mini-ship next.
I can live with super-yachts and their owners, Adrian, whilst they look after Gaz as well as they do! I can take or leave Facebook but find it handy for keeping in touch with some people. I think Plensa at Chatsworth must have been after my last visit there. The restaurant we went to was one of the least expensive of the good ones according to Gaz. The hotel and meal that evening were my treat as we were seeing Gaz (and the Villa had been Mo's gift!) but I could have bought a Canon EOS550 with lens instead and had some change. The restaurant was, however, the best of the holiday by far. Next time I'll visit him somewhere cheaper though.
DeleteI worked for a time at a lower end of this market. I have no envy of the owners and some are delightful people. I can't imagine commissioning a yacht then becoming bored with it. Money is relative....I would spend a fifth of my worth on a camera and enjoy it. They buy on whim and become bored. That's something I can't understand.
DeleteWhen I docked on the Rivera I found it was cheaper to get a cab out of town. Still not cheap but I paid the cab and won a bit.
Chatsworth has a big Southerby sculpture exhibition every year. I love it. Couldn't afford any of it.
The 550 Canon would last five minutes with me....It would get wet. It's top end or nothing for me.
What a stylish hotel! No wonder the most chic person ever serves there (male or female?).
ReplyDeleteMy cousin lives in Nice with her family, but so far, I only went past Antibes by train on the way to Cannes (which was utterly forgettable, if you ask me - I guess we would have enjoyed Antibes more.).
It never occurred to me Meike that a man might be referred to as chic. This lady was (and I'm not the best judge of ladies' ages) in her 50s and was so immaculate and chic that she outclassed any of the guests (who were, admittedly, like us and on holiday). Never having been to that part of France or Italy before it was quite an experience. The main thing for me was being able to see my son in his 'work' situation.
DeleteLoved the sculpture...and of course since I love sailing, I loved the super yacht.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting Gaz's blog link, got lost in that for a while too....gorgeous photos of gorgeous places....he is a lucky guy to have a job like that to travel, work, and enjoy life at the same time.
Loved the hotel Josse too with its modern amenities and clean uncluttered decor.
It would be nice if our authorities would prepare the "tourist" beaches like that everyday here, but they do rake them clean of debris each morning.
Antibes seems like a nice town to explore...glad you had fun there.
The old town of Antibes was quite interesting Virginia. The yachts in themselves, whilst very impressive, don't really do much for me. Like you, though, I live on an island and was brought up in a major port (Liverpool) where ships were just part of life.
DeleteThat sculpture is a really impressive work of art. Glad for you that you got a chance to meet up with Gaz.
ReplyDeleteThanks Monica. It was a very impressive sculpture.
DeleteI'm returning to this post 16+ months later for another look at this sculpture - because a picture of it (or a very similar one) turned up in a different context and I recognized it and knew I'd seen it before, but where? I thought it might be on your blog, but I did not remember where your photo was from. Luckily as you had included the name of the artist I was able to do a search and find it. The news is that this sculpture (or its identical twin) will soon be coming to "live" in Borås. The name of the sculpture is House of Knowledge, and it will be placed near our Textile Fashion Center (including the textile college).
DeleteI look forward to seeing the sculpture in its Borås home Monica.
DeleteWhat a wonderful post, GB. Antibes always sounds so wonderful, I suppose it's the associations with the name, too - it was one of THE places in the 20s and 30s, wasn't it. The hotel fits into the general image I have - it is a lovely decor. And your picture of the sculpture by Jaume Plensa really interested and impressed me. I don't know whether it is the lighting in the shot, but it has an almost surreal feel, as if the sculpture is fading into or being absorbed into the cityscape. I haven't heard of him before and will google him after posting this.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny. Antibes was and, in a way still is, one of THE places. Certainly if the line up of expensive super-yachts, cars, shops and restaurants is anything to go by. I was a long way from the sculpture and took it with a long focus lens. I think that the city in the background is Nice. If someone knows better I'd be grateful if they'd tell us.
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