Day 41, Wednesday, Antibes

Breakfast at Hotel Relais du Chambrieres was very good too, especially for €8. We have an approximate limit on brekky. More than €10 is too much, and we decline it.

We set off to drive the most direct route to Antibes, along the D4085 and D6085 through the Parc Naturel Regional du Verdon. The hotel proprietor recommended Moustiers Saint Marie, but we had been there, and along the Gorge du Verdon a couple of times before. Not to be missed if you haven’t seen it though. I plan to be back next year on a motorcycle.

The drive was fabulous. We’d driven north on it before, but not south. Surprising how green the country still is after the hot summer. We passed a sign to a Citroen museum. Since we were driving a Citroen, the appropriate thing to do was to turn back and take a look, but the museum was closed, for some period between 4 hours and 8 months.

We could not afford to wait four hours for the museum to open, if it opens at all in October.

The sign inside the windscreen identifies this car as a Citroen DS21 Pallas. I remember seeing them on the road in Australia. It had revolutionary self levelling suspension. Citroen sold nearly 1.5 million of them.

Further on, Castellane had abundant free parking just across the river from the town centre. We pulled in and walked back over the bridge into the centre. We’d stayed here before in 2007, but I’d forgotten what an attractive town it is.

Central square in Castellane, dominated by the Chapelle Notre Dame du Roc

Maybe I’ve become fixated with it. This is the 13th century clock. Jet trails are very numerous in southern France. More planes in the sky than birds.

The terrible toll on France of two world wars. Thirty two people here from the Castellane area in WW1, and this is only A-G. The WW2 deaths in August 1944 may be from the liberation of Paris. France has war memorials everywhere, as has Australia.

I could live here. It’s on the Route Napoleon, handy to the Gorge du Verdon, the Alps, the Cote d’Azur, Corsica and Italy. Great sunny climate, but affordable. A 150sq metre house goes for about €300k, not very different to most of Australia. Castellane might be a bit cold in winter, as it is at 1200m. Our later descent to the coast was very long, with smashing views to the Mediterranean. Even better on a motorbike. I once read that the South of France is a cold country with sunny weather. Vis a vis latitude, it’s about the same as Hobart. I couldn’t live in Hobart.

On the drive down to Antibes we had to disobey Camille repeatedly, as usual. Are you crazy? I’m not turning off the main road to go down there!

Apparently we selected this separate cabin at Le Ponteil in Antibes by pulling into the most secluded parking spot to check in. No wifi.

Plage de la Gravette, with Cagnes sur Mer and Nice in the distance, alps behind.

Antibes Old Centre seems more extensive than that of Nice, and has its own character.

I have often stared at these fan patterns trying to understand how they work. Outlining the fans makes it easy to see how they tile the area.

This was taken from next to a secret patisserie that I’m sure not many tourists find.

Looking through a port in the old city wall at a group of umbrella pines near the harbour.

Map of Old Antibes in tiles on one side of the port.

Old lavanderie, used to wash clothes. Seen in many villages we have visited. The French are careful to preserve them.

We are handing in the Citroen tomorrow at Nice Airport, so tonight we must organise our possessions into a form that can be lugged onto a bus for the airport on Friday and checked in.