Dave and I just spent a lovely two days on a vacation within a vacation on the Cote d’Azur – sunbathing, relaxing, people watching and eating very well.
The French Riviera is a series of chic cities that line the Southern shores of France along the Mediterranean Sea. It starts with Monte Carlo in Monaco to the north, followed to the Southwest by Nice, Antibes, Cannes and St. Tropez. We chose to stay in Antibes, which is known to be a bit less urban than Nice and more low-key than the ritzy Cannes. Antibes has a beachcomber feel – and with its old town, sandy beaches and more affordable accommodations, it seemed to be our speed.
We stayed at Val Des Roses, a perfect little oasis tucked between modern hotels right along the longest sandy beach of Antibes, Plage de la Salis. Val des Roses is a white three-story mansion surrounded by lush gardens. It only has four rooms, so it feels like you have the entire property to yourself. You enter the grounds down a side alley with a private gate. Outside the entrance, it is only a 50ft walk to the most beautiful beach in Antibes. And inside the walls, you can definitely escape from reality. The best of both worlds.
The owner of Val des Roses is the uber-trendy, uber-friendly, 28-year-old Filipe from Belgium. Filipe and his family started the place 14 years ago, and he has since taken it over. Not bad to be running one of the best small hotels in Antibes at only 28 years old.
Almost as a mirror to the French Riviera itself, the hotel was decorated in a very chic, beachy style. Everything was white: the walls, the curtains, the floors, the furniture, the beach umbrellas – and the accents and cushions were all sparkly turquoise and shimmery silver. The wine coolers and self-serve snack bars were stainless steel and the countertops were black marble. The garden was lush, with all of the palm trees and flowers perfectly placed to hide the surrounding buildings so you truly felt tucked away in your own personal Antibes.
Dave had I had the room on the top floor with a large bed, a whirlpool tub and windows on each side overlooking the pool and the sea. It had exposed beams in the ceiling and a dark wooden screen separating the tub from the rest of the room.
Breakfast was set up in the sunroom each morning by 8:30. It was an impressive collection of fruits, pastries, cheeses, sausage, jams, eggs for hardboiling, squeeze your own orange juice and fresh strong coffee. You filled your large white square plate and walked it out to the deck with sun umbrellas and a view of the morning sun over the Mediterranean.
Each morning, I went for a 5-mile run along the beach on the top of the ancient stone wall lining Old Antibes. I would turn around at the Antibes Yacht Club (the largest port for yachts along the French Riviera). These boats were like small islands, sparkling clean with large crews to staff each one. It was a glimpse into another life.
After my run, I met Dave down by the pool and we headed to the beach. Plage de la Salis stretched from one end at the Cap d’Antibes (a gated community filled with expensive villas) to the other end at the start of the stone walls to the old town. It was a narrow beach, which was okay – because even on the weekend, it wasn’t very crowded. The seas were a calm turquoise blue with soft sand bars for wading. People spent a lot of time in the water floating on rafts, taking in the sun. Every 100 feet or so there was a food stand selling paninis, crepes and “American” hot dogs. A ham, tomato, gruyere panini on the beach beats a greasy hamburger and fries any day.
The sunbathers were an interesting cross section: French families with young children, young travelers from all over Europe, Italians, older French women sunbathing topless and many British tourists with blazing white skin. It was refreshing to lie there and not hear any conversations in English, the voices would blend in with the sounds of the sea and you weren’t distracted by anything but your own thoughts.
Dave and I spent a wonderful day lounging and swimming. We made the decision to stay there and not drive up the coast to Nice or Monte Carlo. We needed a vacation!
After a cool dip in our hotel pool and plenty of time to relax and get cleaned up – Dave and I put on our fancy clothes and headed out for a top notch dinner in the glamorous Cannes.
Cannes – where the rich and wannabe famous come out to play! It is quite the place. Dave and I got there early for our dinner reservation and spent some time strolling down the famous La Croisette (promenade). On one side, was the beautiful sea with sandy private beach clubs, down the middle, huge palm trees and on the other side, some of the most glamorous hotels I’ve ever seen with stores fronts of every major designer. For the women reading this blog: Prada, Miu Miu, Chanel, Louis Vutton, Valentino, D & G. For the men reading this blog: down the street rolled, Audis, BMWs, Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Ferraris, Porches (including an Audi that Dave priced around 400K). And through it all walked beautiful men and women who were wearing those clothes, driving those cars and living the life. Intermingled, were tourists like us – with cameras – snapping pictures and taking it all in.
For one night, Dave and I lived above our means and had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant I found on Epicurious.com called Mantel. Decadent food and impeccable service. We were wined and dined. I started with a tomato mozzarella salad, unlike any I had tried before. The mozzarella was so mild and light. The waiter said that the variety of mozzarella was specifically named on the menu because it was such a special variety. Dave started with watercress, artichoke and parmesan salad. For the main course, I had a perfectly cooked rack of lamb with roasted vegetables and Dave had the lightest, creamiest risotto I’ve ever tasted, topped with gently fried zucchini blossoms. For dessert we had four small bites: a pannacotta with raspberry coulis, a strawberry tart, tiramisu and chocolate mousse with a cocoa powder dusting. And over café and cappuccino, we sampled their homemade marshmallows. They were airy and fluffy and lightly dusted with orange blossom-laced sugar. Unfortunately, the restaurant was too fancy for food picture taking, but I couldn’t resist a quick shot of the marshmallows in the glass jar that was delivered to the table.
After dinner, Dave and I strolled the streets of Cannes and watched all of the beautiful (and trying to be beautiful) people strut in and out of restaurants, hotels and casinos or cruise up and down the main drag in their outrageous cars. Around midnight, we were glad to head back to Antibes and to, our now seemingly quaint, Val des Roses.
This morning, we milked our final day on the coast. I got up early and went for another run. We were at breakfast by 9 and on the beach by 9:30 to get in another hour of sunshine and sea-soaking before having to check out at 11. After saying goodbye to Filipe, his cat and turtle, we left our little oasis and started the long drive toward the Pyrenees.
About two hours outside of Antibes, we stopped for an hour to explore Aix en Provence, the old capital city of Provence and had lunch at a café on the main boulevard. And now, as I type, we are driving straight through to Bagneres du Luchon in the Pyrenees – which will be our home for the next five days. We are just starting to see the mountains in the distance. With luck and no hiccups, we will arrive at our next hotel, Villa Florida, around 9 tonight.
Now that we’ve had our little vacation, we’re rested and ready to get back to the business of the Tour de France and to conquering the steep climbs of the Cols of the Pyrenees.
(On a side note, we've since arrived in Luchon and our hotel, Villa Florida. We only barely drove through the town at dusk - but we can already tell that we're in love. It will be heaven to call this place home for five days. Stories to come...)
No comments:
Post a Comment