![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Well, stone me. I got my act together and was at the bus station by 9.15am for the 200 bus to Antibes. Here followed one of the unwritten rules of travel -- you never know which buses are going to be crowded without direct experience thereof. This bus was virtually empty compared with the 11.15am bus that I caught to Canes on Tuesday.
But it still took 90 minutes to get to Antibes. This was partly caused by an old favourite -- the broken-down bus. France's traffic system in the south is quite efficient, until a bus breaks down. This will block all known routes to other buses. But the police were on hand fairly quickly.
The police were also on hand quickly when a toytown van crashed into the car in front of it. Toytown vans (you know the type -- the size of a Fiat Panda, but in the shape of a van) are not good things to crash. The driver's head is so close to the windscreen that he couldn't stop his head hitting it.
There was no post yesterday because all I did was make another trek around Cap Ferrat -- easily one of my favourite walks. They are rebuilding the track, which I think will spoil it a bit, although it will make it easier. And you have to give the Nice authorities credit for stuff like this. It must cost a fair amount of money to maintain this path, but they know that doing so is good for business in the metagame sense.
Now, here's a poser. Shouldn't French guide books have place pronounciation names? After all, English guide books have them for Americans (e.g., Lester Square, Barkshire, usw..) For most people I guess that this isn't a problem, but I've just realized that many of my pronouciations are up the creek, simply because I have never heard anyone pronounce the names before (or, if I have, I haven't associated that place with the place in my mispronouncing head). I always saw Antibes as a corollary of litotes. I could just have easily have seen it as a corollary of inscribes or imbibes. It is, of course, none of these things. Its corollary is endives (i.e., Onteeebs). I daresay that all of you knew this and are immediately mocking my ignorance. But, hey, I've learnt something today; you haven't.
First impressions of the town were not good. The centre (Place General de Gaulle) looked very sad. However, things picked up in the walk down to the port.
I then decided to go to the Picasso Museum. Except that by now it was 11.35am, and the museum shuts from noon to 2pm. Hmm, I thought. I know. I'll walk round Cap d'Antibes.
This was a brave thing to try without a map. But what, I thought, could go wrong?
Well, actually, nothing did. I followed my nose and walked all the way to the southern tip of the cape. What I hadn't realized was how far it was to get to Hotel du Cap. And, when I finally got there, I was ready to get the bus back. However, luckily there was a map at the busstop. And, looking at this, I saw that the walk back up the other side was far more direct. It was still a long way (and the walk from Juan Les Pins back to the centre of Antibes was an unwelcome addition) and I reckon I covered six or seven miles. I was definitely getting weary by the time I got to the museum.
Which perhaps meant that I wasn't in the best frame of mind to appreciate it. The Picasso bit alone (on the top floor) makes it worthwhile, and there are two or three special pieces (the Miro, the Amano ((??) violins), but most of the rest seemed to consist of "good second-tier" artists mainly noted for local talent. One notable exception for me was Pierre Souages, of whom I had not previously heard. Here's a guy who is definitely out of the top drawer. I must seek out more of his stuff.
Having got off the bus in the middle of a one-way system, I now had the problem of finding where to get the bus back (without a map, as I said). I followed the one-way system back, but found myself at the railway station. Not sure how that happened, but by now I was getting seriously knackered, so I got the train back.
A far superior choice! Only EUR 3.90, 29 minutes, and a quick hop onto the tram southwards to Place Massena. I'd been slightly thrown by the destination of "Vintmille" put on the front of the train, but I asked a young chap if it went to Nice, and he said yes. As soon as I was on the train I realized that Vintmille was, of course, Ventimiglia.
While on the train I checked my emails on the Palm and discovered that I had a leak in the stopcock in the flat downstairs. A quick phone call back to the estate agent's, a go-ahead to bring in the plumbers on Monday, and the whole thing sorted and suited from a train travelling from Antibes to Nice. Modern technology impresses me sometimes. The GBP185 bill impressed me less but, so it goes.
Oh well, time to start packing. Will upload some pictures. I've just realized that there were a couple that I meant to compress for uploading but missed. I'll do a proper update from the proper computer in the next few days.
( pictures of Cap Ferrat, Antibes )
But it still took 90 minutes to get to Antibes. This was partly caused by an old favourite -- the broken-down bus. France's traffic system in the south is quite efficient, until a bus breaks down. This will block all known routes to other buses. But the police were on hand fairly quickly.
The police were also on hand quickly when a toytown van crashed into the car in front of it. Toytown vans (you know the type -- the size of a Fiat Panda, but in the shape of a van) are not good things to crash. The driver's head is so close to the windscreen that he couldn't stop his head hitting it.
There was no post yesterday because all I did was make another trek around Cap Ferrat -- easily one of my favourite walks. They are rebuilding the track, which I think will spoil it a bit, although it will make it easier. And you have to give the Nice authorities credit for stuff like this. It must cost a fair amount of money to maintain this path, but they know that doing so is good for business in the metagame sense.
Now, here's a poser. Shouldn't French guide books have place pronounciation names? After all, English guide books have them for Americans (e.g., Lester Square, Barkshire, usw..) For most people I guess that this isn't a problem, but I've just realized that many of my pronouciations are up the creek, simply because I have never heard anyone pronounce the names before (or, if I have, I haven't associated that place with the place in my mispronouncing head). I always saw Antibes as a corollary of litotes. I could just have easily have seen it as a corollary of inscribes or imbibes. It is, of course, none of these things. Its corollary is endives (i.e., Onteeebs). I daresay that all of you knew this and are immediately mocking my ignorance. But, hey, I've learnt something today; you haven't.
First impressions of the town were not good. The centre (Place General de Gaulle) looked very sad. However, things picked up in the walk down to the port.
I then decided to go to the Picasso Museum. Except that by now it was 11.35am, and the museum shuts from noon to 2pm. Hmm, I thought. I know. I'll walk round Cap d'Antibes.
This was a brave thing to try without a map. But what, I thought, could go wrong?
Well, actually, nothing did. I followed my nose and walked all the way to the southern tip of the cape. What I hadn't realized was how far it was to get to Hotel du Cap. And, when I finally got there, I was ready to get the bus back. However, luckily there was a map at the busstop. And, looking at this, I saw that the walk back up the other side was far more direct. It was still a long way (and the walk from Juan Les Pins back to the centre of Antibes was an unwelcome addition) and I reckon I covered six or seven miles. I was definitely getting weary by the time I got to the museum.
Which perhaps meant that I wasn't in the best frame of mind to appreciate it. The Picasso bit alone (on the top floor) makes it worthwhile, and there are two or three special pieces (the Miro, the Amano ((??) violins), but most of the rest seemed to consist of "good second-tier" artists mainly noted for local talent. One notable exception for me was Pierre Souages, of whom I had not previously heard. Here's a guy who is definitely out of the top drawer. I must seek out more of his stuff.
Having got off the bus in the middle of a one-way system, I now had the problem of finding where to get the bus back (without a map, as I said). I followed the one-way system back, but found myself at the railway station. Not sure how that happened, but by now I was getting seriously knackered, so I got the train back.
A far superior choice! Only EUR 3.90, 29 minutes, and a quick hop onto the tram southwards to Place Massena. I'd been slightly thrown by the destination of "Vintmille" put on the front of the train, but I asked a young chap if it went to Nice, and he said yes. As soon as I was on the train I realized that Vintmille was, of course, Ventimiglia.
While on the train I checked my emails on the Palm and discovered that I had a leak in the stopcock in the flat downstairs. A quick phone call back to the estate agent's, a go-ahead to bring in the plumbers on Monday, and the whole thing sorted and suited from a train travelling from Antibes to Nice. Modern technology impresses me sometimes. The GBP185 bill impressed me less but, so it goes.
Oh well, time to start packing. Will upload some pictures. I've just realized that there were a couple that I meant to compress for uploading but missed. I'll do a proper update from the proper computer in the next few days.
( pictures of Cap Ferrat, Antibes )
