villeneuve loubet

sunday: woke up to another gorgeous day in the making…..clouds over the sea, but looking
promising.
up, brekkie, usual sunday morning : )
we are off to the musee picasso in antibes, which opens at 10am.
it was lovely and quiet when we first arrived, but then lots of big groups of tourists with guides whose
loud voices echoed around the rooms arrived…so we spent the rest of the visit trying to avoid them!
....its a pretty small and intimate museum, located in what used to be the chateau grimaldi, high above
antibes old town….there is lots of modern art and sculpture there, and of course, lots of picasso – most
of which he painted/drew while he was here in antibes in 1946, it was really nice to see his ceramics, and
some candid b+w photos taken while he lived and worked in the chateau…..
we left there after a couple of hours and headed to the beaches at juan les pins/golfe juan, with our
picnic!
there were less people on the beach, and the sea was a little rough today, and a little colder too….
we didn’t make it in for our usual swim! shame : (
back on the scoot about 3ish to make the trip to mcdonalds for a charge up for a couple of hours,
before cooking the tea and playing cards ‘til bed time!
....the beach we are staying on is also getting less busy, and there are hardly any camper vans here
now....amazing considering how many there were when we first arrived. there is a clutch of them further
along, and we have considered moving, but we still feel pretty safe where we are....and its a bit of a pain
to move now we are chocked up and unpacked. there is a french van quite close behind us, and there is a
tiny caravan in front, so we are not completely alone yet!

monday: plan today is renoir musee in cagnes sur mer in the am, beach club in the aft!
weather a bit iffy first thing, very cloudy out over the sea, but ever hopeful, we set off.
only about 10 mins. to cagnes sur mer but arrived to find that the musee is in the middle of a huge
renovation - and won't reopen 'til 2013. shame, as we were really looking forward to it....lonely planet
had said the museum, in renoir's old house in cagnes, was really exquisite....
so, what to do.....there was a note pinned to the gates that said the collection had been moved to the
grimaldi castle in hautes cagnes (the old town), up on the hill, so we decided to go up there as not too far....
really glad we did as it was a gorgeous place, another hill top village with far-reaching views to the sea and
beyond.
on our arrival in the old town we were greeted by a very friendly cat, called tinker, (his owner was calling him
in, but he decided to accept a little love from some cat loving strangers instead!), when we stopped to have a
look over the ramparts at the amazing view - you could see the planes on the runway at nice really clearly.
the castle itself was really stunning, rather italian in style....and the renoir collection of photos, furniture etc.
was very interesting and enigmatic, sadly they didn't have many paintings up as they don't have enough security
there....but it was still worth the trip....
when we came out the weather was great! so we scooted off to golfe juan for a day at a beach club....found one
near to our usual beach haunt and went in....all yellow and blue umbrellas and chairs, white table cloths
and waiter service!.....had a delicious lunch, before finding a comfy sunbed and relaxing there for the aft
.....very indulgent it was!
three lovely guys ran the place, one was the absolute spit of rutger hauer! anyway, they really looked after
us and it was a nice spoiling day...scooted into juan after the sun disappeared behind a large cloud for a
wander around the shops and a drink in the famous pam pam cocktail bar!
then back to the van in the dark via cap d'antibes, to see all the twinkling lights of juan, antibes
and the yachts anchored in the bay.

tuesday: rained in the night which was unexpected.....not too bad though....but woke to an ok morning
- looks like it will be another lovely day.
decided to move back to the campsite this am, charge up, empty waste, fill up water, do washing etc.
so packed up, waved goodbye to the friendly fisherman and his girlfriend who come to the beach
every day at about 10am (we could set our watches by them!) - brown as berries they are! and the lady
who comes to swim out to the buoy....lots of regulars in our spot! quite sad to go....
arrived back at les maurettes to find it pretty busy.....the spot we parked in before, one night only place,
just by the entrance, was full so we paid a few euros more for a pitch.
p washed the van before we went up there, and we emptied all the waste water and filled up with fresh....
then got the washing on and did 'house' cleaning rest of the am.....got another wash on and the clothes etc.
all hanging out on make-shift lines, our plot looks very lived in!!
just to cap off our totally domestic day we went to the supermarket once the washing was finished to stock
up for a few days....then had a little time to relax in the chairs with a drink and some crisps, before it got dark.
plugged in so good opportunity to watch a film (the godfather) - nice!
moving on tomorrow from the beautiful riviera, towards marseille and the camargue.