Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, 2014
We wandered around the village of Juan les Pins, located on the west side of Cap d’Antibes. It seemed like a well-kept secret. It is a pleasant upscale village with lots of shopping opportunities and private beaches, again managed by local restaurants. When going to the beach you first check out the menu to see if you would like what they are offering, then you check the sand and beach chairs.
In the local park there were groups of adults playing boules, sort of like bocci. Each person throws several balls toward a small target ball. The goal is to knock your opponent’s ball out of the way and be the ball closest to the target ball. 
In the one park there were at least eight groups playing the game.
On Wednesday we walked across the peninsula to Antibes which has the largest marina in the Mediterranean. That has become a magnet for lots of folks from England and Australia to go and support the marine industry. The result is a very non-French area: English food, English dress, and so on. English as a language is also spoken by many and understood by most.
Since English is so common we were able to easily find a store where we could order replacement parts for our Mercury outboard which is acting up because of the usual fuel issues. Fortunately we have a backup outboard that is a smaller four-stroke, which is perfect for the small anchorages in France; and is environmentally correct, also important in France. It is interesting to note as we traveled through several marinas and mooring fields the Mercury name is not a common sight in Europe–Yahama dominates.
Antibes is one of the oldest towns along the coast. Napoleon Bonaparte was installed as a commander here in 1794 and brought his family along. The city is especially beautiful with small neighborhoods in the old section where roads, barely wide enough for a small car, snake around creating a quaint setting. The floral lined streets are the icing on the cake.
A highlight of Antibes is the Picasso Museum. Pablo Picasso returned here from Paris at the end of World War II and spent the next ten highly productive years working at the Grimaldi Castle on the waterfront. When he moved from Antibes, Picasso left nearly the entire collection he had completed there on permanent loan. The exhibit includes paintings, sketches, and ceramics.