By Katherine Harvey
It was a perfect storm: I would be in Antibes without Julian for two weeks in January and the owner of the charming rental house a three minute walk out our back door was making the property available at a special rate since it was offseason and would otherwise be empty. We only had a few days and I wanted Melanie to get an idea of what Antibes and the area in general was like so it all had to be planned with precision; I chose carefully and it worked.
Maeght Sculpture Garden
My classmate from boarding school, Melanie, and I had discussed her coming to Antibes sometime and this just fell into place. Melanie arrived in Nice on the Friday afternoon after Epiphany and was picked up by Didier, our faithful livery driver, who is many things: a former paramedic, a DJ wannabe, former army truck driver, devoted lover of Chrome Hearts jewelry and a biker complete with Yorkie named Fat Boy and more tattoos than you can count, two daughters and a devoted wife who used to have an organic cosmetics boutique. Didier’s tales of Hog conventions have entertained us for years, especially the time there was a violent wind storm and all the merchandise from the concessions was blown away never to be seen again.
Pol Bury Fountain
The house was not ready when Melanie arrived so we sat on my terrace overlooking the Mediterranean while she had a late lunch (she was astounded when I told her I had cooked the lamb). We then strolled over to Tom’s spacious house complete with Nespresso coffeemaker, dishwasher and laundry (although I doubt Melanie would be making use of these facilities) and any other necessity for a pleasant stay. I left her to get settled. The evening consisted of cocktails (rosé champagne, our house pour) on our terrace and dinner at the charming restaurant (L’Arazur) hidden behind the main street whose chef also has a gourmet shop in the new part of town. The chef is a member of the elite Jeune Restaurateurs (JRE) which is what the name suggests, young restaurateurs; there are 28 in France, three of them in Antibes.
Village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence
Saturday morning after a walk through the famous market only steps from our houses, it was off to Saint Paul de Vence and two thirds of what I call the “Perfect Day” which consists of a visit to the Fondation Maeght and its spectacular view from the hills down to the sea and naturally the extraordinary art collection of 20th century and contemporary art highlighted by the sculpture garden entrance with rotating sculptures from the collection including Calder, Moore and Louise Bourgeois and the famous Pol Bury fountain. Showcased on the Giacometti terrace are to be found the Walking Man, Standing Woman, and Large Head and around the corner the Miro garden and fountains surrounding Sert’s signature architecture and Julian’s favorite, the Braque pool “The Fish”. Not to be missed was the Saint-Bernard Chapel with the stained glass window by Georges Braque.
Village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence – Pebble paved streets
My dear friend Veronique who used to have the gallery across from the Picasso Museum in Antibes picked us up at the Fondation and took us to the perched village of Saint Paul de Vence where we had lunch, taking the long route to enjoy the extraordinary view of the countryside below Saint Paul. Lunch in Saint Paul to me is the second part of the perfect day but to make it truly perfect the second part has to be lunch at the Colombe d’Or across from the pétanque pitch where Yves Montand would while away the hours playing boules with the locals. Unfortunately the Colombe d’Or was closed for their annual vacation but we were able to take a peek into the famous terrace where we have lunch at least once every summer, with everyone always ordering the lobster salad and two green salads with summer truffles for the table.
La Colombe d’Or Exterior
La Colombe d’Or Terrace
After lunch and a walk around the steep pebble paved streets of Saint Paul and the endless art galleries with glossy giant cherries, Disney characters and nudes galore we stopped at the elegant Maison Godet which takes you back to a romantic time in 1921 when the perfume house was founded but had vanished until Sophie, great granddaughter of the founder, gave it new life in 2017 after she discovered her grandfather’s collection of perfume bottles. Now revived with both original and new scents, irresistible perfumed pastel colored soaps with flowers in high relief, creams and candles are again available including “Folie Blue” a scent with rose, jasmine and cedar wood made famous by Henriette Darricarrere, the muse of Henri Matisse. Recently the Maison Godet created “Le Negresco”, a perfume exclusively available at the famous Hotel Negresco in Nice. We visited the grave of Henri Matisse, each of us leaving the obligatory stone on top of it and then Veronique, taking the scenic route through the woods, dropped us off at the spare and elegant blue and white Matisse Chapel in Vence built in gratitude to the nun who had nursed the famous painter during his cancer recovery. Then it was back to Antibes for a rest, cocktails on the terrace and dinner at Le Vauban, the local semi-gastronomic restaurant whose chef is also a member of the JRE.
Maison de Godet
Sunday it was bouillabaisse at Le Bistrot du Port in Golf Juan, the town where Napoleon landed on his return from Elba and an annual recreation of that event takes place. A trip to the south of France would not be complete without bouillabaisse. There are only two restaurants near us which serve this saffron laced creation (the other being the Maison de Bacon now under new ownership which closes for January and February as do many establishments after Epiphany making planning a bit tricky) as two others were demolished because of the law that states the coastline belongs to the people. There was a big blow up about the demolition of Tetou with Robert De Niro leading the charge but the law is the law and so Tetou was demolished. There are many bouillabaisse camps, some insisting that there are only certain fish that can be used, some insisting shellfish and bivalves can be tossed in but no matter what camp you choose to support, the silky saffron soup with at least four different kinds of fish, the garlic rubbed croutons that you prepare and float on the soup topped with “rouille” which is called that due to its rust color saffron mayonnaise are standard and help make the dish the heavenly treat that it is. After lunch a visit to the Picasso Museum where the famous artist lived for nine months creating dozens of works just steps from my house with its extensive collection of his ceramics created at Madoura in nearby Vallauris and the painting by another famous resident of Antibes, Nicolas de Stael, “Le Concert” was a must along with some time on the herb planted sculpture terrace overlooking the sea with works by Giacometti, Richier and Louise Bourgeois among others. We then sat on my terrace for what was left of the afternoon with cocktails and a light dinner in the market.
Matisse Chapel
Monday was a white table cloth lunch on the beach in Cannes at La Mome Plage. La Mome (the kid) was the nickname of Edith Piaf but surprisingly the restaurant group is named after Suzanne Vreurick who was a flower seller then singer in 1920’s Paris who married very well and became known as La Mome Moineau; she and her husband spent time in their Villa Bagatelle in Cannes giving lavish parties and so the identical twin brothers from Lyon choose to name their group after her. The ever expanding La Mome group has four restaurants in Cannes and a spectacular rooftop restaurant at the Hotel Port Palace in Monte Carlo with views of the sea, super yachts and the Prince’s palace. Lunch at La Meme Plage (beach) is an experience like no other with the sea in the distance, sunbathers only meters away even in January and the famous Croisette a short flight of stairs above. The restaurant comes complete with DJ in homage to La Mome which reminded us we were in Suzanne Moineau’s Cannes. Before heading back to Antibes we had a Negroni at the recently expanded and remolded legendary Carlton hotel. No visit to Cannes is complete without a cocktail at The Carlton and a walk along the Croisette and rue d’Antibes for shopping, window and otherwise where every designer and jeweler has a boutique: Dior, Chanel, Hermes, Cartier, Van Clef & Arpels, Bulgari and I am only getting started.
Picasso Museum Exterior
Picasso Museum Terrace
Didier picked up Melanie Tuesday morning at 5:30 to catch her flight to Paris and connections back to the States. It was a wonderful long weekend with non-stop talking and rosé champagne. I hope we can do it again.
La Mome Plage Cannes
Igloo has moved on. It seems that when his humans went on an extended trip they left our favorite feline with cousins in Switzerland. It did not take our boy long to make new friends and find new places to stalk whatever was available that day, still disappointed that his overgrown succulent garden in Antibes had been replaced by a cactus garden and the shade providing dumpsters permanently removed. Switzerland had it all so he stayed, abandoning his French fans for good. Little does Igloo know that he has been replaced by a dog which is probably just as well.
