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I discovered that I loved Antibes on my first trip to the South of France. Maybe that is why it has remained my favorite town on the Riviera ever since.
In the ruelles of the Vieille Ville, every house seemed bursting with flowers. Geraniums, oleanders, bougainvilla, grape vines, palms and yucca plants framed windows, tumbled out of pots and covered golden stone walls. Their blooms glowed in light filtered through the fluttering linens of dozens of clothes lines, strung high up, from the tops of the tall, narrow houses.
Rounding a bend we would be surprised by a sudden view of one of the ports, of the ramparts and fort. Or a market table loaded with oranges and lemons, their fragrance saturating the air. Or a shady square. Or the tiny shop where I bought needles in paper packets, embroidery silk, brightly printed Provençal fabrics and armloads of fresh flowers.
Vieux Port, from the old town, Antibes. © B.Giani, OT Antibes Some afternoons we chilled, drinking menthe et l’eau or Ricard along the front at Juan les Pins, watching women in high heels and gold bikinis shop the designer stores while my friend hummed Music to Watch Girls By. At nights, we watched fireworks, set to music, over the harbor, listened to fabulous jazz in Juan les Pins or tried our luck at the casino.
May be you can tell by the musical reference that some time has passed since then. But not much has changed. What else would you expect of a town that has seen 24 centuries come and go? Even the gold lamé bikinis still stroll between the beach and the shops at Juan les Pins.
Founded by the Massalian Greeks in the fourth century BC, Antibes was one of a series of coastal towns where they traded with the native Ligurians. Some believe its Greek name, Antipolis, meaning “the town opposite,” derives from its position across the Baie des Anges from Nice, another Greek settlement.
In the usual history of this coast, Antibes was a Roman town for a while before being overrun by barbarians and pirates. In the Middle Ages, it passed between bishops and various noble families. From the end of the 14th century, it was once again militarily important, since it marked the frontier between France and the Kingdom of Savoy. Henri IV of France bought it from the Grimaldis (who now reign in Monaco) and fortified the town. Fort Carré, overlooking Antibes harbor, and the ramparts along the seawall are all that remain of these works.
BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS... All along the Mediterranean coast, towns and villages compete with each other for their “Napoleon slept here” moments and locales. Usually, they lay claim to some part in his “glorious” history. Antibes, on the other hand, played a part in a more humble time of his life. In 1794, the year he met and married Josephine, he moved his family into a house in Antibes. At the time, he was an officer with the rank of General, responsible for defending the coast. But in those early days of the French Republic, pay was meagre and often late. To make ends meet, Napoleon’s noble mother, Laetitia, had to do her own laundry in a stream and his sisters regularly stole fruit from their landlord’s garden. |
