Forum Moderators: open
A voir ;
Les îles de Lérins,à Cannes.
Le marche Gambetta à Cannes.
Le marche à Ventemillia ( Italy ) à côté .
bord de mer jusqu'a Agay ( on y a trouvé beaucoup d'amphores),en s'arrêtant à la Napoule,ou il y a un château au bord de l'eau! ( le bord du mer est plus sauvage! ).
Biot ( à côté de Mougins ), il y a une petite place avec des arcades,occupée par des bostrots,restos,artisans.
en montant , Vence ,inspirée par beaucoup de peintres,elle est entourée de remparts,avec une cathédrale ( petit ), elle est au pieds des falaises des Baous
plus haut, La Colle sur Loup , très belle vue,il y a une verrerie, les gars fait cela en direct.
St.Vallier de Thiey; La Provence des Hauters, il y a des restos qui donnent sur une grande prairie; avec de la chance , tu vois la transhumance; ( la route pour aller de Cannes à St.Vallier ,est celle qu'a pris Napoléon pour se rendre à Paris, après son évasion d'Elbe donc : on l'appelle "la route Napoléon" ).
avant St.vallier , il y a Grasse , ville des parfums depuis des générations..
Le marché à grasse vaut la peine ..
et ...les champignons sauvage ( sticky me to know where ..closely guarded secret ) cest maintenant!mmmmmmm [mit.edu...]
...again for the anglophones ..
to see .
in the Cannes area ..The islands ( les îsles de lérins ) in the bay ..nature reserve ..no cars feet or velo ( bike ) ...the market "place gambetta".
along the sea up to Agay ( there have been a lot of amphores found there ..BTW its illegal to take real amphores ..fakes abound )..if you do ..stop off at la Napoule ..a château which is actually on the seashore ..which is more savage at this end of the alps maritimes than at the "Nice" end ..
Biot ( next to Mougins ) in the centre of the village is a small square with many restos and artisans ateliers ( workshops etc ) ..
higher up ..Vence ..lot of artists have left their mark here ...walled town with original ramparts and a tiny cathédrale ...at the foot of the Baous cliffs ( "falaises" doesn't actally translate as cliffs or rockface ...go there you'll see why )..
higher again ..La colle sur Loup, beautifull vues , glass blowing workshops ( old style )open to visitors ..they'll make a "piece" for you while you watch ..
St.Vallier de Thiey .."high provence"..rugged!lots of restos which look out onto a prairie where if you are lucky ( it being the right time of year ) you'll see the "transhumance" ( when the sheep farmers move their flocks from summer to winter pasture ..in France this is done by walking them all the way ..
( the road you take from Cannes to St.Valliers is the road that Napoléon used after his escape from Elbe ..so it's known as .........? ...give that man a grape! )
Before you get to St.Vallier ..go to Grasse ..perfume centre of the world ( if you ask you get duty free at much better rates than the airports )...
the market at Grasse is huge and very very colorfull too ..worth the visit ..the market days are in the post office calender ...
for English only speakers there was a bookshop at Valbonne which was the meeting place of most of the anglophone community in the alps maritime ...for nightlife etc ask there ( I don't do parties and clubs )..there are however some very good jazz and blues venues in Antibes and Juan les Pins ..but you are arriving in "slack season" ..a lot may be closed :(
internet access in that area is superb ..you are at the Sophia Antipolis "tech area"...
need more?
( sorry don't know of specificaly "veggie" restos )
If you're flying in and want to hire a car?..if easyjet haven't got a car hire at the airport then hire from the nearest large Hypermarket...about 20$ per day for a Clio or a Peugot 206 ( anything bigger and you won't be able to find anywhere to park it ) ..
Big towns have about the same crime levels as you do in medium sized cities in the states ..less guns ..same subjects/reasons ..so watch out for yourself in Nice , Cannes , Frejus/St Raphael etc ( the tool of choice for opening armoured cars of the local banditry being shoulder launched rockets...gleaned by the locals from Bosnia along with hand guns , assault rifles etc ..there are many more guns here than there used to be )...mobile phone theft is huge ..so is theft by drive by scooter ...
the areas of the côte d'azur to avoid and why ..I'll sticky you to keep within the tos
None of the forgoing applies to Monaco
Almost all of the tourist offices will speak good English ...the one for Cannes is in a weird place..On top of the railway station ( where incedentally in front of the station there is a bar where you can get superb salads )...
Very good Vietnamese resto in "place Gambetta" ( Cannes)..if you park in place Gambetta ..move your car before 3.00am ( better to park in the side roads as sometimes it happens at midnight ) ...you will be towed ..to make way for the market the next day! cost you about $120.00 if you get towed anywhere ..to get it back ..
Good Thai resto ( l'elephant bleu ) near the "croisette"...Nice and Cannes both have very good tex - Mex resto's ...sadly Indian/Pakistani ( far better than French IMO ..yes ..I can cook both to professional level ..so can judge ) cuisine is almost unheard of ...
Wines to try ..? there are actually some quite good ones from the Var and the Alps maritimes ..I'll work up the list ..with some vineyards and the phone numbers of those who I know speak English and most importantly understand Americans and sticky you or post it ( without the phone numbers ) aswell ..if the mods are OK
