"Antibes - the "City Opposite"" a Antibes Travel Page by NiceLife

Antibes is about beaches, big boats, and Brits. Most important are the boats, especially the "megayachts".

Rather Big Boats

The world of the megayachts starts at 120 feet in length, and at the International Yacht Club of Antibes, (IYCA) the outer harbour of Port Vauban, Antibes, is home to these monsters.

Inadequately referred to as "millionaires row" - a place in the harbour here requires more than mere millions - anything up to £100m or more for one of the world's top ten superyatchs. Moored regularly in Antibes, what is for the moment the second largest yacht in the world, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's £113m 416 foot long "Octopus" , which contains a music studio, cinema, basketball court, swimming pool, two helipads and its own submarine. (Couldn't quite get the football pitch in, eh Paul?)

The megayachts are scrubbed and manicured to perfection until every bit of chrome sparkles in the mediterranean sun. In yatching I am told running costs are estimated at 10% of purchase price. 10% of £100m is..is..is.. gulp! I can do that sum!

Some can be hired at £20-30,000 for a day, typically for the launch party of some film or new brand of perfume. The writer Clive James memorably once described looking up at people on the deck of a yacht looking down at him, on their faces the expression "I'm on a yacht, and you're not".

Roman Abramovich regularly parks some of his several yachts here , and spotted recently climbing on board was Jose Mourinho, manager of Abramovich's Chelsea Football Club. Various Chelsea football players can often be spotted around the Riviera - including one last week looking a bit out of place in Villefranche on and off his mobile phone. (Bit of advice, mate: stick to Blackpool. You're out of your league here)

Antibes has three main beaches. Directly through the portal of the old city walls at Port Vauban is the sheltered bay and popular beach La Gravette. Handy to retreat from to nearby restaurants and bars.

A short walk down from old Antibes down Av Amiral de Grasse around the rocky city outlet brings you to the modern Plage de Peilon. Fine yellow sand which shelves gently into the sea is perfect for families, and is served by kiosks serving cold drinks and sandwiches.

Further down the Boulevard James Wyllie the Plage Sallis continues as far as a small fishing boat harbour which marks the end of the bay. All the while the entire sea front of Antibes is public - no private beach clubs sunbeds or parasol hire. And the municipality provide frequent showers, and theres a reasonable loo at Sallis

Walk further past Pointe Bacon some 2 km and discover Antibes "fourth beach" Plage de la Garoupe, and discover the fabulous villas which dot the Cap d'Antibes beyond, culminating with the world-class Hotel du Cap Eden Roc. Taken as the model by F Scott Fitzgerald for Hotel des Etrangers in Tender is the Night, Hotel du Cap Eden Roc is at the tip of the peninsula and has a seawater lagoon swimming pool as there’s no beach. Stars who take refuge here are granted rare privacy.

Once you have had your fill of lounging on the beach and the floating excesses of the yacht club, there is a maze of pretty streets to wander and explore in this quintessentially seaside resort. Restaurants, bars, bistros and boutiques jostle in the town to which resident Graham Greene would stroll for lunch each day (He would dine at Chez Felix, at the arched entrance from Old Antibes to the Port)

There is a large English community in the town, so expect to see lots of men still wearing socks with their sandals, baggy shorts, British food in supermarkets, and English newspapers - Daily Mail or Express - to follow the latest bad news back home from a comfortable distance..

For a bit of culture, up in the Chateau Grimaldi is a fine collection of works by Picasso. In 1946 he was offered use of part of the Castle and four months later donated 181 drawings and paintings to the town.