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and the CÔte D’Azure part 2

and the Cote D’Azure part 1

During our time so far in Southern France, it was impossible not to notice the high level of military activity In almost every area we visited, the peace and silence would suddenly be shattered by low-flying jets or a fleet of helicopters We assumed this was a display of defiance to Putin’s aggression and not preparation for a confrontation with Boris

We spent much of our time on the Cote D’Azure revisiting places we had spent holidays when the kids were young We started with Frejus and Saint-Raphael To reach these from Cannes you travel through the Massif de l’Esterel This is a range of mountains made of red rock that stretch down to the sea and look magnificent in the early morning or evening light Unfortunately, every time I tried to capture this, by the time I had found a place to park the car, the sun had disappeared behind a cloud

We were assured that part of a 7,500 km pan-European cycle route that connects Antibes to Nice did not involve any cycling on busy roads, so we packed the bikes on the back of the car and parked on the huge stony beach to the East of Antibes The 40km cycle was pleasant passing through the beach fronts of Villenueve-Loubet and Cagnes sur Mer

You then reach the Promenade des Anglais, the massive (7km) long beachfront in Nice, leading to the buzzing old town Having this amount of seafront means that Nice can cater for everyone There are private beaches, beach clubs, public beaches, a beach for dogs, beaches for volleyball and fishing spots

We also visited Eze and Antibes In Eze, a pleasant small town between Monaco and Villefranche, we found a beach bar called Anjuna, claiming to be the most expensive beach bar in the world We certainly wouldn’t argue with them Revisiting Antibes confirmed it as a favourite, it has a very pleasant, sandy town beach and an interesting and quaint old town

Leaving the Cote D’Azure, on the way to Aix-en-Provence, we detoured to Cassis with the intention of doing a walk through Les Calanques Cassis itself turned out to be a beautiful fishing village, with its own, very good wines, so of course we had to sit and try some

During our tour of France, we avoided motorways whenever possible, using the minor roads to see the “real France” Our trips to Frejus and Antibes convinced us in the Cotes D’Azure this isn’t practical, it takes forever to get anywhere

We used the motorway to visit Monaco, having missed the Grand Prix, we still managed to catch all the grandstands and safety fencing, spoiling the views, as I said; it's all about timing

Having then limited time we took a boat trip to see some of Les Calanques Les Calanques is a stretch of high limestone cliffs stretching over 20 km from Cassis to Marseille, with stunning inlets with clear, turquoise water The land behind is also part of the national park It is well worth seeing and we will hike some of the park - one day

Arriving in Aix, we made our way into the centre of the town and stumbled across a restaurant called Mitch, that I had read about We couldn’t get in that night, so we made a reservation for Saturday night and wandered off to find somewhere else to eat Like most French cities Aix has several Vietnamese restaurants, an inheritance from colonial days, (like us with Indian restaurants) Having spent some time in Vietnam we considered ourselves experienced eaters of Vietnamese cuisine so we picked a restaurant and ordered with confidence We had ordered Vietnamese spring rolls for starters, and the waiter turned up first with a bowl of semi-clear liquid we took to be a dipping sauce When after 10 more minutes the spring rolls still hadn’t come, we changed our minds and thought it must be some sort of prestarter and drank it It was delicious The waiter then turned up with the spring rolls, horrified we had drunk the fish sauce and rushed off to get some more Obviously, we are not the experts we thought Still, this is an improvement from Vietnam when I drank the citrus water that was meant for cleaning your fingers

Being a major university city, Aix-en-Provence is a lively city full of locals and tourists and students from around the world At night the bars are full of earnest young philosophers discussing vital subjects such as; which are the best phone apps and who is the best character in Harry Potter This means the large old town is packed full of bars and restaurants catering for every pocket, every 50 yards there is another square with a fountain crowded with people and tables This is even more manic on market days when stalls selling everything are rammed into the throng, fighting for space with the existing businesses

Aix is also a city of art, partially because of Paul Cezanne who lived and painted in the town and was close friends with another Aix resident, Emile Zola, the writer We tried to improve our knowledge of art by visiting 2 of the main galleries, I can’t say I’m any more knowledgeable but I’ve seen more Picassos and Cezannes than you can shake a stick at On our last night, we ate at Mitch and the food was excellent You only had 3 choices of main course, meat of the day, fish of the day or poultry Well worth trying