French Riviera: Final Thoughts

The French riviera between Marseille and Nice is a must see to anyone who loves the beaches, the sun and the joy of living outdoors! I fell in love with this area and would definitely go back to either visit or even retire there… What makes it even more interesting to me is its similarity to where I grew up in Algeria; similar weather and plants. The only difference is its location, i.e. northern side of the Mediterranean sea. I was told that during July and August, the beaches of the cote d’Azur are buzzing with all sorts of activities.. Now I can confirm that because I just got back and boy they were right.. There is evening markets in every some town along the coast!! and the markets go all the way to 1 or 2 am in some places... The coastline combines natural beauty in some spots with all the buzz of the towns..

                                      Map of the area of France I visited … all the blue flag area!!

                                                     Beautiful landscape along the coast

                                                  Restaurant along the beach in Cannes

                                             Hotels along the main waterfront street in Cannes

                                                          More fancy hotels in Cannes

                              A nice cliff walk along the Mediterranean  sea  in Cap d'Antibes

                                                           ....... more of the cliff walk 

                                                  Flying through a cumulus cloud above Atlanta

Slowing down to land in Atlanta 

The Var Department of France

 The biggest department in France is the Var! It covers a huge swath of land in southern France all the way to the Mediterranean sea. It is green, with lots of olive trees, fig trees and grape vines everywhere. They have lots of wineries called “domains” or châteaux. Jolie and Pitt have a huge domain in the Var and have their own brand of wine! Other famous people have homes and chateaux in the Var area as well. I visited one of the chateaux and boy was I impressed. If you are visiting the Var, add the chateaux to your list you won’t regret it and you can try the wines and may be even cheese. There are some high mountains in the Var as well, so all in all the Var department is a must visit in southern France!

                                                     Beautiful Landscape of Red Rocks

                                                         Coastal towns in VAR District

                                                          A Beautiful Railroad Bridge

                                                        A Huge Lake in the VAR area

                                              A downtown area of a small town in the VAR

Cote d’Azur and Cannes: What a place !!!

 Certainly the most well known coast around the world is Cote d’Azur in southern France and smack in the middle of that coastline is Cannes! One has to be from a different planet not to have heard anything about Cannes.. the famous movie stars destination city which holds every year the Cannes film festival.. I hope I gave you enough motivation here to at least get you to google earth and check where Cannes is. Unlike Marseille which is a little dirty, Cannes is cleaner and more glamorous!! Also people in Cannes dress really well, I was the homeless of the town with my flip-flops, tee-shirt and shorts but so what I said to myself… I m on vacation and I don’t belong here anyway… 

A Ferrari (1st above)  and a Bentley (above)

People waiting in line to take a picture on the red carpet … not me though!!

People played chess games on the streets of Cannes

Fancy Restaurants right on the water in Cannes

Marseille: I Love This City

 

Another « Arch De Triomphe » in Marseille

I have never been to Marseille before so this summer I added it to my list of cities to visit with an ulterior motive of potentially retiring there some day soon. At this point in my search for a city on the Mediterranean to retire in, Barcelona has a huge lead, with other smaller cities on the list as well. Up until now France was not on my list of countries I want to retire in, but after visiting Marseille I really loved the place for many reasons: food, yes food is great in this city, entertainment is awesome, so much to do with parties in every plaza until 1 am everyday!! The people are also very nice in Marseille, at least the ones I ran into so all in all Marseille ended up on my list and yes I do "Parle Francais" a huge plus off course…Marseille also has a huge Algerian population so somewhat a home away from home for me…

Les Calanques 

More Calanques

Couscous

Berber restaurant 

Fort Morgan Alabama

                          

 

 

Fort Morgan Beach Alabama under the moonlight on the deck with oil-platforms in a distance

                               Daylight on Fort Morgan Beach with a visible oil-platform in the distance

The last three summers have been anything but FUN, this summer on the other hand, has a different feel to it!! For starters, the pandemic is over; no masks no terrifying news and no more stats on the number of cases of Covid 19… For a while, I thought the masks will never leave us alone again but they did .. they are gone! 

The first break of the summer was a brief beach trip to Fort Morgan, Alabama, June 24 to July 1st. It was a great retreat with accommodation right on the beach, i.e. the rented house was right on the water so no need to walk a block or more to get to the beach!! At first the water was cold then it warmed up as the week went on. However, I had to cut my trip short due to some unforeseen business at work.

Today is July 6th and I am getting ready for my first overseas trip in 5 years!!! YES FIVE long years!!!  For someone who loves to travel, that is eternity. But at last, I am ready to get back on my travel path and I have some big plans ahead... But first I have to get to Nice France... so stay tuned for more later...

Some technical difficulties are preventing me from updating my blog in a timely manner but i will .. some last minute changes also affected my blogging ability… like being in a place with no internet connection!!!