A big day of exploring Juan Les Pins and Antibes
Trip Start
May 18, 2007
1
33
62
Trip End
Jul 18, 2007
Antibes,
France
Monday, June 18, 2007
We said it yesterday but will say it again - the Hotel Astor is THE best! Last night I said to Ryan "do you hear that?" and Ryan said "What?" - there was NOTHING to hear but silence outside. We were thrilled to get a peaceful night without racing motorbikes, Maserati's and the midnight garbage run! (Garbage pick up in Villefranche began at 2am and it was not a quiet affair!).
Jesse delivered a wonderful French breakfast to our private terrace which included fresh croissants, typical loaf of bread (imagine a 12 inch "subway" loaf for breakfast), orange juice, coffee and warm milk, and let's not forget about the Nutella!!
Our goal for the day was to walk about the entire Cap d'Antibes, and according to Jesse, about 10 km - piece of cake for us
40 foot Hinkly Boat - 1 of 4 Tatoosh dingeys
! We began our walk and it was a beauty along the Mediterranean Ocean, overlooking the surf. There were dozens of cyclists, runners and walkers along the very narrow road but we all seemed to be able to share the road together and passed beautiful villas along the entire route. Jesse told us to make sure to not miss the Hotel de Cap which we found easily except were quickly ushered off the grounds with a "no, you cannot go there!" from several hotel security guards. http://www.edenroc-hotel.fr/The elegant building of Hôtel du Cap - constructed in 1870 in the purest Napoleon-III style - was initially baptised « Villa Soleil » (Sunshine Villa) before becoming the legendary Grand Hôtel du Cap in 1889. Sir Gordon-Bennett, eccentric and super-rich owner of the « New York Herald », was one of the first guests, as were a number of crowned heads, Russian princes and their peers from England.
Numerous were those who stayed here were Rudolf Valentino, Americans including Gerald and Sarah Murphy, Cole Porter, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Dos Passos), as well as Picasso, Ernst Jünger. Then came Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, the Kennedy family, Marlène Dietrich, Erich Maria-Remarque, General De-Gaulle, François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, George Bush, Madonna, Sharon Stone, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Bill Cosby, Robert de Niro, Johnny Depp, Catherine Deneuve are keen to return after the Cannes Film Festival
Antibes yacht marina
. Today, this flagship of world hotels, the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc - so rich given its prestigious history of more than 120 years.We retreated to the main road and literally ran directly into our first paparazzi staring through is with a 700 mm zoom lens!! It was quite funny and before we tripped over the $9000 lens, we stopped to chat and ask what he was photographing. Edmond Terakopian, from London, was at the Hotel du Cap to cover the wedding of the richest man in Australia, James Packer, and the 20th richest man in the world ($7 billion). http://www.woopidoo.com/biography/james-packer/index.htm http://www.pix.org.uk/frames.html
We chatted with Edmond http://www.pix.org.uk/frames.html for over an hour and were fascinated by his stories and watching him photograph everyone who walked out the Hotel entrance, as every woman looked glamorous from a distance! He was a good guy and pleased to have us stop and chat as he waited for the "big star" to arrive! The wedding of James Packer was not until the end of this week so he had a few days to sit around - poor chap!
We continued our journey which seemed to take forever, through the richest villa's along the tip of the cape, with HUGE lots and privacy fences which did not allow even a blurry glimpse of what might be behind the walled off area
Apogee Yacht - Antibes
! It reminded us of Southern plantations but on the Mediterranean with million dollar yachts parked in the back yard.We continued on to Antibes, which we could see from a distance and honestly, did not think we would ever get there! We did and what a site! As we approached the harbor we spotted Tatoosh, TOWERING over the Antibes harbor with 1,600 yacht slips. This mega-yacht looked like a Princess cruise ship parked in the marina!
Known as Paul Allen's "other yacht" Tatoosh which is currently the 15th largest privately owned giga-yacht in the world, yet it's number 4 in America http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatoosh_(yacht)#Features_and_pr incipal_dimensions
Paul Allen's primary yacht - the Octopus is number 2 in America and number 3 in the world on the list and measures out at 414 feet! http://www.yachtcrew-cv.com/paulallen.htm
So let's put this into perspective. As we entered the walled city of Antibes, it was like seeing a listing of the top giga-yachts in the world! For example, parked right next to each other in a row we saw:
-- Fortunate Son #43 at 177 feet
-- Constelation #18 at 290 feet
-- Kingdom 5KR #22 at 281 feet
-- Coral Island #44 at 236 feet
-- Kogo #46 at 235 feet
-- Apogee #81 at 205 feet
http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/megayachts/2006-worlds-lar gest-yachts/
We thought we saw a lot of money in Monaco, but compared to this - Monaco is a ghetto
Kid buried by his brother in the sand - Antibes
! After we left the marina, we ventured through Antibes and made it back to our sweet Hotel Astor around 5:00pm.
We were feeling brave and getting a little desperate so took the risk and both got French haircuts! Ryan went first and we told the girl "go short!" we did not know what to expect. When Laurie watched all of Ryan's waves drop to the floor from the razor she just about pooped but remained so Ryan would not freak out. In the end, Ryan's hair turned out great, shortest hair cut he has ever had but it looks fabulous! Laurie went next and DID NOT go as short as Ryan! Laurie's looks great so all in all we had a great hair cut experience! Laurie was desperate or a pedicure so made an appointment for tomorrow after sun bathing - we'll see how that turns out!
We took a quick shower and headed back down to the beach for some dinner.
Tomorrow is a French Riviera sun bathing day. When in France, and allowing Ryan to check out some topless babes!
Today's walk: 13 miles
Total for the journey (175.8 miles, 31 days)
Love,
Laurie and Ryan
Comments
Yachts
What a sight it must be to see all those gigayachts lined up...Isn't giga and yacht kind of redundant??? :) :)
It was soo good to talk to you on Monday morning! I hope you had a good day with your haircuts and all...how much was the haircut (choke!)??
xo,
Gaily
Ryan Topless?
Well, I hope you have a great time tomorrow sunning yourselves and I expect Ryan to step out on a limb and go topless! :)
Sammy