St. Tropez, Cannes & Nice
Alan's Log:
Joan's Log:
April 2008
Route from Cassis to Nice
Not to be used for navigation
We returned to by Cassis by car and waited for a particularly bad-tempered Mistral to throw his tantrum and leave before leaving for the Cote de Azure and the French Riviera.
St. Tropez, France
Our first stop was St. Tropez, where we anchored outside the harbor for three days. St. Tropez is a beautiful old town, but on the downside it is expensive, where even the taxis are Jaguars and Mercedes, and it's touristy, and the tourist season hasn't even gotten into full swing. At least we were saving money by anchoring out. We checked the price of a berth in the swanky harbour just for fun and were told it was over 100 euros a night! The town itself is charming and is understandably loaded with cute shops, art galleries and restaurants, all pretty pricey, but fun for window shopping. We luckily (for me!), were there on a Saturday when the famous huge outdoor market is held. It was very crowded and for a good reason too, it was awesome! It was a combination flea, antiques, and food market. It had everything, even beds! The food stalls had the prettiest vegetables I've seen so far. Strawberries and white asparagus were in season, and beautifully displayed. There were brimming flower stalls and artisan breads and cheeses, and clothes. Really cute clothes! Poor Alan, he has the patience of Jobe.
We took a long walk past the town and around the original old fishing port and then up the hill to an old fort for a terrific view of the town and bay, lots of boats were out, many of them classic sailing yachts, which are always a beautiful sight under full sail.
Cannes, France
Although we arrived in a pouring rain-storm, which continued for another day, we were pleasantly surprised by Cannes. I halfway expected it to be tacky or glitzy. It was not at all, and although the marina was full of super-yachts the cost of a berth was very affordable, plus we were warmly welcomed by the friendly marina office staff, who gave us lots of useful information, like where to find the markets and the laundry etc. We didn't expect that either.
It is an elegant city, with a long promenade along the white sand beach, fringed with tall Hollywood style palm trees, ice cream stands every 100 yds, and beautiful old hotels. The marina is right next to the huge venue where the Cannes Film Festival is held, when for 10 days in May the city is descended upon by actors, starlettes, directors, producers and paparrazzi from all over the world. The guys on the boat next to us told us they go to it every year and it's a lot of fun, the people watching is world class, there is never any trouble getting a space in the marina and you have a great spot to watch the whole spectacle from the protection of the marina. So, who knows?...we might come back for it.
The Man in the Iron Mask - Iles de Lerins, France
We anchored for a night at these islands just off the coast of Cannes, Talk about a contrast! The larger island Sainte Marguerite is administered as a national park and is crisscrossed with trails, no cars are allowed here. The smaller island Sainte Honore is owned by Cistercian monks who allow visits in order to sell their home-made firewater.But we came here to see the castle. We anchored in the shade of the infamous 17th century Fort Royal, which Louis XIV turned into a state prison. Its most famous inhabitant was the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask, who was held here from 1687 - 1778 before being moved to another prison near Marseille where he died in 1703. There are so many theories about who this man was, over 60 identities have been suggested. But there is no doubt about where he was imprisoned. We walked right into his cell. It was large but bare, with a fireplace in one corner and a primitive toilet in the other; three separate rows of iron bars one inside the other, protected the window, but even these wouldn't have stopped the cold winter wind blowing in. Through the bars was a tantalyzing view of the mainland, so near and yet so far...
Before we could step ashore however we had to deal with the invasion of the jellyfish. The water was thick with them. There were so many that I was afraid they would clog the outboard engine intake and their sticky stinging tentacles wound around our dinghy anchor line making its retrieval hazardous.
Nice, France
I really loved Nice.
I think it's my third most favorite city in Europe, next to Paris
and Rome. It has a gutsy attitude, no pretence and although it is a
tourist destination it didn't feel or look touristy. 
Speaking of tourists, Americans tourists have been far and few between since we arrived in France, they're usually pretty easy to spot. There seemed to be more in Nice then any other place we had been so far. Since we left Barcelona we have not seen another U.S. Flag boat. (Of course that could be deceptive since we fly the BVI flag and not a USA flag).
Nice has a fantastic old quarter, which reminded me a lot of Barcelona's Barri Gotic, a complete maze of tiny streets, so narrow they are pedestrian only. Like Barcelona it had lots of shops that cater to tourists, but there was a pure native feel to the place.
The local Nicoise were everywhere, standing in long lines at every butcher shop (where they sold horse meat, by the way) we passed, greeting each other with cheek kisses, crowding the cafes, eating a local favorite, raw sea urchins. The black spiny kind (like we had encountered in the Caribbean, that you don't want to step on). Also queuing up at the socca stands, which were on every corner. What is socca? That's what we said, I had never heard of it before. It turned out to be another local favorite, which is basically a thick crepe/pancake cooked on a large round grill in lots of grease. We didn't try the sea urchins, not that we didn't want to, the opportunity just didn't arise.
Alan did have the most famous local specialty, Nicoise Salad for lunch one day while I had another signature dish moules frites (mussels, steamed in white wine and shallots with FRENCH fries) Another day as we were walking through the old quarter headed for the food market, we passed a restaurant that set my restaurant radar off! I have developed a 6th sense about these little places and this one had all the right signs. After taking a quick look at the menu posted outside, we immediately decided to have lunch there. I walked into the tiny place to find people standing waiting for tables and was told in no uncertain terms that they were full! "Ok, so how about dinner tonight?" "No, full." "Ok, so how about dinner tomorrow night?" I scored a table at 8:00! (at the Restaurant Palmyre on Rue Droite in the old section of town). We returned the next night to find the place packed, and ended up sharing a cozy little table with another couple, which is not unusual in France. The attractive young couple were speaking in a language other than French, I couldn't tell what. While we were struggling with the hand-written menu, the woman leaned over and recommended the beef in perfect English, that sounded American, but with a slight Russian accent. It turned out they were native Russians, brought up in Tajikistan but now living in America , having separately fled war-torn Tajikistan at the age of 19. We spent the next 3 hours in conversation, about the turmoil and trauma of their earlier lives in Tajikistan, which reminded me of the book "The Kite Runner," and the generosity Americans had shown them. They, on the other hand were fascinated by our voyages. She is now a 1st grade teacher living in NYC and he lives in LA, working in special effects for the Walt Disney Company. I don't know what was better, the meal or the company, but it was a memorable evening.
One of the things I love about the French people in particular is how well we have been treated here. Whatever you might have heard about the French being snobbish and not liking Americans is just wrong! I love how they always greet us warmly in marinas, shops and restaurants and always offer to help in shops. If we so much as open a map, some passerby will offer to give us directions, or in several cases will walk with us to our destination while interestedly asking where we are from and how we are enjoying France. If we are picnicking or are in the cockpit having lunch or dinner they always say "bon appetit monsieur et madame" as they walk by. They are often curious about where we are from, when we say America, their interest piques and they want to know more. They appreciate my attempts to speak French to them, but will speak in English if they know it.
One other thing that is really great about the French is they LOVE dogs. Dogs are welcomed just about everywhere, the supermarkets, restaurants, shops. The only place I have seen a "no dogs allowed" sign in France is at the entrance to a cemetery.
Next....We set sail for Corsica, Island of Beauty.