Car Hire Antibes
Mini guide to Antibes
Antibes is a popular seaside destination among the French, has one of the finest markets on the Cote d’Azur and the country’s best Picasso collection. The southern end of the Cap still has its woods of pine, in which the most exclusive mansions hide.
The natural beauty remains in the old town, with the ramparts along the seafront and the long, arched protective wall along the port.
The sixteenth-century Château Grimaldi has windows over the sea and a terrace garden with sculptures by Germaine Richier, Miró, César and others. In 1946, Picasso was offered the dusty building – by then already a museum – as a studio. Alongside the castle is the cathedral, built on the site of an ancient temple. The choir and apse survive from the Romanesque building that served the city in the Middle Ages, while the nave and stunning ochre facade are Baroque.
One block inland, the morning Covered Market on Cours Masséna overflows with Provençal goodies and an enormous variety of cut flowers, the traditional and still-flourishing Antibes business. On Fridays and Sundays, a craft market takes over in the afternoon. When the stalls are all packed up, café tables take their place. There are plenty of little streets for exploring, restaurants of all types and prices, and lots of shops, from authentic little hardware/general-stores to tourist gift shops.
Antibes is located between the two major tourist cities of Nice and Cannes. Either of which would make an easy and picturesque excursion into the country’s chic and stylish coastal regions.
