Saturday, June 29
After packing up, I turned back around into Cannes and made my way through the market. I figured on doing a picnic lunch and picked up a few things: cheese, a spinach pastry, paté en croûte, olives, and apricots. At the last second, I also decided to grab a pain aux raisins and a café before mozying over to the port.
The market was very lively this morning and the layout made it feel very different from other French markets/Halles I'd visited. A guy tried selling me on a device for tapping a lemon: after insertion and twisting, you'd be able to pour or mist from the citrus (l'agrume) as you liked. A fascinating idea but I don't know who would need such a thing 😂
That's 1... 2... 3 baskets! Someone took "don't put all your oeufs dans un pannier" seriously.
A pain au raisin at the corner of the harbor and the ferry port; basically marking the western edge of the old town.
At the port, it turns out I'd just missed the ferry to the island of St Marguerite. The timetable I'd received from the office of tourism the evening before mentioned boats leaving every 30 minutes but I guess the ferry operators can reduce the number of departures based on the weather and anticipated demand; so my café resulted in me waiting till the top of the hour for the next boat, no biggie.
I took a bit of time to hang out along the dock and enjoy the cooling touch of the sea breeze while doing my DuoLingo lessons of the day.
Once on the island, I hung a right and did a quick circuit of the Étang. Signs had mentioned how this wetland was part of a concerted environemental effort on the island (in addition to managing pine trees and other species on the island) but all I saw were seagulls hanging out 😅
Some of the oldest structures on the Frioul isles were built on pre-Roman sites; it makes sense people would be taking advantage of close islands as soon as they could. While île St. Margueritte ended up having a fortress, its neighbor île St Honorat became home to a very old abbey.
Doesn't look all too far from Cannes but there's a lot of water traffic to navigate in the area. It looked like lots of private boats were coming over and mooring just off shore too.
The étang of the island; that land sure is wet. Maybe it's just the time of year but I didn't perceive all that much wildlife hanging around the pond, still it was a nice quiet walk.
At the far end of the pond was a section dedicated to pine trees; these differ from the maritime pines I've grown accustomed to but still smelled of turpentine (la térébinthe).
Apparently they'd installed some traps on a few trees for capturing undesired caterpillars (les chenilles)
It's like I never left les Landes!
Looking out across the bay of Cannes towards le massif d'Esterel. I practically had the beach on the south side of the island to myself here.
I'm not entirely sure how the island was formed but those rock formations are looking a little familiar.
If you have the misfortune of forgetting your lunch, you can rely on the sandwich guy to come straight to you with the goods!
There was a bit of nature to be found on this wooded isle. The paths were wide but I was constantly seeing butterflies flitting around.
Ah, l'histoire des isles. Settled by the Greek/Phocaean settlers who also founded Massalia/Mareseille, the isle served as a good trading post along the route between Italy and Spain. Later, the Romans would claim the area and develop it as their own fort. With Christianity came an abbey and pilgrims. I imagine between pilgrims and trade, things were fairly decent up till the 30 years war when the island was forcibly taken by the Spanish who further built up and updated the fortifications. Not much later, the French wrested control and built a massive sea fort for controlling the passage to Cannes and used part of the fort for political prisoners.
Afterwards, I made my way to Fort Royal, which features a museum and once famously held the man in the iron mask. Yes, surprisingly, the man in the iron mask was a real person and that's about all I learned from the exhibit. He was real, he wore a mask, and he lived here: I was surprised at the lack of detail on the subject. It's not clear to me when he died or if he died in prison. I was much more impressed with how the Château D'If handled the
management of history from myth. Perhaps there just really isn't as much
known about the Iron Mask... A few other prison cells contained similar panels
as those at Château D'If about how the place would periodically be used
as temporary prisons for rioters/political rebels (for example, rebels
in Algeria were kept here in the mid-19th century).
Built in Strasbourg for Louis XIV and emblazoned with the fleur de lis and a shining sun, I found this cannon's name quite funny. L'inconnu would literally translate to "the unknown" but I'm thinking the logic was "cause of death: unknown".
I took a stroll along the walls of the fortress but much of the ramparts are just grassy lawn now; though there was a vegetable garden along one section
Here's the main attraction of the fort, the museum exhibits: once Roman above-ground cisterns, then fortress/prison, and now museums. To the left (off camera), there was a big lunch event for people; I want to say it was for a yacht dealership and customers but I didn't ask to clarify.
Who was the Iron Mask? What's certain is that he was treated with respect and extraordinary precaution. Did Dumas have it right that he was the twin of the king of France? It's shame we'll never know since this is all the info the museum had about him...
The cell of Le Masque du Fer was spacious but I suppose it wouldn't be so great to live in for the rest of my life. The series of bars in the windows seemed just gratuitous too.
More information was shared about other real prisoners hidden away here, including many protestant ministers as a result of King Louis XIV revoking the Edict of Nantes.
The other part of the museum was about a roman shipwreck and an art display called Bottled Sea. The Roman part of the museum was interesting because it further illustrated how amphores were packed (though they admitted that different amphora shapes were used for different goods) as well as details about a local shipwreck. In the art display, I liked the representation of sea life as plastic bottles; it was just the right amount of irony to tickle me. Who knows, perhaps plastic will be incorporated into life thousands of years down the line as a non-renewable resource that can be refined into useful material for whichever species can harvest at that time...
I'm still not sure why this particular shape was chosen for transporting goods. It's true that these should be fairly stable if left to their side but then why have a pointy bottom to start with?
I shipwreck was found nearby the island and the amphoras have been preserved here. I particularly liked the diorama illustrating the process of an ancient shipwreck degrading in the water and what kind of scene divers would later find.
Marine life made from plastic bottles and straws was both impressive and saddening at the same time.
Finally I made my way to what had ultimately drawn me to the island: the écomusée sous-marin. It was a gravelly shore marked off by yellow buoys. Unfortunately, the weather was getting windy and the waves picked but I resolved to get in the water anyways. The turbidity wasn't too great, it really made finding the sunken sculptures a challenge. Though in total, I think there are only two sculptures. I don't know if that qualifies as enough to be a submarine museum, but I'm no expert.
I suppose I'd dismissed the pond too quickly earlier. This path lined with eucalyptus trees is a reminder to how the island was once used for cultivating many other imported plants that liked the island's climate.
Time for a quick lunch break: a spinach pastry, some cheese, and a morsel of bread.
The beach of the marked museum area was gravelly but just a bit down the way was a little cove covered in dried plant matter, maybe that would have been easier to walk through.
Plenty of impressive rock and little pools elsewhere along the SE side of the island. Doesn't look like too many people would swim out this way; the water looked a bit rougher around the edges here.
I won't say that the ecomusée over-promised & under delivered, but I'm thinking it. Maybe I just got unlucky with water conditions but the two statues weren't all that impressive; they're now covered in a bit of aquatic vegetation that kinda looks like cob webs. If the enclosure featured other brightly colored coral maybe that would have made up for it, but otherwise I just did a roundabout swim in the Mediterranean.
As I was coming in, I encountered a group of guys making their way out to the sculptures. I told them the sculptures were difficult, even with goggles, to find but that they were not too far away. I lent them my goggles as I would need to dry off on shore without a towel, when I collected my goggles they said they didn't have any success.
I walked around a bit and managed to catch the 3:15 ferry back to Cannes. With the number of returning ferries dwindling quickly after, there was a pretty large line and precious little shade to wait in but I survived
Looks like some rafts for aquaculture, think it's mussels?
A bit of a pick me up before hitting the road to Nice: un crêpe au citron et du sucre in the main place of Cannes. Just as importantly, I drank the whole caraffe d'eau and a cafe
Refueled, I made the 40 minute drive to Nice but I had a revelation while in transit: I don't need the car anymore in Nice. With only two days to spend and my target destinations within public transit distance, I could just go straight to the airport to drop the car and take a taxi with my bags to the hotel. I'd lose flexibility in what I can do if I was suddenly struck with the need for a hike, but that probably justifies the rental, gas, and parking savings. Oh, speaking of gas, the little Mazda 2 I got in
Montpellier made the whole week's trip to Nice on just 1 tank of gas!
No kidding, I only refueled once between Marseille and Saint Raphaël;
surprisingly, the gas gauge didn't move at all between Saint Raphael and
Nice airport but I won't complain. 🤫
It's a very serious walk through the NCE airport from the car rental area though the carpeted ramp threw me for a bit of a loop.
I guess this is the slogan that made it through market research; it's an old code but it checks out
I took a taxi cab from the airport to the hotel; the drive along the length of the Promenade des Anglais was interesting as the driver pointed out some recommendations and tips. The ride was 45 euros and was a great way to break my last 100 bill. A comparison with Uber makes the taxi comparable given the size of the vehicle, there was no need to Tetris my luggage in the hatchback trunk like with the Mazda 2.
I stayed in the Hotel de la Tour, which true to its name was located just next to a tower in the old town. It took a bit getting used to it, but I had a nice conversation with the receptionist and her accent Russe. Since I'd arrived close to most offices closing for the day, she was able to provide me with a tourist map of the town and recommended a walking route for the evening.
After checkin, I set out into town with my beach gear but made a detour to a nearby park. This park features the remains of the old medieval castle of Nice and some good panoramic views. It was also a great way to be sure I'd be hot enough to swim at the beach near sundown. From the beach, I worked my way back to the hotel via the vielle ville for dinner.
A coworker giving me advice about Nice had told me getting une glace from Fennochio's was a must; I opted for the coquelicot (poppy), I don't know if this is what poppies taste like but it really hit the spot in the afternoon.
I'd been dubious of what to expect of waterfalls here but, boy, does Nice deliver.
It seems the old castle keep/donjon has been turned into a cool water feature; a pretty neat concept.
I'll have to keep an ear open around noon to hear if midday is still marked with a mortar shot. I'm having a hard time picturing how bored people must've been to agree to let an eccentric Englishman set up a cannon overseeing the town and shooting it everyday at noon.
These past few days, I've been getting an understanding of why this is called the coast of blues: the Mediterranean is all sorts of blue along this sunny coast.
The whole hill has been converted into a park with views of the town to the west, an overview of the port to the east, or some archeological sites still in progress.
Port Lympia; it's interesting to see the buildings just dwindle off into the distance. Per a plaque I'd seen in the park, a canal was dug to divert water to this port instead of the western side of town, I suppose that helps keep the beaches serene.
A teeny, tiny turret. I'm not sure what purpose it served here on this little plateau but the platform serves as a good viewpoint.
What I hadn't expected was for the entirety of the Promenade des Anglais to be rocky beach. They're smooth, grey stones like I'd seen at the Calanques; while not pillowy soft like sand, the beach is definitely comfortable for lounging and bathing (though the walking to/from the water is tricky barefoot).
At the edge of the old town and the beach is the market, with evening many of the vendors had vacated their little booths but the plaza was still bustling with diners and people milling about. There seemed to be a troupe of Brazilian acrobats doing a circuit around the old town for the entirety of the day, I'd seen then earlier in the afternoon and here again at the end of the evening.
I was on the lookout for a menu featuring la cuisine Niçoise. I'd already tried squash flower doughnuts in Cannes so here I tried stuffed peppers (les farcis Niçois) and a braised beef (la daube Niçoise). Both tasty and blog worthy but I don't think I'd write a postcard home about them.
It's strange, Nice isn't all that far from Cannes but it feels very
different. One might even go so far as to say it's pretty nice 😉
I say "adieu" to Cannes et "bonsoir" to Nice. I don't think Cannes is necessarily for me but I have a feeling I'm going to like Nice more: it feels like a lived in city in addition to being a tourist destination. I'm lukewarm on recommending Île Saint Margueritte to others, it was a fine way to spend a day in the Cannes region and I don't regret it but it just felt kinda "bof". Now with my car returned and my hotel being the same for the next 3 nights, it really feels like I'm entering into the home stretch of my time here in France; il faut profiter!
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