France: Cannes - Antibes

Walking by the sea is so tempting that I cannot resist continuing from Cannes to Antibes on foot - yesterday's was such an enjoyable walk. It will be an easy one, totally on level ground. The natural starting point is where I left off the previous afternoon: la Croisette, next to the Palais des festivals and its red carpet. I visit a favourite hand print, that of the mysterious and original Pink Panther.

Before taking off towards Antibes, I check out the film world hand prints once more, and to my surprise I was right about seeing some stars' hand prints there twice. For example Dennis Hopper and the French singer Johnny Hallyday (who has also featured in some films). Their fresh prints are shiny, silvery ones right in front of the festival palace.

La Croisette is busy with tourists, kiosks selling crêpes and coffee, kids playing under the tall palm trees. If you want another film star-related souvenir, just pose behind a cardboard figure (e.g. Charlie's Angels and Jack Sparrow available) and have your photo taken.

Palme d'Or, or the Golden Palm is the symbol of Cannes Film Festival. You can see it also painted on the asphalt, but not everywhere;  the most appropriate place is of course the zebra crossing that leads from the Croisette boulevard to the luxurious Carlton hotel. Or is it the other way round because the stars often have their photo sessions next to the beach?

The people who enter the fancy palace-like hotel are immaculately dressed and the restaurant on the terrace is busy with guests having lunch. I don't think I'm appropriately dressed to march in...

So I'd better continue along the wonderfully wide la Croisette which is getting less crowded, the further I get from the expensive hotels. The beach is almost deserted, thanks to the less sunny day and the wind that blows from the sea.

At the end of la Croisette there is a playing area for children and right in front of it you get a reminder of children's rights (Les enfants ont des droits) in the form of the colourful work of art. The glass paneled fence that surrounds the artwork summarizes the Declaration of the rights of the children.

The coastline curves to Cap de la Croisette and you get a nice view towards Esterel, Théoule-sur-Mer and Cannes. There is plenty of room to walk because only few people seem to be taking a stroll in this area. Some fishermen with their long fishing rods are trying their luck on the rocky shore after the sandy beaches.

At Port Canto there are boats, boats and more boats, from tiny ones to large and expensive ones. It is an art to keep it simple.

At the very end of Cap de la Croisette, the Palm Beach casino invites in people with extra cash. The red foot sculpture (by an anonymous artist) in front of the casino invites different interpretations. Is it a walker's foot, stepping down, or someone standing on tiptoe, or the foot of a woman with an invisible high heel shoe? I walk behind the casino and have a look at the island of Sainte Marguerite which is surprisingly close to mainland right here.

My journey continues along the seashore. On my right there is usually a beach but sometimes there is only the sea, a couple of meters down. Shall I walk down the steps and rinse my feet in the sea? It is not that warm...

The Mediterranian seems a bit colder today, and a different shade of blue than yesterday, even if the sun appears quite frequently. I wonder if I'll be able to walk right by the sea all the way to Juan les Pins and soon the road steers off the shore, across the railroad tracks. There is a narrow path down below but it may well be a dead end because there are private houses ahead. I'd better follow the road, then.

Adieu Cannes; I'm already stepping to the next town. This is the most boring part of the walk, squeezed between the road and railroad tracks with its metal fence. The private houses on the side of the sea seem accessible only by sea or via locked footbridges across the tracks. Glad I followed the road instead.

A villa by the sea on the French Riviera isn't necessarily a luxurious one, not always... Perhaps the view to the Mediterranian sea does not compensate enough for the difficult access to the house and its noisy location right next to the railroad track .

With the arrival at Golfe Juan, the road luckily turns back to the sea. There are some flowers to look at, but otherwise not too much; I focus on simply walking and breathing the fresh air from the sea.

I don't expect to find anything special at Golfe Juan but there is a surprise waiting: at the seafront promenade, full of restaurants, there is also a sign about Napoléon. Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte arrived at this beach from the Isle of Elba, and took off with his troops from Golfe Juan on 1 March, 1815, towards Grenoble which they reached after a walk of 331 kilometres on 7 March.What a March for them...

More boats, couples and families on a leisurely walk on the boulevard. In a flash I'm at Juan les Pins where it is lunchtime, and the tables on the terraces facing the sea are full. Zivo's little elephant, First Found,  seems like it can hardly keep itself together and it has to be content with watching the buildings and passers-by. I turn left after the shiny Casino and follow the shortest route towards Antibes.

Uphill, downhill. I am already close to Vieil Antibes when I take a random turn to the right, towards the sea. Strolling on the boulevard Maréchal Foch, I spot a sign on the gatepost of a villa: Antibes Randonnées, Antibes Hiking club. The club seems to offer very interesting hikes for its members, leading them up into the mountains. Aren't they lucky! However, I'm still quite happy about today's walk, even if I stayed at the same low altitude all the way from Cannes to Antibes.

France: Théoule-sur-Mer - Cannes

I step off the train at Théoule-sur-Mer with a light backpack just like some other walkers, also equipped with maps. The red and white trail mark that stands for GR 51 (GR = Grande Randonnée, a long distance path) is right in front of the pale pink station, on the other side of the road. Behind the fence something is glittering in the sun: the Mediterranian.

Unfortunately the route doesn't lead you straight to beach which remains down below. I head west along the pavement for a while until the route mark tries to invite me to make a detour uphill. No thanks, I'll keep on this road and take a shortcut... The GR path will anyway wind back down in a moment, via a tunnel under the road. In a few minutes I arrive at Théoule-sur-Mer center and turn right, off the seashore.

A sign tells me that I've just entered Estérel Nature Park, and another that the estimated walking time up to Col du Trayas (245 m) will be about 1h 10 minutes. The gravel path is wide to begin with, following a railroad track and a brook, but very soon I feel almost like in the middle of nowhere. The path starts to ascend slowly, and I'm happy to walk also in the shade of the trees at times, not just in direct sunlight.

I take a sip of water and gaze at the scenery. High above me there are red rocks, as compared to the whitish rocks that you see for example above Eze or Menton. The ground is dry but green enough; there are only few flowers about though. After a moment a couple passes me at brisk space but I prefer to take it slowly, going uphill. Very soon I see also other people enjoying a day out, but most of them are riding a mountain bike; this seems to be a popular route for cyclists.

Although the day is not hot, it is warm enough with the sun shining from a clear blue sky. The rugged path must have had its share of water splashing through it like in a tunnel... It is alright to walk it in a pair of trainers but it is no surprise that quite a few walkers seem to have trekking poles with them. They help especially when walking downhill.

When I've reached my destination, Col du Trayas, I feel tempted about walking further but unfortunately my map doesn't extend far enough west to make a more challenging trip today. I find a spot beneath the pine trees and sit down for a snack - some bread, ham and cheese. An older couple has chosen the same venue for their lunch. The scenery isn't too bad, after all.

I turn to walk back down from Col du Trayas when I notice another trail mark above the red and white GR trail mark. The blue and yellow scallop shell indicates that by following this GR 51 it is possible to reach the popular pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela (GR 51 ends in Marseille, where La Voie Phocéenne connects it to Arles, one of the starting points of Camino).

A family of four climbs on the top of a red rock and sits down for their lunch; there are two long baguettes sticking out of the father's backpack. I continue my journey downhill and stop to select the next path. Which way to go?

I choose to return to Théoule-sur-Mer round the hill that overlooks Miramar, the neighbouring town. The path offers a lovely view to the sea practically for the whole way. On the next hill on my right the area seems to be full of houses but luckily there is still a lot of unbuilt area around here, thanks to the Nature Park.

Finally the path winds close to some buildings. The first house that I meet has a curved, turquoise swimming pool with lounge chairs in the middle. The residents of Avenue Henri Matisse want to take it easy, and they don't want to see dog poo on their street.

After a bit of asphalt, I again reach a narrow track that soon climbs up. I also set my foot on concrete steps, walk past red rocks, under tall eucalyptus trees, and get piqued by a juniper with long, angry spikes.

The Mediterranian continues to sparkle in the sun. However, once I've walked round the cape, I'm also rewarded with a view as far as the Maritime Alps with their snow peaks, right behind the hills that surround the French Riviera coast.

The sign on my left tells there's an apricot farm but I have to turn right and take the narrow footpath down to Théoule-sur-Mer. I reach the railway station and decide to walk a bit further, at least to the next station - Mandelieu-La Napoule. The weather is great and it will be an easy walk by the road and close to the sea.

Théoule-sur-Mer offers also a bit of art for the passers-by. Among others, you can meet for example Serge Sallan's Femme sortant de l'eau (A woman rising from the water), and Paradise temple (Temple du paradis) as well as a statue of a princess Diana who used to live in the hills of Estérel.

The road turns and there is a turquoise welcome sign with a French flag ahead. Mandelieu-La Napoule is a town of mimosas but they are not in bloom right now... Mimosa flowers can be seen on the hills in the winter time.

At La Napoule the path leads me through a beach and to the rocks right on the water, at last. At the next beach there is a sturdy palm tree and when you go round the corner, you can see an old castle that is a museum nowadays.

So glad the wind is not hard today, otherwise the waves would easily hit the path both before the castle and while walking under the arches of the castle! After this, the route gets to more level ground.

I cross two rivers, Argentière and Siagne, and face a long stretch of pavement by the side of the road. The cars and motorcycles whiz past me, but I don't mind; it is easy to focus on listening to the waves splash to the shore on my right. Then I hear distant drumming, and think it must come from a car radio, but no: the happy drummers are real!

La Bocca. A young couple walks towards me on the sandy beach, and leaves their footprints on the sand. It only takes a moment for the waves to wipe the footprints away. Perhaps I should board the train in Cannes, not here...

...so I continue my walk just a bit futher, along the seashore. Cannes is crowds of tourists, ice cream eaters, fancy boats, the festival palace with the famous red carpet of the Film Festival, now cordoned off. The end of my walk today. Instead of footprints, there are the famous hand prints on the boardwalk - which one to choose? I can picture different kinds of walks in the films of my favourite Japanese film director, Akira Kurosawa, so he is my pick for today.

France: Eze, Nietzsche Path

I don't actually feel very philosophical when I step off the train at Eze Bord de mer on the French Riviera. I just enjoy being here. However, there are philosopher's footsteps to follow: a path named after Friedrich Nietzsche, up to Eze village on the hilltop above. The signpost estimates the climb to take about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

The distance isn't that long, the journey is more about how fast you are able to or even want to walk up there. In hot weather it wouldn't be a great idea to do this on foot; you would have to have plenty of water with you. Also, it is best to wear proper footwear instead of flip-flops....

The colours around the path are not the only thing that can refresh a walker's mind. If you rub your fingers to a sprig of wild rosemary, next to the path, it opens up other senses. The rocky path is very clearly marked and there is no danger of getting lost. Just focus on the path and the beautiful surroundings.

The view that opens to the azure Mediterranian is soothing to the soul. A good reason to stop and take a breath, another sip of water. Friedrich Nietzsche spent a lot of time on the French Riviera and he enjoyed walking a lot. No wonder why...

The philosopher took walks up to seven or eight hours a day. While walking up this very same path Nietzsche composed the crucial part of Also sprach Zarathustra.

Light-coloured, tall rocks loom above, and on some of them there are buildings. They certainly have breathtaking views. Ahead of us, a French family walks at slow pace towards the top, but the approximately 10 years old son is tired very early on, with tears running on his red cheeks. However, he refuses a sip of water from daddy's water bottle. Poor thing. The boy is wearing a black t-shirt with a mean-looking, large skull.

Both behind us and on our right, the sea view gets better step by step. For a while the path descends, but then it winds back up again. You simply have to stop and gaze at the rocky bay and the waves.

Finally we see Eze village above us.There are no trees giving their protective shade but there are some clouds that try to help us. Slowly but surely the hilltop gets closer and we walk beneath the trees surrounding the village.

Before the Nietzsche path finishes, you can see Fragonard perfume etc. factory on the right. I prefer to breathe the fresh air, coming from the sea, thank you. There is a group of Swedish students enjoying their lunch on the scenic spot next to the village. We all take in the view; you don't have to be a philosopher for that. The Eze village right next to us is trying its best to invite us to its narrow streets...

However, we won't stay in the picturesque village, but walk on, past the original hotel reception (donkeys available for luggage transportation because cars cannot enter the village above) and continue over the bridge towards Mont Bastide. The drop from the bridge is something so if you are afraid of heights and the weather is windy, you may not want to cross it on foot.

After the bridge we turn to the right to follow David's path to the top of Mont Bastide. After a while we see ourselves at the same level as the Eze hilltop village but soon we are much higher, looking down at both Eze and the sea.

The views are not getting better only towards the sea. From the top of Mont Bastide, you can also see the beautiful mountain landscape of Maritime Alps, including the tall ones with their snow caps. Down below the Mediterranian looks fantastic in the afternoon sunlight and on the coastline you can see also St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat - round which there is a great footpath! We sit down, to be sheltered from the wind by the bushes. This is a lovely place for a late lunch.

The sun is still shining on the western side of Mont Bastide when we start our descent back towards Eze Bord de mer. Mostly we walk on the narrow, sometimes rocky gravel path, but further down we also need to cross a busy road with cars and motorcycles speeding past.

It is indeed a luxury to be able to walk here, watching the scenery, the flowers that already decorate the hills. We pass also a small altar with a Mothers' Prayer, Prière des Mères, attached to it. A pilgrim route for someone, perhaps?

The closer we get to the Eze Bord de mer railway station, the harder it is for the knees - asphalt does not give in under your step so I miss the gravel path... The gardens are protected by walls, often covered by bushes and flowers (thank you!), and a dog barks behind a fence. I wonder what it looked like in this village when Friedrich Nietzsche walked down the hill more than hundred years ago?