The beauty of the French Riviera is something to behold.
Arriving in August, with summer at its peak, felt almost overwhelming — the air heavy with heat and humidity, the days stretching languidly before us. Learning to surrender to slower rhythms, to lazy afternoons and dinners that drifted late into warm evenings, took time.
A week spent in beautiful Antibes — or more precisely, Juan-les-Pins, nestled within its embrace — unfolded beside a glorious coastline. The Mediterranean shimmered endlessly in shades of blue, while old stone streets met modern life, a meeting of past and present that filled me with quiet excitement.
The area has much to offer - new and old.
In the Old Town of Antibes, we wandered winding laneways awash with colour and life. It’s amazing how potted plants and cascading vines can turn quiet corners into small pockets of beauty.
Our week was wonderfully full.
We spent a day at the beach, renting chairs and lingering over lunch on the sun-warmed shores of the Mediterranean. The only blemish was the chorus of nearby complaints — tourists lamenting the lack of Wi-Fi or a coffee made incorrectly. I think people seemed to forget they were in the South of France, of all places, it felt like a reminder to pause, to look up, and to truly be present.
I swam in the Mediterranean, its waters crystal clear and gently warm, an experience that felt both grounding and quietly unforgettable.
We wandered through local markets and shops, soaking in the ambience and settling into the gentle rhythm of our surroundings.
My husband tried frog’s legs for the first time — a true achievement — and along the way we discovered a wonderful restaurant, Le Perroquet, where the food was exquisite and the service just as memorable.
Antibes became our home base as we ventured out to Èze and Cannes.
Èze, a medieval hilltop village perched between Nice and Monaco, felt timeless. Its old town — a maze of stone buildings and winding cobblestone alleys — climbs steadily upward, leading at last to the Jardin Exotique, where sweeping views of the French coastline and rolling hills unfold below.
Cannes felt distinctly more cosmopolitan, polished, and expensive — and with that glamour came a noticeable price tag.
A simple lunch at a local café was astonishingly costly; a salad and a non-alcoholic drink for the two of us totaled over AUD $100. It was a sharp contrast to the slower, simpler pleasures we’d grown used to elsewhere.
Another thing that stood out was the prevalence of smoking at restaurants, even though it might be outdoors, the smell of smoke would still waft back through the indoors — a habit woven into everyday life in France, yet one I realized I could never quite grow accustomed to again.
Beyond the sights themselves, we delighted in remarkable food and unexpected moments — even feeding squirrels along the way. Sometimes, it’s the simplest pleasures that linger the longest.
Next stop: Paris. ✨
