Running down the Cote d'Azur

After leaving Villefranche, we exercised the right of franchise and tied up to the quay d'accueil at Antibes. We only had two hours, and an urgent need to shop, but Antibes turned out to be a wonderful town, somewhere we'd love to visit again. With our time up, we headed out to St. Marguerite, one of the two islands in the Ile de Lerins. These lovely islands are pine-forested nature reserves, and we enjoyed walking around the island on the wooded trails. After a few tranquil days, we decided to see what Cannes was all about. We anchored off the rolly beach and tendered in for a look around this famous town.

Cruisers in the anchorage off Cannes

Cannes foreshore

The small port at Cannes that we tendered into... turned out to be a boat show.

The only place suitable to beach Spit was in the small port of Cannes, so we happily motored in. There was a huge boat show being set up, but we snuck Spit into a corner and wandered into town. We didn't however, notice the security around the site, and had a very difficult time trying to get back to our dinghy.

Main square in Cannes

Shopping street of Cannes

Pedestrian mall in Cannes

Cannes wasn't that interesting, and the anchorage just off the main beach was very rolly and crowded, so we left to find a quieter anchorage. We found one off the romantic little village of Theole, which was like an exclusive gated marina/village complex. We anchored in a small bight off the marina and tendered into the village.

Pavlov at anchor off Theoule 

Marina/Port of Theoule

Small beach in Theoule

A most unusual sport, boat boff bats!

Theoule featured a most unusual sport, we saw two specially adapted row boats with a raised platform projecting off the stern. The poster (pic) explained the sport, where two contestants armed with wooden swords tried to knock each other off the boat platforms. Such fun! From Theole, we headed to the small bay of Agay, another neat little anchorage.

Sweet little anchorage in Agay

Interesting red hills behind Agay

The plage at Agay

Lenticulars presaging the arrival of the Mistral

From Agay, we caught the bus into Saint Raphael. Lots of lovely chateaux and beaches, but St. Raphael failed to inspire. We did however, have a wonderful lunch, our first true 'French meal'. We don't eat out much in France, as it is very expensive.

St. Raphael

Seaside promenade at St Raphael

Leaving Agay, we headed towards Canuobiers, from where we could visit St. Troupez. On the way, we passed the port of Poussai, with this lovely lighthouse and red watchtower, all built on the red granite rocks of this region.

Lighthouse at Port Poussai

Red watch tower at Poussai

So, next port of call will be the legendary Saint Troupez. Aurevoir.