FRANCE: Cannes and Nice - The French Riveria

CANNES:  The French Riveria

First thing that springs to mind about Cannes is the world famous Cannes International Film Festival, Celebrities and the Red Carpet. Those were the furthermost from our minds the morning when we boarded the 7.31am TER Inter-City train at Marseille-St Charles station.  We were looking for the Ventimiglia, Italy bound train focusing on getting to Cannes. 

With our Eurail passes in hand this was a trip where we could just hop on for a free 2 hour train trip.  Decked out with our beach towels, snacks, togs and Thongs (eeerrhh Flip Flops) we seemed to fit in with the other passengers who were also geared up in beach wear.  Their reason may have been different to ours – we wanted to get out of Marseille (have I mentioned that before ??) whereas they would have been heading to the beaches because at this time it was at the height of the European summer holidays.....and Thongs (not Flip Flops) were standard dress for the beach.

Cannes waterfront

But before we could even get on the train we had to first dodge the beggars, Maccas and the usual malingerers hanging around the station. 

The journey took us through Toulon and St. Raphael and with views of the Mediterranean Sea where on one side were small coves and inlets, Cruise ships and Super Yachts.  On the other were vineyards, orchards and olive groves. We were skirting Provence.  Just beautiful.

Unlike Marseille, Cannes was welcoming and was in stark contrast to the city we had just left. The first thing we did was to get absorbed into the Palm Tree lined streetscapes, the narrow lane ways, cafes, the high end shopping precincts and landscaped gardens and promenades.  In the afternoon we would hit the sandy beaches and get the last scheduled train back to Marseille. 

Typical Summer day at the beach - Cannes



The landmarks and attractions were aplenty but we admired some of the more famous ones such as the historic Hotel de Ville on the waterfront and visited the Chateau de la Castre which sits high on a hill with its prominent clock tower overlooking the city. 

Hotel de Ville

We wandered the Gare Maritime and Vieux Port to admire the cruise liners berthed off the coast and to check out the luxury "Super Yachts" that cruise the Mediterranean, even spotting a couple that occasionally visit Cairns such as "Archimedes" and "Octopus".  The latter known to host the rich in famous ie Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and family.  The Port and Marina were amazing. Imagine a marina about 5 times the size of Hilarys Harbour in Perth or Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast, or even the Cairns Marina 10 times over, but with more expensive yachts.  Jaw-dropping to say the least !! 

We hung around the Promenade de la Pantiero - the waterfront boardwalk with wooden sculptures and to just people watch, admire the yachts.  

Artists-In-Residence near Cannes Marina

We even walked past the waterfront Casino but we weren't exactly dressed for the occasion. And of course, we walked the Palais of Festivals where the Cannes International Film Festival is held.  Here we followed the cast hand prints of famous movie stars, and like most other tourists there we compared our hands with their hand prints.

There was something interesting we discovered just around the corner and behind the Palais of Festivals and not necessarily on the tourist trail. 

There were more hand prints of ‘just-as-famous’ people and seem to have been ignored by the public and neglected for some reason. What a contrast and look at the difference between the two. Quite surprising because some of the names included Susan Sarandon, Peter Sellers and George Hamilton. You may be asking "Who are they?" LOL.

I also got a chance to walk the red carpet. OK, so the Film Festival wasn’t on but how could I miss an opportunity to walk on those famous steps…..!! 

Cannes back streets

Walking the famous Red Carpet



Movie Star Hand prints

The 'Other' movie star hand prints

And a special note for Vera in Boston….We spotted this guy in Cannes trying to copy your Glass Harmonica style of music, but he was a total amateur and way off key, and we reckon he doesn’t even know how to play Waltzing Matilda.

Glass Harmonica Impersonator

(For folks who haven't read our Boston Blog check it out at - http://tonyandliztraveladventures.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/boston-ma.html)

With our Visa Cards now sorted we were able to withdraw from the ATMs– just had to get a ‘blingy’ CANNES t-shirt each to wear at home. LOL !!

Cannes was a breath of fresh air, sea breezes and the smell of coconut oil, and filled with "beautiful" people.  It was bustling and beautiful at the same time.  We only wish we had booked here for a few days instead of the city 2 hours back the other way and which we would be very reluctantly heading back to in the evening.  Tomorrow we’d be making our way to Nice or as Kath and Kim would say……."NOICE!!!"

Cruise ship berthed off Cannes

If it is anything like Cannes, it will be.

Ciao, 'till next time!!!

Liz and Tony



We had the blue umbrella

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

NICE

Population:  Approx 370,000, but almost doubles during the European summer.

The next morning after another restless and noisy night we caught the same early train out of Marseille only this time we were bound for Nice only a half hour further north-east of Cannes. 

Making our way to the station, we were positive it was that same gypsy party at the bottom of the historic steps from the day before too.  We pondered the thought if they ever sleep? We could only guess not especially if there are 24hr around the clock opportunities for a sting.  And we could only guess that the party continued because the previous day had been “pick pocket” profitable.

Views of the coastline en route to Cannes

On the train we passed those picturesque beaches, bays, vineyards and mountains again, and we were excited about getting to Gare Nice-Ville. 






Gare Nice-Ville station

This time we bypassed the main shopping area and Cathedral on Avenue Jean Medecin and headed straight for the beach about 200mtrs down the road, following everyone wearing swimmers and carrying towels with the exception of stopping a couple of times for some photo opportunities along the way. 
This one, the huge nude Apollo statue in the Place Massena caught our eyes. (see photo below).  Apparently this marble creation caused public outrage when it was erected (no pun intended) in 1956 only to be replaced for public view in 2011. 

Marble statue of Apollo

Pretty much every street from the station headed straight for the beach (plage) towards the Baie des Anges. So we headed for the nearest one ie. Opera Plage (beach) and called that for obvious reasons – it was across the road from the Nice Opera House....and it was where everyone seemed to be going.

We were used to long sandy stretches of beach back home but Nice was different, even different to Cannes beaches.  And they were all so crowded....!

Instead of sand, the beach was covered in rocks (sand on steroids) and ranged in size of plums to large potatoes. Seriously….and believe it or not, this didn’t stop anyone from lying the beach or going into the water. And just when you would think the stones stop at the waterline – WRONG !  Those rocks are a killer on your feet and Crocs and Flip Flops (Thongs) were the “must-have” accessory in AND out of the water.   And nearly every souvenir store here sold Crocs and Flip Flops for good reason.  

Nice (Noice) beach in Nice with Supersized Sand



With the heat of the day we just had to go into the water, and because we hadn’t expected the smooth huge grains of sand we didn’t come prepared did we.  No Crocs or Thongs.  Instead we just tread water for a long time.

CROCS the standard beach wear

Just as in Cannes, Nice had the quaint and appealing little backstreets filled with cafés, wine bars, boutiques and souvenir shops.  No shiny new multi-level buildings here.  Just historical facades and historical architecture with a lot of charm.  Plenty open space, manicured gardens and fountains. 

Add to that an efficient tram system that runs continuously between the beaches and the burbs.

Tramway through Nice

 

Our only little disappointment was that we had just missed the local fruit and vege market which was winding up for the day. Our yearning to get to the beach was just too much!! 



 And here, for the first time in Europe we noticed the large concentration of Chinese/Asian restaurants and take-aways. Of all places the French Riveria!  But then it clicked – it is a known fact that the Chinese love to gamble. Take Macau for example. And here in this region there is also a huge concentration of Casinos all the way from Cannes to the Monte Carlo in Monaco. It all seemed to make sense – maybe we were getting too much sun or something but we just loved this place – busy, chic, trendy, but laid back at the same time.  And we just had to partake in Asian cuisine too, we found a very nice authentic Vietnamese Pho restaurant.

Late that afternoon we were back on the train for the 2 ½ hr trip back to Marseille and our last night at the St Charles Terminus (“Terminal”). At the least the beaches were a good distraction.

On reflection it would have been great to stay another couple of days in Marseille. 

No, No!! It’s not what you’re thinking – not for the fact that we liked it !!!  Just for the fact that if we had some extra days we could have gone a little further on the trains and get to Monaco or the end of the train line in Italy ie. Ventimiglia, and only 70kms away.  For us these days 70 kms is "Bugger-all" in comparison to how far we’ve travelled so far.

But lying on the beach, taking in the sun rays with eyes closed (catching up on lost sleep) listening to the French and Italian conversations spoken around us – it was easy to imagine we were already in Italy.  Nevertheless the Italian leg of our adventure starts in 7 days time.  Lots more to see and do in the meantime.

At this point of our adventure we were looking forward to spending a day in Lyon before travelling to Zurich, Switzerland for a week. Here we would meet up again with Glen and Stefanie from our Peru trip.  Really looking forward to catching up again.  Can’t believe that was 4 months ago !  

( Machu Picchu - http://tonyandliztraveladventures.blogspot.com.au/2012_05_01_archive.html)

From Marseille to Lyon (approx. 315 kms) we board the 11.06am TGV (Train Go Very fast) which has a land speed of over 300 kms per hour, and other than by plane, thankfully,  was the quickest way for us to get out of Marseille - LOL). 

Voila  !!!! 

Our next instalment about Lyon coming soon.

PS> (see, we are picking up the lingo - must be all those breads, cheeses and wines we've been consuming in France)

Foodies Heaven, bars, cafes in Nice


  

FRANCE: Marseille

************************************************************
MARSEILLE

• Busiest cruise and cargo port in France
• France's second largest city and oldest, founded 2600 years ago
• Largest group of communes in France with a population of approx 1.2 million citizens.

Eglise de Reformes Cathedral, Marseilles

View to Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseilles

You know when you get that gut feeling?  The one when you arrive at a place, city, town or village that you know straight away if you are going to like it or not just by the feel, the welcome or the looks you get from locals. 

Honestly, arriving just before 1pm into the central Marseilles district into the St. Charles SCNF station area was like that!!  From the moment we hopped off the train we felt that we just DID NOT want to be there.  

Gare de Marseille St Charles SCNF

For starters, it was a very, very busy station and main bus terminal and it seemed that we were being sussed out ie. all eyes on us.  But seriously that didn’t  really bother us because we’d tackled New York subways, Metros and backstreets in Philly, New Orleans and Miami. Not forgetting the many Greyhound stations across the USA, the stations in Paris, and Madrid where heavily armed soldiers in their fatigues were patrolling, carrying their AK-47s,  We were also familiar with most station and bus terminals where Maccas and McCafes were a regular feature. 

However, what did bother us was when we walked out of the station and saw groups of Romas, Gypsies, Romanians gathered around the bottom of this most beautiful historic railway station…and these groups were comprised of perhaps 4 generations of one family, sickly looking babies in prams to crippled grandmothers sitting on the ground holding paper cups in their hands – begging at you all the while rattling the cups the held a few coins. It was a sad sight and probably the most “in-your-face” begging we’ve seen yet in all our travels.  Besides Los Angeles and San Francisco that is!  But the fact is that these people work in groups and have scouts that look out for where you pulled your money out from.  When you are distracted they use tactics to pick-pocket.  We were very wary all the time and hence to say we didn't end up as victims.

But yet again it so happened we were staying in perhaps the most populated Muslim district in Marseilles.   One thing was for certain .....we knew that the food would be good but this would only happen after 8pm because Ramadan was still being observed.   In the evenings we could have wandered into other areas outside of the district however the chances of being mugged or assaulted rose from 80% during the day to about 90% at night....and if at all possible we would veer away or ignore the gypsy groups that hung around the area.  And so it goes that we didn't venture too far from our accommodation (by night) in Marseilles BUT we found a nice little Tunisian eatery, called "Restaurant Ghomrassan" a couple of blocks down the road - and that was our limit after dusk....and a quick run back to the hotel if we didn't feel safe.  The restaurant served up a 3 course meal for only 10 Euros and one of the dishes was so delicious, the 'Chorba' soup, that I promised myself I would make it as part of our "F N F F F F" (Friday Night Family Foreign Food Feast) menu.  It was also at this restaurant where we observed Muslims ending their daily fast during Ramadan by eating dates with a glass of milk before the evening prayers begin.

TGV - France's fast train travelling up to 322 kms per hr

When it came to food during our travels we would rarely buy Mc Donalds and if we did it was only because nothing else was open and only if we were starving. That didn't happen to often because we always carried some type of snack food for long bus or train trips.  Alternatively we would buy the French staples such as Baguettes and cheese, and they were fairly cheap too.  Sometimes they were ready made up with extras ie salad.  

At St Charles Station there was no way we wanted to hang around let alone buy Maccas there even if it was just a short walk away.  The thought of having a meal/coffee with AK-47s marching past almost made us choke just thinking about it. 

But  just one morning we spotted a different Maccas near a main intersection on one of our self-guided mystery tours.  We just couldn't believe what we discovered .... it must be the first ever McDonalds that DO NOT, I repeat....DO NOT serve Bacon on their Bacon and Egg McMuffins - would you believe??  False advertising?  Was it because we were in the Muslim district ???  Why don't they just call them Egg McMuffins....and TJ wanted argue the toss with the counter staff  while I've done a quick pirouette heading for the door.  And here I am ...grateful to say the least....that this wasn't happening at the St. Charles station Maccas with an AK-47 staring you in the face.  Phew!!! 

During our travels we had become very good at finding markets selling fresh food, fruit and veges, ones where you could "try and buy" samples of cheeses, breads and fruit and vegetables.  We did find some markets on Capucins and bought some fresh fruit for our train trips, but as far as offerings go - definitely NOT particularly when you see animal heads hanging in windows with the smell of garbage wafting up your noses whilst you are trying to step over it !!

As far as safety goes, it wasn't until later in our adventures we would hear stories from other travellers about just how unsafe and dangerous this city was and could be.  A statement of fact drawn from our experience of being in other unsafe places we had travelled to, some of those mentioned earlier.

To give you an idea on one of our train journeys through Italy, we met a family from Columbia who told us of their friend who had his mobile phone stolen at the St. Charles Maccas by someone who  ran past and snatched it....stolen while he had it up to his ear talking on the phone.  

Then at Charles De Gaulle airport on our way to Hong Kong we had a "situation" where we met a French Police Nationale Officer, Fabian, who trained and served in Marseilles....but that is another exciting story and blog later. 

Then while staying in our hotel one night we watched a TV segment about the European Space Agency which developed a satellite program (GMES) for the purposes of monitoring the environment and the effects of global warming.  But this system was found to be so good it is now used primarily as a global security system whereby law enforcement and border security agencies monitor the Mediterranean Sea for illegal boats entering into southern France and Italy carrying cargoes of illegal immigrants, drugs and other contraband.  Marseilles is a hot-spot for this activity and a target for the watchdog. 

Then , as if that wasn't enough, there were 'just a couple' of murders reported during our stay in Marseilles.  That didn't even get a "Top Story" mention on the news.  That gut feeling huh !! We knew it.

Stairs of the Gare de Marseilles St Charles (opened in 1848)



Streets of Marseilles



Architecture of Marseille

By day the gypsies would sit along the streets and at night get together, drink, dance and party, probably with the proceeds of charity or theft.  We suspect the latter and they would leave their garbage strewn in the streets.  And in the still of the night you could hear them partying until all hours.  The authorities or council didn't seem to care much and turned a blind eye - probably for good reason because they would be set upon by the large group numbers.  But early one morning we saw council workers using high pressure hoses (borrowed from Pamplona perhaps?) to clean off the areas where they had camped.  But the beggar groups were back the next day in full view of the authorities again.  (News article which relates to some of the gypsy issues - http://www.france24.com/en/20120928-marseille-residents-force-out-roma-gypsy-burn-camp-france-valls-sarkozy-repatriation ) 

But we made the most of the time we had to enjoy the more pleasantries of Marseille and the southern France region by taking the train on short journeys.

When we boarded the TGV from Perpignan to Marseilles via Avignon on Saturday morning 11^th August, we took in the views of the Mediterranean where the beaches and bays were dotted with camper vans and holiday makers, mostly northern Europeans travelling to the south and heading to the beaches for the summer holidays and the Super Yachts cruising the bays.   And the beaches along the Mediterranean looked so inviting.

Arriving in Marseille our plan (Plan A) was to spend 4 days/5 nights in sunny Marseille but we had our reservations about this so we come up with Plan B because instead of sitting back and thinking – “this will be 4 awful days we will never get back” we decided on Plan B.  There was NEVER really a Plan B, but it was hatched not long after on our arrival at St. Charles.  So here were the plans......

Plan A:

Have a look around Marseille for a day or two – do a walking orientation using our trusty map and try to avoid the seedy areas, make use of the public transport system, visit some of the historical sites, get down to the wharf and Vieux Port, Abbaye de St-Victor, take in the view of Fort St Jean, and generally get to know something about Marseilles.  Sounded OK and we did most of that.

Plan B: 

Keep our accommodation, but get the HELL out of the city every day – and that’s exactly what we did. 

And “Hell” is probably the exact the description of the accommodation too! The temperature was about 40 degrees inside with the windows open – NO air-con!  Not only that....when the room had been closed during the day we were sure it felt as hot as Marrakesh (51 degrees).  The hotel staff were kind enough to supply us with a small personal fan, big enough to cool off your foot - and it wasn't my foot either. Our room was on the first level, there were Romas partying all night and we weren't game enough to leave the windows completely open.  There was one option and that was to open the windows and fasten the outside shutters to allow a breeze in.  Sort of defeated the purpose because even the slightest breeze was hot. The downside to having the windows open was that you could hear everything going on outdoors ... all night......and to the sounds of hotel guests fornicating somewhere in the vicinity or from the nearby buildings. They had obviously left there windows open too.  Would be safe to say we didn't have any comfortable nights in Marseille.  FYI - the name of the accommodation was Hotel Terminus.   We thought a more appropriate name was ...... Hotel Terminal. Be warned - do not stay there!

We did get out of Marseille and went to Cannes (pronounced…Cairns ...very much missing home now...), famous for the International Film Festival just to spend the day at the beach.  The next day we would travel further along the coast to Nice making the most of our free travel with our Eurail passes.  Ahhh! The beach, the Riveria, palm tree lined streets and promenades…and did I mention the BEACH.  Both Cannes and Nice reminded us more of the northern Cairns beaches than we realised.....imagine this....Trinity Beach with its small waves but with as many beach goers as Bondi Beach and just as many beach umbrellas.  Sure is like nothing we had seen before.  

Just getting back to day 1 we spent time walking and seeing around some of Marseilles city where we found an antique/bric-a-brac market on Boulevard de la Liberation/La Gambetta which had some of the most beautiful old wares - nothing like  we would see in Oz.  One would think some of these pieces were out of Versailles palace or other French castle - just beautiful.    But there is a logic in our reasoning about why we don't see any of these antiques in Australia, or the styles of buildings and architecture for that matter - by comparison to Europe, Australia is still a very young country.

Over the next day or so we ventured into the Old Town, Arc Place Jules Guesde and down to Vieux Port where it was not that exciting because what is usually a large pedestrian walkway had been ripped up for renovations and people were side-stepping everywhere and traffic jams caused by closed streets.  Absolute Chaos!  But hey! we imagined it would be nice when it is finished.   The whole area was being rejuvenated in time for a multitude of cultural events called the Marseille-Provence, European Capital of Culture 2013 (http://www.mp2013.fr/).  We were trying very hard to think positive about Marseille. 



Marseille Vieux Port

We wanted to check out the Centre Bourse, a large department store housing some of the finest French stores.  Question?  Where in the world does a Shopping centre close on a Sunday?  Yep….Marseille.  And still into Ramadan many of the stores were closed until early evening when cafes and restaurants would start preparing for the "Break-fast" after 8.00pm. 

It seemed as if nothing was going right for us here and to top it off, Visa had put a stop on any of our On-line purchases - much needed for our advance travel and accommodation bookings.   So that had to be sorted here too and very quickly because there was no way we were going to spend any longer than we needed to in Marseilles. 

We had to find a reliable phone service where we could make a call to Visa and have the 'stop' lifted.  We were given advice about the "Phone Taxi".  Basically a bank of telephone booths in a store where cheap direct international calls can be made without too much hassle.  Things were finally starting to look up and we needed this little positive boost to prop us up.

 

So Cannes was definitely on the cards for tomorrow – and an early start at that (to dodge the beggars plying their trade - ie. trying to rob you). 

Views of the Mediterranean from the train

Next installments coming to you from Cannes and on with our travels.

Au revoir!!

Liz and Tony