I like Cote d’Azur and I like Antibes, the beaches in Juan Les Pins or Antibes Vieille with the market full of colors and smelly spices. The first time we come here Eleonora was 10 months we come here between Christmas and the New Year’s Day and I remember how difficult was to feed my baby, she was just eating soups and it was really difficult to find them beside the “soupe à l’oignon” which of course Eleonora not liked a lot especially if served every night.
Is incredible how much I was worried about finding the right food for her, at that time, I could spend more than half an hour every night to find the right restaurant as I never used baby food and I was always looking for fresh food possibly organic….how things changed with my second child.
However, the beaches in Antibes and Juan Les Pins even out of season are very nice the temperature it’s always agreeable, and if it’s sunny you can stay without the coat also in December.
Below some tips but if you want to have more info or help to plan your travel just contact me at:
If you have the chance to visit Juan Les Pins don’t miss the opportunity to eat in places like that just few steps from the sea.
Antibes Vieille is great, a lot of artists coming here from everywhere, you can visit small ateliers of painters and sculptors arranged in the old fortified wall which is just before the entrance of this small but old fashioned town. Walking in the narrow pedestrian streets you can find a lot of very nice small shops, and if you are starving you have plenty of choice, there are restaurants serving French cuisine, less formal if you prefer such as a “Creperie” for example, crepe Bretons are usually my favorites, or a sushi bar.
The market is the place to be if you visit Antibes Viellie, when you enter, you will be surprised by the different stands, you will find coloured spices that you can smell and buy, wonderful flowers coming from the famous market of flower in Nice, and a lot of local products such as honey, oil, lavender and smelly but yummy cheese, of course…we are in France at the end.
If you like you can try something different an handmade “socca” for example, which is a delicacy from the south-east of France, particularly around Nice. It can also be found in Italy where it is called “farinata”. It is made with flour, olive oil and water, which are stirred together to form a batter. The mixture is put into a tray a few millimetres thick and baked in an oven or – as is the case on the Côte D’Azur – it is poured into a copper pan and heated, much in the same way as a crepe. Very good experience indeed and after a nice walk and shopping you can have some rest at a bar and enjoy a coffee with one sugar cube as usual here or if you prefer eat something why not to try a “Croque Moonsieur” with goat cheese.
WHERE TO STAY IN JUAN LES PINS
A good place to stay if you want to visit the area, is the hotel Les Strélitzias, you can find good offers via booking.com but also calling directly the hotel, this is a large complex of apartments. “Les Strélitzias” have pretty large family rooms, you can enjoy just breakfast or chose the formula “midi pension” (half board); and if you prefer the formula residence you can have a room with a small kitchen.
I tried the half board formula and I found the breakfast very good, plenty of choice between fresh and cooked food, they also serve you small crepes and you can add jam or nutella on it, but I have some hesitations to suggest you to have dinner here especially if you are travelling with small children.
The food at “Les Strélitzias” is very good and accurate and you can always find in the menu something local too, but the food for the kids is quite poor especially if you want to have dinner here more than one night, as they only offer you the kid menu which is a juice of your choice, an hamburger with French fries and a dessert, the alternatives is to choose something through the menu.
