Antibes
A movie festival, absinthe and on a boat–again
Saturday, May 21st, 2011 at 20:25 | categories: Antibes, Beer, Cannes, Juan-les-Pins, People
This time it was one of my hometown friend’s time to visit me in the Riviera, and the timing couldn’t have been much better. The weather was great and with the Cannes film festival going on, all the other towns close by weren’t so packed with tourists–just how I like it.
We strolled around Antibes and Juan-les-Pins as well as visited Cannes to see what the fuzz was all about. We also went to one of my favorite places here, Villefranche, to chillax and see the sun go down. The days have been pretty warm here for a couple of months now, but the nights are turning pretty warm as well and you can see couples and groups hanging out on the beach well after sunset.
I finally got to visit the famous absinthe bar in Antibes, where they have a wide selection of different kinds of the traditional artsy people’s liquor. The owner is happy to tell you everything about the drink in question, but he’ll require you to wear a silly hat.
We also rented a boat for 4 hours and drove around the coast. This time I knew better and left my valuables at home instead of dipping them in the ocean. Our oceanic picnic consisted of some champagne, foie gras and baguettes. Not a bad way to spend the last weeks here, eh?
The red carpet. No celebs at that point.
So you buy a yacht for 20M euros and choose Comic Sans for the logo? My soul is crying.
Absinthe bar. Apparently my silly hat is in the background.
Today I was on a boat
Monday, April 18th, 2011 at 18:30 | categories: Antibes, General mumbling
Julian, a dude from Montreal, organized a little boat trip for us and rented a nice small boat from the Antibes harbor. It was a perfect warm and still day at the sea. It was so nice that even my phone wanted to swim.
As we anchored our boat somewhere between Golfe-Juan and Cannes, us dudes decided to take a little swim. I was urged to go first, so I jumped fearlessly into the deep blue without remembering I still had my iPhone in my pocket. I actually enjoyed bathing in the sea for minutes before realizing what had happened.
Anyway, I didn’t let the little mishap to ruin the nice afternoon, and I’m confident the phone’s still going to work. I opened it using a kitchen knife and it’s now drying up.
Preparing for the trip. Note that Julian's grabbing water, not beer!
Julian & Lindsay
The famous Antibes view, this time from the sea
Even I got to drive
Feeling like MacGyver again
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Stargazing
Saturday, April 9th, 2011 at 23:09 | categories: Antibes, General mumbling
I’ve been feeling lazy all day and haven’t really done that much. However, I went out after dark to try if I could get any decent pics of the clear night sky with all the stars visible. I noticed it’s almost impossible when the city’s lighting up the sky and flooding the atmosphere with random colors. To make things even harder, it was a very humid night, so all the street lights kind of hang in the air–almost in a flashlight-in-a-fog fashion.
I managed to get a pretty decent looking pic of the sky in the end by stacking 8 images on top of each other and making some Photoshop magic afterwards. Here’s what I got:
Stars. 8 x 8sec exposures.
A lighthouse on Cap d'Antibes
Old Antibes by night
Culinary experimentation
Saturday, March 19th, 2011 at 12:19 | categories: Antibes, Food
Yesterday we had an international potluck party, where everyone brought food from their native countries. The night was a success and in the end almost 20 people came to enjoy the culinary wonders of the world. We had poutine from Quebec, spicy chicken from China, sweet pierogies from Poland and loads of other stuff. For some strange reason the Americans made a salad with vegetables and stuff. Who would’ve thought, huh? I made meatballs.
Weather-wise the day was awesome. I took a 2-hour stroll in old Antibes and took some pics. The local people had even left their winter coats home, which must be a sure sign of temperatures higher than 20C. Well, since I’m already chatting about the weather, I guess that’s all for now!
Just the basic afternoon stroll scenery
Meatballs
Dudes making stuff
A scary haircut
Monday, March 7th, 2011 at 16:30 | categories: Antibes, Information
It had been over two months since I last got a haircut, so it was about time I got a new one. I figured the shops would be open at around 3 in the afternoon, but I was proven wrong. Every single one in Antibes seemed to be closed. I wandered around looking like a proper tourist, trying to find a barbershop that was open–with no luck. After a while I ran into a Dutch exchange dude, who recommended an Arab barbershop close to my place on Boulevard Wilson. I decided to head back there.
The experience was interesting, and definitely first time I’ve been scared in a barbershop. Our conversation was something along these lines:
– Court?
– Oui, comme ça (showing about 3-4cm with my fingers)
– (silence)
In 2 seconds he’d started going for it like no tomorrow, and I was sure I’m going to be bald after 15 seconds when I saw the patches of hair falling on my lap. The sound of the Dutch guy mentioning the price echoed in my head: “12 euros.. 12 euros..” It can’t be good for that price, really, can it? After 10 seconds of trimming, he took an old-fashioned blade to get rid of my adolescent sideburns, but I was still committed to smile throughout the process.
The end result, however, was decent, and the whole thing took about 10 minutes. The price is easily the best in town, and if you’re not that strict about your hairdo, I don’t see any reason not try it.
Yes, I took a photo of myself thru a mirror. Yes, I felt like a girl doing it. Sacrifices have to be made for the blog.
