Juan-les-Pins

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.

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The mystery of the credit card

Monday, January 17th, 2011 at 23:36 | categories: Beer, Juan-les-Pins

Tonight I met up with an American exchange student for a beer in Juan-les-Pins. We walked around for a bit and then went to one of the few places that was open on Monday night in the off-season. It really is a shame how many places have their door shut when the tourists aren’t swarming around the area. It’s almost as if walking in a ghost town. Not quite, but almost.

The mystery started when I tried to get cash out of an ATM after the beer. I noticed I didn’t have the card anymore, even though I had just used it in the bar when offering to buy the drinks, being the natural gentleman I am. We walked back to the bar, scrutinized the area, looked under every chair, table and rock. We found nothing and I was crushed. It would take ages to get a new card! Heads held down we headed back to the ATM, and I asked the American to give me some cash, being the bum I am. And there it was, lying on the ground, intact and safe: my credit card! So the mystery was solved!

Well, enough of story telling, it’s time for some night pics!

Juan-les-Pins at night

A Casino in Juan-les-Pins

Beer

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Sunset in Juan-les-Pins

Thursday, January 13th, 2011 at 20:02 | categories: Juan-les-Pins

After being indoors for five days in a row I felt like going out, if only for a short while. Originally I planned I would go and see Cannes and maybe even Nice this week, but since I was half-dead until yesterday, the plans changed. I decided to walk to Juan-les-Pins and see the beach instead!

The towns of Antibes and Juan-les-Pins used to be distinct from one another, but nowadays they seem more like different regions of a city. My apartment is just in between the two, so I have about a 10 minutes walk to both. While Antibes has all the cultural things like the Picasso museum and the old city, Juan-les-Pins seems to be the party area with a bunch of bars and clubs that are open even in the winter season. Many of the exchange students also live there.

So I just took a short walk down to the beach, took some pics of the sunset and headed back to my apartment. I lost my breath after two meters of walking, so I’m just about as fit as before the fever. Here’s a few select pics: