Travel is about experiences and memories. I used to collect souvenirs—salt and pepper shakers, mugs, ashtrays--but now I realize the most special parts of a trip are the intangibles (sights, sounds, smells, memories) and all those other things that just won’t fit in my suitcase--parasol pines, the azure and turquoise colors of the Mediterranean Sea and the cobalt blues of the mountains, the hillsides of poppies and olive trees.
Just to the west of Juan-les-Pins, the Boulevard Bijou Plage runs down to the beach, the Bijou Plage and the restaurant.
Starting in April, the ferries make frequent runs to the nearby Iles des Lerins, where the Man in the Iron Mask was imprisoned. But that is just one small incident in an area with a rich history of numerous civilizations. Although Antibes offers an old city, a market, and port, my favorite place to visit is the Picasso Museum.
There, the Nicolas de Staël painting, “The Concert,” and the view from the terrace with the Giacometti statues leave me breathless. For obvious reasons, I could not put these objects in my suitcase. . . .
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My other favorite museum is the Maeght Foundation near St. Paul de Vence, which has an enviable sculpture garden and collection of Mirò, Calder, Arp, Giacometti's figures and animals, and Chagal as well as the Braque basin with the fish mosaic.
In Nice, the Monday morning flea market on the Cours Saleya has numerous stalls of books, furniture, glass chandeliers, toys and curiosities.
One vendor sporting large, round glasses, has a wonderful collection of Art Deco jewelry. But I am tempted by the larger and colorful chandeliers. The pragmatic concerns (e.g., airline excess baggage) deter me in my purchase. I end up by contemplating options from the terrace of a cafe. In the streets of Valbonne, that red Ferrari would go well with my red shoes and, of course, THE red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. For now, these are musings. I am not sure I could afford to fill up the Ferrari anyway.
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