Detours and Open-toe shoes

I traveled from Florida with my shoes—all open toed—which is fine for most days in the Sunshine State but not practical for rain and chilly weather in Juan-les-Pins. I planned to buy new shoes in Cannes, but the G-20 followed by rains and flooding delayed shopping.

Bijou Plage - Nov. 5, 2011 - Brewing storm

Anyway, weather conditions meant our thoughts shifted from shopping to the more pragmatic tasks of emptying buckets under leaking roofs.

Just when we assumed the rains had passed, the waves began to lash at the coast, carrying off much of the sand on narrow beaches (the last big waves were in May 2010).


The beaches look like this in summer months.

July 2011 - Plage de la Salis (Antibes)

After the violent waves, they looked like this.

After the storm - Plage la Salis (Nov. 12, 2011)


Flooding closed down the seaside roads and the N-7, which runs parallel. Detour signs took us back inland, where cars and trucks had run off the road due to flooding. Traffic problems meant the usual 20-minute commute turned into one of three hours.

Detour signs appeared on coastal and inland roads.

Sun and people return to the boardwalk (Nov. 9, 2011)

With the return of beautiful weather, everyone returned to the boardwalks to assess the damage, commenting, “La mer a bouffée la plage” (the sea gobbled up the beach). Trees and logs washed up on Antibes beaches, and seaweed covered those at Juan-les-Pins. Rocks, gravel and dirt littered inland roads.

Once the storms subsided and the detour signs disappeared, I went to Cannes for more practical, closed-toe shoes. . . .

For vivid photos of the storm (I was either mopping up or keeping shutters closed), please visit the Nice Matin, http://www.nicematin.com/diaporama/coup-de-mer-sur-la-cote-dazur-les-images?idx=1#top-diapo.