tcm
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nice places in the cote d\'azur
lots more people seem to be sopending time down there. So here are some ideas of where to go, starting from west to east, and covering st tropez to Menton. Yeah, everyone reckons it all costs a fortune but it doesn't. First off, it is perfickly fine to order the very cheapest wine, whatever it is. It is always fine. You can if you must order the second cheapest wine so your partner doesn't think you are a cheapgit, but why pretend any longer? Nice restaurants take priodein making sure all the wine is fine, so start on the cheapest rosé.
Cogolin harbour bit concrety, but cheap. There a swimming pool complex hotel thing up the hill on the left that you can sneak into.
Port Grimaud. Recommended, all canals. You can book ahead by phonebut you must ask to be "a l'interieur" ie inside the place, niot on the dock outside the capitainerie. Get the dinghy out before parking. Eat at the unicorn in the main square.
At anchor outside st tropes, just to the west of the entrance. Free, of course. take up a position as far to the west away from the harbour as you can manage because the donkey pro crew of big boats think that the 5 knot limit extends only inside st t harbour , even tho it's actualy all the way around the coast of the bay, and they wake you at 7 am with whizzing dinghies going for croissants.
Inside st trop, the new harbour will let you in from 1 am, no pre-booking allowed they say.
Inside the old port of st trop, the ultimate spot for seeing and being seen. Can book ahead for 21.5m plus, or plead on channel 9 for a "petit stop p9our dejeuner jusqu'a trois heures" which is free. All the moster boast are out for lunch. You may need the anchor, and pull back. Eat at the Girellier who sometimes don't hand out the cheaper prix fixe menu which is 36 euros, and have the soupe pistou, the sole meuniere the tart au pommes.
"Millionaires bay" cos appratently millionaires have houses overlooking it. This is a mile to the east of st trop. A few beach bars around. Some liveaboards stay here all summer. The weird-looking boats fuill of rubbish are provided by the council and you can hail them and chuck bags of rubbish aboard, free.
Pampleonne Beach. This is the east-facing beach on the penninsular of st trop. Nice blue water, good holding in sand, and anyway lots of women on the beach have have no clothes on so who cares. Most stylish restaurant and not too expensive is the club 55. Book 1 week ahead to eat (lunch only 1-4pm chuck out at 5) as early as poss say 1 ish on 33 494 55 55 55 after which it all get a bit slow service cos it's bombed out. Actually worth a walk to the car park to see loads of ferraris and so on in august. The "cinquante cinq" boat will ferry you ashore but expects 10euro tip on the return journey. You can see where to be from the sea as it's south of the Volie rouge with red flag by about 1/3 of a mile, with a smart little wooden pontton where all the paparzzi take pics of film stars. Can't sensibly stay here overnight, so back to st trop bay. Make absolutel sure you go around the big cardinal a mile out at sea (Mouettes?) not try and cut the corner.
St Maxime, on N side of st trop bay. There is a public port, and a private one, inside the same harbour. V helpful, good for boats up to 20metres I think. Walk over the road and around the little shops in the alleyways.
Frejus, all fixed up newish, bit concrete, but quite nice for a night or so with piazzas all over.
St raphael old port is a bit swelly. The new port is a bit dull. The town isn't too great either. Not recommended.
Agay is a circular bay. Bit caravanners and camping on land. Nice anchorage to the east side of this bay.
Small anchorages all the way along this coast, careful of the fishing pots. This is the cote d'esterel, pink granite, ideal speed *just* planing along otherwise it's over too quickly. You anchor in flat ish weather in 20 mtres if you have enought chain outside the Miramar hotel and dinghy ashore for lunch.
Next along is anchorage at Theoule. This is good in westerlies - the dreaded Mistrale. Actually, whenevr there any wind from any direction they always says "mistral" but true mistral blows hard from NW or westish around here.
When it really really goes it is F8-9 and you can hardly hear each other talk, but the subn is stil shing and you fel thhe weather can't be that bad really cabn it but it is, best place round here is just in Port de la rague on the welcome pontoon (you can't get in a normal berth in these winds) or on the fuel pontoon. Or any blimmin fuel pontoon, anywhere.
Nice restaurant at la rague, reasonable beach vbar with good views to cannes and excellent boat fixers. otherwise bit empty.
La napoule is nicer "vrai" cote d'azur now so this is busy all the time, no room no room. Lots of restaurants and boat sellers. Little beach along the side of lanap, and a casino on the other side, shop in the little town.
The bay of cannes is a good spot to anchor and eat ashore. It is all marked out in the season, and yiou need a chart for the speed restrictions. You can usually tie up to a pontoon and walk to the office in the portacabins near the daytrip ferry boats. Bicycles a good idea, or motorised scooters. Frightening shooping in the rue dnativbes runs in line with the coast a few block inland.
Between the islands of Lerins (ste maguerirte and st honorat) is popular hangout, depth 2m plus. In westerlies you can hide on the other side of these islands. Ice cream sellers turn up in boats and you swim in clear water.
Btween the islands you run at 5knots max. Btween the mainland and the inner island you run at 10knots max, but depth restrictions mean your route east is to head from following just east of the ferry boat track port de cannes red cardinal to the castle on a bearing of 120 leaving the BY cardinal to starboard, then head due east when about 300yards offshore. Lots of smaller boats go much closer to to palm beach end of cannes and rip their props off and lie a bit sunk for the rest of the season.
Portes de Cannes is a public port, which means they are quite nice, but quite slow. As always, never ever try to call between 12.30 and 2. Or do anyhting you like, park up and then ask later. Most ports are ch 9, but cannes is on c12. You'll need port maps cos they give teh names of the quais, rather than numbers. Cannes is good cos it has beadches, restaurants, ace shopping and macdonalds.
Further west, still in the bay is Port Canto. Bit du here, more newer but less to do than in cannes proper. You need bicycles to get into town. Port canto is full of peeps who bought the wrong boat, and then promptly put it in the wrong port. Worth a slow bumble around though.
Past thes islands as baove (or much less stress to gound south round all the islands) into Golfe Juan. On far east side is Juan les Pins ahahaha. Actually, JLP is not very swish at all, Cannes much smarter. But you can anchor in calm weather within sight of boat over there for lunch at a beach restaurant, but stay outside the line of larger yelow buoys at all times.
You can also anchor south of Port gallice in the bight of the west side of cap d'antibes (careful about the fish farms!) for longer perhasp overnight, though i have not done it. You can dinghy ashore to the Eden Roc out on the promentory, not stuffy but it IS cash only (no cheques, no credit cards) and famous for it.
Ports in the bay of golfe juan are little Port Gallice, handily next to the beach for morning swim and all-day skiving by the younger crew. Also two massive ports at Golfe Juan, eastern one is Camille Rayone, western is Golfe Juan, bothe entred by the same route. Massive boats parked up in Camille Rayon here worth a look. This authorative lady at the office may be Olivia Rayon who happily tells you how several boats who sneak off without paying get blacklisted all along the whole coast. ooer.
You can hug the coast around cap d'antibes. There are little anchorages, but they only seem likely for smaller boats, and they must bounce a lot even in settled weather as a lot of traffice piles around. I don't fancy it much.
Beter anchorages round the east side of cap d'antibes in obvious bay of La Garoupe with beach restaurants, and in the main bay under south side of the town , watch for a couple of obvious rocky reefs.
A good place to stay is in Antibes itself, call on channel 9. This is a very very big place. Mostly privately-owned. The reception quay is past all the superyachts and to the left just behind the BP station. Late at night you can stay at the BP station if empty, but it opens early at 7am to chuck you off, though is cheaper than a real berth. Main attraction in antibes is the town, a real place rathrr than just restaturants round a marina. And also a late night stroll past the megayachts. The capitainerie is near the BP fuel dock- the other capitainerie is strickly for superyachts. They speak french only on the vhf channel 9, so they'll want you to make an effort in french, or simply moor up and go in. Upstairs, the mariner type harbourmasters are on the right hand side all official. To the left are the nice ladies and Pascal who are a bit more helpfull, worth a pleasant enquiry first if you want to stay a while and if the queu isn't too long. But some of the harbourmaster types are a bit gruff and say "if you don't like it - go to Cannes!"
Further east and a bit dowenmarket is Baie des Anges. This is a good place for at least a lunch stop, which is free 11-5. The simming pool is not free, bit spensive actually, but very nice place to lunch all afternoon while kids swim. Be there for 12.300 and you get any table. And as everywhere else, be there at 1:45 and there's no table at all. V helpful at bdeA.
Actually, from here eastwards starts the Riveria proper, so the water gets very deep. The port of Nice used to be a great place, but lesseasy to visit now that Morrings have rented the whole visitors pontoon, damnit. You can still call them, ask for "Nice Plaisance" on the phone and book ahead. Nice not recommended in big wind.
Round from Nice is Villefranche. The two green bols indicate the 5knot line, often ignored. Again, liveboards stay in here for weeks and weeks for free. There is a marina which is friendly and "public" rather than private. The town is Italianate. the beachfront Grandmere restaurant is a bit steepish i seem to remeber specially when sitting in a blimmin street, but there are others.
East from Villefranche is St Jean Cap Ferrat. I think the town is a bit overblown ad fifties crumbly, a foretaste of nasty Italian dumps like San Remo which sounds great but is much nastier than anywhere in England and does not deserve decent wether or even that decent name. Near STJCF there's a good anchorage that quitens down once all the boats have rushed into port at night. Beaulieu is further up the coast a little bit, but I haven;t visited. I have done the stroll from st jean cap ferrat to beailieu which is okay but watch the dogshit from a zillion well-fed dogs.
Next east is Cap d'ail, again where i havenae stayed, seems a bit dul from the pics. But Fontvieile is not dull, protected, more recommended than Monaco proper next door which is swelly. Nothing much to do in Monaco excpet visit banks and casinos and hotels, all of which are swish. But there that swimming pool which others say is worth a visit. Fontvielee is next door to the football stadium, very smart, and the supercup betwen uefa and euorpean cup winners is played here every august.
Past Monaco is Menton, complete change, back to a proper little steep-alleyway riviera town, beach, safe for kids to rome about and surprisingly cheap restaurants. You can anchor out in settled weather, good idea cos it gets a bout 2degrees hotter here than in Nice.
Time to turn round now to avoid Italy, where they make nice boats, but can't run a modern city or make any food cept pasta and pizza, it seems.
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lots more people seem to be sopending time down there. So here are some ideas of where to go, starting from west to east, and covering st tropez to Menton. Yeah, everyone reckons it all costs a fortune but it doesn't. First off, it is perfickly fine to order the very cheapest wine, whatever it is. It is always fine. You can if you must order the second cheapest wine so your partner doesn't think you are a cheapgit, but why pretend any longer? Nice restaurants take priodein making sure all the wine is fine, so start on the cheapest rosé.
Cogolin harbour bit concrety, but cheap. There a swimming pool complex hotel thing up the hill on the left that you can sneak into.
Port Grimaud. Recommended, all canals. You can book ahead by phonebut you must ask to be "a l'interieur" ie inside the place, niot on the dock outside the capitainerie. Get the dinghy out before parking. Eat at the unicorn in the main square.
At anchor outside st tropes, just to the west of the entrance. Free, of course. take up a position as far to the west away from the harbour as you can manage because the donkey pro crew of big boats think that the 5 knot limit extends only inside st t harbour , even tho it's actualy all the way around the coast of the bay, and they wake you at 7 am with whizzing dinghies going for croissants.
Inside st trop, the new harbour will let you in from 1 am, no pre-booking allowed they say.
Inside the old port of st trop, the ultimate spot for seeing and being seen. Can book ahead for 21.5m plus, or plead on channel 9 for a "petit stop p9our dejeuner jusqu'a trois heures" which is free. All the moster boast are out for lunch. You may need the anchor, and pull back. Eat at the Girellier who sometimes don't hand out the cheaper prix fixe menu which is 36 euros, and have the soupe pistou, the sole meuniere the tart au pommes.
"Millionaires bay" cos appratently millionaires have houses overlooking it. This is a mile to the east of st trop. A few beach bars around. Some liveaboards stay here all summer. The weird-looking boats fuill of rubbish are provided by the council and you can hail them and chuck bags of rubbish aboard, free.
Pampleonne Beach. This is the east-facing beach on the penninsular of st trop. Nice blue water, good holding in sand, and anyway lots of women on the beach have have no clothes on so who cares. Most stylish restaurant and not too expensive is the club 55. Book 1 week ahead to eat (lunch only 1-4pm chuck out at 5) as early as poss say 1 ish on 33 494 55 55 55 after which it all get a bit slow service cos it's bombed out. Actually worth a walk to the car park to see loads of ferraris and so on in august. The "cinquante cinq" boat will ferry you ashore but expects 10euro tip on the return journey. You can see where to be from the sea as it's south of the Volie rouge with red flag by about 1/3 of a mile, with a smart little wooden pontton where all the paparzzi take pics of film stars. Can't sensibly stay here overnight, so back to st trop bay. Make absolutel sure you go around the big cardinal a mile out at sea (Mouettes?) not try and cut the corner.
St Maxime, on N side of st trop bay. There is a public port, and a private one, inside the same harbour. V helpful, good for boats up to 20metres I think. Walk over the road and around the little shops in the alleyways.
Frejus, all fixed up newish, bit concrete, but quite nice for a night or so with piazzas all over.
St raphael old port is a bit swelly. The new port is a bit dull. The town isn't too great either. Not recommended.
Agay is a circular bay. Bit caravanners and camping on land. Nice anchorage to the east side of this bay.
Small anchorages all the way along this coast, careful of the fishing pots. This is the cote d'esterel, pink granite, ideal speed *just* planing along otherwise it's over too quickly. You anchor in flat ish weather in 20 mtres if you have enought chain outside the Miramar hotel and dinghy ashore for lunch.
Next along is anchorage at Theoule. This is good in westerlies - the dreaded Mistrale. Actually, whenevr there any wind from any direction they always says "mistral" but true mistral blows hard from NW or westish around here.
When it really really goes it is F8-9 and you can hardly hear each other talk, but the subn is stil shing and you fel thhe weather can't be that bad really cabn it but it is, best place round here is just in Port de la rague on the welcome pontoon (you can't get in a normal berth in these winds) or on the fuel pontoon. Or any blimmin fuel pontoon, anywhere.
Nice restaurant at la rague, reasonable beach vbar with good views to cannes and excellent boat fixers. otherwise bit empty.
La napoule is nicer "vrai" cote d'azur now so this is busy all the time, no room no room. Lots of restaurants and boat sellers. Little beach along the side of lanap, and a casino on the other side, shop in the little town.
The bay of cannes is a good spot to anchor and eat ashore. It is all marked out in the season, and yiou need a chart for the speed restrictions. You can usually tie up to a pontoon and walk to the office in the portacabins near the daytrip ferry boats. Bicycles a good idea, or motorised scooters. Frightening shooping in the rue dnativbes runs in line with the coast a few block inland.
Between the islands of Lerins (ste maguerirte and st honorat) is popular hangout, depth 2m plus. In westerlies you can hide on the other side of these islands. Ice cream sellers turn up in boats and you swim in clear water.
Btween the islands you run at 5knots max. Btween the mainland and the inner island you run at 10knots max, but depth restrictions mean your route east is to head from following just east of the ferry boat track port de cannes red cardinal to the castle on a bearing of 120 leaving the BY cardinal to starboard, then head due east when about 300yards offshore. Lots of smaller boats go much closer to to palm beach end of cannes and rip their props off and lie a bit sunk for the rest of the season.
Portes de Cannes is a public port, which means they are quite nice, but quite slow. As always, never ever try to call between 12.30 and 2. Or do anyhting you like, park up and then ask later. Most ports are ch 9, but cannes is on c12. You'll need port maps cos they give teh names of the quais, rather than numbers. Cannes is good cos it has beadches, restaurants, ace shopping and macdonalds.
Further west, still in the bay is Port Canto. Bit du here, more newer but less to do than in cannes proper. You need bicycles to get into town. Port canto is full of peeps who bought the wrong boat, and then promptly put it in the wrong port. Worth a slow bumble around though.
Past thes islands as baove (or much less stress to gound south round all the islands) into Golfe Juan. On far east side is Juan les Pins ahahaha. Actually, JLP is not very swish at all, Cannes much smarter. But you can anchor in calm weather within sight of boat over there for lunch at a beach restaurant, but stay outside the line of larger yelow buoys at all times.
You can also anchor south of Port gallice in the bight of the west side of cap d'antibes (careful about the fish farms!) for longer perhasp overnight, though i have not done it. You can dinghy ashore to the Eden Roc out on the promentory, not stuffy but it IS cash only (no cheques, no credit cards) and famous for it.
Ports in the bay of golfe juan are little Port Gallice, handily next to the beach for morning swim and all-day skiving by the younger crew. Also two massive ports at Golfe Juan, eastern one is Camille Rayone, western is Golfe Juan, bothe entred by the same route. Massive boats parked up in Camille Rayon here worth a look. This authorative lady at the office may be Olivia Rayon who happily tells you how several boats who sneak off without paying get blacklisted all along the whole coast. ooer.
You can hug the coast around cap d'antibes. There are little anchorages, but they only seem likely for smaller boats, and they must bounce a lot even in settled weather as a lot of traffice piles around. I don't fancy it much.
Beter anchorages round the east side of cap d'antibes in obvious bay of La Garoupe with beach restaurants, and in the main bay under south side of the town , watch for a couple of obvious rocky reefs.
A good place to stay is in Antibes itself, call on channel 9. This is a very very big place. Mostly privately-owned. The reception quay is past all the superyachts and to the left just behind the BP station. Late at night you can stay at the BP station if empty, but it opens early at 7am to chuck you off, though is cheaper than a real berth. Main attraction in antibes is the town, a real place rathrr than just restaturants round a marina. And also a late night stroll past the megayachts. The capitainerie is near the BP fuel dock- the other capitainerie is strickly for superyachts. They speak french only on the vhf channel 9, so they'll want you to make an effort in french, or simply moor up and go in. Upstairs, the mariner type harbourmasters are on the right hand side all official. To the left are the nice ladies and Pascal who are a bit more helpfull, worth a pleasant enquiry first if you want to stay a while and if the queu isn't too long. But some of the harbourmaster types are a bit gruff and say "if you don't like it - go to Cannes!"
Further east and a bit dowenmarket is Baie des Anges. This is a good place for at least a lunch stop, which is free 11-5. The simming pool is not free, bit spensive actually, but very nice place to lunch all afternoon while kids swim. Be there for 12.300 and you get any table. And as everywhere else, be there at 1:45 and there's no table at all. V helpful at bdeA.
Actually, from here eastwards starts the Riveria proper, so the water gets very deep. The port of Nice used to be a great place, but lesseasy to visit now that Morrings have rented the whole visitors pontoon, damnit. You can still call them, ask for "Nice Plaisance" on the phone and book ahead. Nice not recommended in big wind.
Round from Nice is Villefranche. The two green bols indicate the 5knot line, often ignored. Again, liveboards stay in here for weeks and weeks for free. There is a marina which is friendly and "public" rather than private. The town is Italianate. the beachfront Grandmere restaurant is a bit steepish i seem to remeber specially when sitting in a blimmin street, but there are others.
East from Villefranche is St Jean Cap Ferrat. I think the town is a bit overblown ad fifties crumbly, a foretaste of nasty Italian dumps like San Remo which sounds great but is much nastier than anywhere in England and does not deserve decent wether or even that decent name. Near STJCF there's a good anchorage that quitens down once all the boats have rushed into port at night. Beaulieu is further up the coast a little bit, but I haven;t visited. I have done the stroll from st jean cap ferrat to beailieu which is okay but watch the dogshit from a zillion well-fed dogs.
Next east is Cap d'ail, again where i havenae stayed, seems a bit dul from the pics. But Fontvieile is not dull, protected, more recommended than Monaco proper next door which is swelly. Nothing much to do in Monaco excpet visit banks and casinos and hotels, all of which are swish. But there that swimming pool which others say is worth a visit. Fontvielee is next door to the football stadium, very smart, and the supercup betwen uefa and euorpean cup winners is played here every august.
Past Monaco is Menton, complete change, back to a proper little steep-alleyway riviera town, beach, safe for kids to rome about and surprisingly cheap restaurants. You can anchor out in settled weather, good idea cos it gets a bout 2degrees hotter here than in Nice.
Time to turn round now to avoid Italy, where they make nice boats, but can't run a modern city or make any food cept pasta and pizza, it seems.
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