Antibes Day 8. One final glimpse

I always dislike the dawning of the final day of any holiday, but the feeling was especially strong today as the time came to leave Antibes after a really great week in the South of France. We sauntered up to Place De Gaulle to make sure of the location of the bus stop for getting to the airport (55 euro in a taxi when we arrived seemed a bit extreme), and then at long last patronised one of the local cafés for a bite of breakfast (hot drink, croissant and orange juice all for 5 euro -- I had my favourite hot chocolate: yummy!). All our packing had been done ridiculously early, so we were left twiddling our thumbs waiting for the apartment owner to do her inspection thing and return our security deposit, all of which gave me a chance for some of those last-time-we'll-do-this moments, including one final look at the view from our balcony along Rue de la Republique and the route we'd walked so often over the past seven days. The weather was glorious once again, which made the parting glances all the more difficult.

The bus trip (it's the number 200, if anyone's going to Antibes) was long and hot, but at just one euro each was definitely much better value than the taxi when we arrived. We had plenty of time at the airport for a couple of leisurely beers before heading to the plane. The shock when we got back to Dublin was dreadful: a strong, cold, blustery wind greeted us as we stepped out of the plane, and we'd seen evidence of flooding as we'd flown in over the city. It was all a bit dark and murky too. Its great to get away to sunnier climes at this time of the year, but it isn't so great coming back.

Antibes? Brilliant. A great spot to spend a week, ideally situated for trips to other spots on the Côte d'Azur. It's well provided with a good selection of restaurants, though the night life is pretty much non-existent at this time of year (anywhere that was open -- and not everywhere was -- shut up shop at midnight, so long nights aren't really part of the experience). All in all, I'd definitely go back, and I'd recommend it without hesitation.

(I've back-blipped yesterday.)