[At this point, the updates will get a more sparse. The daily updates up to now were posted within a couple days. Starting with this one, the update here was written looooong after the trip, and my memory was hazy. I had pictures though …]
In the morning, Andreas’ friend Wolfgang arrived in Frejus by train and joined us on the sailboat. So now we were five.
Wolfgang had a video camera and was videoing a lot, which I found annoying at the time, but for which I am now thankful, because it documented where we went for the rest of the trip. I had kept notes about where we had gone and what we did up to this point, which resulted in the blog posts that preceded this one, but I fell behind starting with this leg of the trip. Wolfgang’s videos (which he provided to us later) were crucial in helping me remember the details, and I thank him for running that annoying camera!
We sailed out of Frejus and headed towards Antibes.
Antibes is a historic destination on the French Mediterranean coast. I suppose that if you approached on land, you’d be driving through the amazing Provencal landscapes. But entering via the harbor, your introduction to the town is the massive yachts of the Middle Eastern oil barons — yachts that are the size of small military ships. They have to get moored at the outer edge of the harbor, since they are far too big to navigate closer in. They are typically fully staffed at all times, kept cleaned and stocked with supplies, and ready at any time to depart if the owner decides he wants to move on. That is, if the owner is even in Antibes …
Even among the regular motorboats, we looked modest. But this sailboat is a serious machine, built for the open ocean.
Andreas has an old friend who had retired to Antibes, and he brought us into the old city and took us out to dinner, a true fine dining experience that was representative of the local cuisine. It really was one of the most beautiful towns I’ve ever seen, and I hope someday to return with Sharon.