43:30.64N 06:56.36E Theoule-sur-Mer
43:30.64N 06:56.36E Theoule-sur-Mer
1st July, 2010.
We had sailed over to Theoule as we had heard so many times from John Smith that his holiday bay is perfect for anchoring in and he was right. We spent a lovely calm quiet night anchored near the sailing club. Theoule is the first bay in the Golfe de la Napoule and stretches across to Cannes.
Theoule was a small fishing village but is now a very select up market town with beautiful villas in the steep slopes over looking the bay. We were all very envious of the beautiful views these villas have.
Jim moved Ariel a few hundred yards across the bay to be closer to the shops for early morning bread and provisions for the day. The bread Jim and Frank found was absolutely delicious.
We decided we would take the train into Cannes after packing our picnic. The train took us past Cannes Marina (which is not to be confused with Port de Cannes in the town) and Mandelieu-La Napoule. La Napoule is a seaside development with a small marina with a restored 14th century castle. Henry Claws, the rich son of a New York banker fell in love with the ruins and from 1919 until his death in 1937 rebuilt it. It has a mixture of Romanesque, Gothic and Henry Claws style.
We arrived in Cannes with the temperature around 32 degrees. As it was so hot we decided to take the 1 hour miniature train journey around the town. It set off along the promenade towards the casino. We passed some beautiful, beautiful apartments all over looking the sea together with some of the nicest looking hotels in the world. The Carlton Hotel is sculpted with a gleaming white façade similar to a wedding cake. We were told some of the famous movie stars stay here like Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis etc.
The train took us passed the very fashionable shops of rue d’Antibes and rue Meynadier on its way to Eglise Notre Dame Esperance completed in 1648 to inspect the church and take in the marvellous view over Cannes. The old quarter was founded by the Romans and it later became the property of the monks of the Iles de Lerins where we have spent quite a few days.
We came back via the Palais Des Festivals et Des Congres which overlooks the old harbour where the Cannes film festival is held each year in May. It was built in 1982.
Cannes tday is a big, busy and beautiful place. In 1834 the English Lord Chancellor, Lord Brougham arrived in Cannes after fleeing from cholera-stricken Nice. He liked what he saw, built a villa and so the town developed. Today it has been developed for year round meeting place for conferences etc.
After we left the train we walked the short distance to the festival hall to walk the red carpet and look at the pictures of this year’s film festival. We wandered around the paving stones set out near the magic steps of the hand prints of the movie stars like Tom Hanks.
We made our way back to the train station via the exclusive shops for window shopping.