43:35.11N 07:07.74E

3 August 2011

The 33 mile trip took five hours while we wandered along the coast of Italy, Monaco and France on the way to Antibes.  San Remo is right on the western edge of Italy so getting into France is very easy.  Along the way to Antibes is Monaco which we like and visited several times in the past.  Now seeing it from the sea gives another impression.  Just crammed full of apartments buildings, the Casino, Port Hercule the main harbor where the Grand Prix is run, the Oceanographic Institute and then back to France.  Monaco is so small it is almost missed as you pass along the coast.  Unless you are looking for it and intentionally don’t take the shortest path but follow the coast it does not stand out by itself.

Of course being August everyone is here with their huge yachts, expensive cars and helicopter service from Nice airport.  In spite of all the attention and glamour we always found Monaco a great place to visit and never felt unwelcome.  I thought about going into the harbor and seeing if we could get a berth for the night but changed my mind when we saw how crowded it was.

Moving along the coast we passed Nice, France from a distance and watched the planes land and take off one after the other at the airport along the coast.  Much busier this time of year.  We have spent many hours at Nice airport waiting for connections to Corsica in the past so as with all airports it’s not a place of fond memories.

Approaching Antibes across the gulf it was fairly quite.  When we reached the port and called on the radio for our berth it was then the impact of the largest marina in Europe became evident.  The simple reply was go to berth 22 and they will assist.  Of course the huge mass of berths with no directions except some very small numbers on the quay.  At first all we could find was three digit numbers.  We asked for directions from one of the attendants and he pointed us back.  Looking at the outer quays they were number and berth 22 was obviously for a much larger yacht.  Finally a guy on a scooter waved to us and directed us into the old port where a redundant set of numbers exist.  Okay found the berth, got in easily and luckily I had an electrical adapter for the French plugs.  Being France they seem to make things different for fun.  All of Europe is standardized except France for electrical and water outlets.  Even our boat has slightly different grounding poles on the outlets.

Off to registration and what a change from Italy.  It was like I was infringing on their time to register.  I was informed that we could only stay one night and would have to ask in the morning if we could stay another day.  This is the only country that seems to kick you out of a berth for no reason that I can determine.  I think some bottles of wine would have helped grease the system better.  However the fees are ½ of Italy so there is a trade off.

Antibes has a nice old town to visit and we did just that.  Plenty of shops and restaurants.  Of course the restaurants are a pain with the waiters.  Could we sit at the table we wanted, no you must sit here!  The place was 1/3 full so we left and found a more accommodating place at a higher price but the food was well prepared.

The next day I went back over to the office to ask permission to stay another day.  The harbormaster who is very nice gave me another berth to use.  Going back to the woman who actually controls everything since she collects the money, she storms over to the harbormaster and in French tells him off.  She turns to me and says I can stay one more day in the berth I am in but it will cost more because it is a larger berth than my boat.  I thought not my problem since you assigned it to me in the first place.  She wanted the full amount for the larger berth which was still much cheaper than an Italian berth cost so I agreed and got another day.

So we were able to explore the old town more, get a French SIM card for the internet key and Pat found a few clothes that she bought so it worked out fine.

Monaco from the water.  This is the entrance to the main harbor after the new breakwater added to block the storms better and allow cruise ships to utilize it better.  Most ship go to Villefranche cove and bus people to Monaco.

The oceanographic institute that the Royal family greatly supports.  Wonderful building.

Helipad for transport to Nice airport or wherever you want.

The view from our berth.  Just in case you think you have a big boat this one erases that image.

Typical old town street

Every French town seems to have a carousel.

The nice waiter restaurant for lunch.

The harbor and view of our boat.  We are lost in between a couple of motor yachts.

The beach next to the marina.  At least it has sand and not rock.