A short break in the south of France
One of our readers, Natalya Kalinina, after our articles about France, wanted to tell about her vacation in this wonderful country..
After spending August with relatives in Germany, where it rained all month and the temperature almost did not rise above 16-17 degrees, I was very happy when my friends invited me to relax on the French Riviera for a week. If heaven exists, perhaps it should look like this. The idyllic azure sea merges with the clear blue sky on the horizon, snow-white yachts and seagulls peacefully sway on the waves, the warm sun and palm trees surrounded by ancient mountains ...
I flew by plane, in Germany it is often cheaper than by train (by plane round-trip - 200 euros, by train only one way would be more expensive). The view from the porthole was amazing! Flying over the snow-white peaks of the Swiss Alps, the plane flew over Cannes and headed further out to sea. At first I was scared, maybe I got on the wrong plane and it doesn't stop in Cannes? Or was he hijacked and we are flying to Turkey? But the plane turned smoothly over the sea and went to land. It turned out that the airport in Cannes is located right in the sea. Probably, the land there is expensive, so it was built on a huge embankment on the coastal stones..
Airport in Cannes
Customs in France is, in my opinion, the most liberal of those I have met. In Kiev Borispol, I had to stand several queues, my flight to Dusseldorf was not on the schedule at all, and for a long time I could not find where to go. The customs officers did not look at my luggage, but they scanned me just in case. The Germans carefully examined me from all sides from head to toe several times, emptied the luggage and almost took away the chocolate cream (it is forbidden to carry liquid as carry-on luggage, even chocolate). The French did not watch anything at all, smiled, complimented and said goodbye.
On the street it was pleasantly doused with warmth. The beach stretches along the entire coast with a stunning bright azure color of the water. I asked the Frenchman: «Are you painting it on purpose??» He smiled and replied that this was due to the fact that there is practically no sand on the Cote d'Azur, only stones, which give such an exceptional color to the sea. There are several paid beaches in Cannes with imported sand.
Beach near the airport in Cannes
Cannes was once part of Italy. And today there are many signs in Italian and many Italians live there. However, there are probably no fewer Russians there. I heard Russian exclamations in every nook and cranny.
Narrow streets are lined up perpendicular to the coast. In the summer heat, it is always cool in their shade - the narrower the street, the more it is blown by the wind from the sea.
Narrow streets
Cannes is surrounded by mountains. There is a ski resort two hours away by car. But there is nothing to do there in August.
Mountains around Cannes
In France, the roads are toll, the fare is 5 euros per 100 km. From time to time there are such posts here. If you have an annual card, payment goes through very quickly, almost without stopping the car - the driver puts the card to the windshield, the camera reads it and instantly raises the barrier. But at rush hour - in the morning and in the evening, when they go to and from work - there are huge traffic jams..
Toll roads in France
The house in which I lived. The house has 4 exits in 4 cardinal directions, just like the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
House for paradise life
Despite the hot climate, this pink miracle blooms all summer until mid-autumn. Such bushes flaunt along the entire coast, along the highways and in almost every courtyard..
Rose bushes everywhere
The snail that the French haven't eaten yet. By the way, I was fed fried snails and frogs, but that's another story..
French snail
Old provincial France. Just 40 km from Cannes, at an altitude of 1097 meters, is the tiny village of Bargem, which does not seem to notice the time.
Old provincial France
At the very top of the rocky hill are the ruins of an ancient fortress castle and the church of St. Nicholas. I wrote more about this castle here..
Ruins of an ancient fortress castle
Ruins of an ancient fortress castle
Natalia Kalinina