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ANTIBES
, or rather its promontory the
Cap d'Antibes
, is one of the select places on the CEte d'Azur where the
really
rich and the very,
very
successful still live, or at least have residences. Yet it's not immediately obvious why this area should be so desirable: it's just as built-up as the rest of the Riviera, with no open countryside separating Golfe Juan,
Juan-les-Pins
and Antibes. Long-time resident Graham Greene said it was the only town on the CEte that hadn't lost its soul; perhaps he was right, though he also gave his reason for living there as simply to be with the woman he loved. Be that as it may, Antibes is extremely animated, has one of the finest
markets
on the coast and the best
Picasso collection
in its ancient seafront castle; and the southern end of the Cap still has its woods of pine, in which the most exclusive mansions hide.
The sixteenth-century
ChEteau Grimaldi
is a beautifully cool, light space, with hexagonal terracotta floor tiles, windows over the sea and a terrace garden with sculptures by Germaine Richier, MirE, Cesar and others. In 1946, Picasso was offered the dusty building - by then already a museum - as a studio. Several extremely prolific months followed before he moved to Vallauris, leaving all his Antibes output to what is now the
Musee Picasso
(Tues-Sun: June-Sept 10am-6pm; rest of year 10am-noon & 2-6pm; 30F/e¬4.58). Although Picasso donated other works later on, the bulk of the collection belongs to this one period. There's an uncomplicated exuberance in the numerous still lifes of sea urchins, the goats and fauns in Cubist non-disguise and the wonderful
Ulysses and his Sirens
- a great round head against a mast around which the ship, sea and sirens swirl. Picasso himself is the subject of works here by other painters and photographers, including Man Ray and Bill Brandt; there are several anguished canvases by Nicholas de StaA«l, who stayed in Antibes for a few months from 1954 to 1955; and works by other contemporaries and more recent artists. Alongside the castle is the
cathedral
, built on the site of an ancient temple. The choir and apse survive from the Romanesque building that served the city in the Middle Ages while the nave and stunning ochre facade are Baroque. Inside, in the south transept, is a sumptuous medieval altarpiece surrounded by immaculate panels of tiny detailed scenes.
One block inland, the morning
covered market
on cours Massena overflows with ProvenA§al goodies and a profusion of cut
flowers
, the traditional and still-flourishing Antibes business (June-Aug daily; rest of year closed Mon). On Friday and Sunday (plus Easter-Sept Tues & Thurs) a craft market takes over in the afternoon. When the stalls are all packed up, cafe tables take their place.
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