All posts tagged: Cannes

day 7 – french riviera in a nutshell

I always make a pit stop in the French Riviera, particularly Cannes and spend about 3 nights at the least in a part of the world I would like to retire to someday. Usually or in the past, the weather had cooperated in early September, my annual visit to the region and I normally left for Paris on the TGV with a wonderful tan. Not so much this year. Although sunny, it’s been unusually cold and windy or perhaps usual from the locals point of view. I just have never experienced it. What I also found interesting is that this is actually the first time, there was only a handful of people at the beach. I know it was because of the weather, but still, it all seemed unreal. I did my touring, shopping, sunbathing a little, wonderful dining and a stroll along the promenade – even though I was freezing my buns off – it mattered not – I was in the French Riviera for only three days.

day 7 – travel journal – french riviera – cannes

I love this part of our trips to Europe, the stop in the French Riviera. We took the slow train from Genoa (not intentionally) that was how RailEurope site booked it for me when I did my point to point reservation and within four hours pulled into the Cannes train station. I gladly jumped off the cart and walked to our hotel, which is always across the street from the train station. I prefer it that way. We wasted no time in freshening up and running to the promenade to walk along the shore before heading into old Cannes to have dinner. Cannes is an amazing place to stay, it has everything you need and not as chaotic as Nice is during the busy Summer season.  You can spend the mornings, shopping, then in the afternoon sunbathing at a number of public beaches and then get dressed up and go to dinner at any number of indoor/outdoor restaurants along the promenade, followed by a walk along the shore.  It’s definitely designed for the over forty …

how to avoid over exposure from the sun while vacationing in the french riviera

We humans are conditioned to be careful as to how much time we spend in the sun on a daily basis. Now although the sun is good for us, in small doses, it is also damaging in more ways than one.  I happen to worship the sun and while vacationing in the French Riviera,  I must say, I have a difficult time staying indoors. So to avoid over exposure, while still enjoying the sunshine, I normally spend the middle of the day (when the UV Rays  are the most damaging) walking through the backroads of the towns aligning the coast. Typically the backroads are (mostly) in the shade because of the narrow alleyway-like streets and the closeness of the buildings facing each other on either side of those “street”. This combination, not only makes for the best hideaway from the sun,  but also gives me a chance to cool down naturally while enjoying the scenery. 🙂  Oh silly me. Here are some of my favorite (touched up) photos of our treks through the backroads of the …