Same as last year, I’m just back home after a week spent with my team in a retreat. This time I’m happy to share some tips about what to see and where to eat in Antibes, France.
My team of Happiness Engineers at Automattic has gathered together from all over the world (Canada, Hungary, India, UK, USA, and Vietnam) to our annual team meet up.
The 2017 meet up edition has seen us rocking Madrid, while this time we voted for the Mediterranean vibes of the French Riviera, hoping in sun and warm temperatures. The Fortune goddess blessed us with a full week of rain and miserable weather, but we had fun anyway!
Here are some activities we enjoyed, placed we liked and cool restaurants where to eat in Antibes. I also shoot two videos: one when a strong wind was blowing on the sea, and one when it started snowing.
What to do and where to see in Antibes – the photos of the places we checked out
What to do and where to see in Antibes – the places
Port walk and waterfront stroll + lighthouse hike
Antibes is a very peculiar town: its foundations are Greek and Romans, and you can tell from the walls and the bastions located on the waterfront that it’s been a colony town that attracted many commercial and conquering interests over the centuries. It ramps up the hills, and the view you have is breath-taking: while facing the blue sea you have the snowed mountains on your back. There are many walk paths you can take from the Antibes town centre, but I definitely recommend to not miss the stroll that runs along the waterfront till the port and marina, where you can see very impressive boats – don’t forget that the fancy Cannes is just around the corner!
On our last full day in Antibes the weather got better, so we went for a nice urban hike up to the lighthouse. We walked along another tiny lovely marina and saw many fancy villas. The vibe is very Mediterranean and reminded me of my Sardinia a bit. It also snowed when we were walking along the beach and it was very weird! The view from the hill was very nice.
Picasso Museum.
Hosted in an ancient renovated building, this museum is a little gem. It may not be big, but it includes ceramics, pictures and sketches by Pablo Picasso. I’m not an uber fan of Picasso, but the addition of a collection of photos that testimonies his staying in Antibes enriches this curated collection.
The first floor also hosts workers from other contemporary French artists. The ticket price (6 Euro) is pretty cheap so it’s worth the visit.
Marché Provençal.
It’s the communal outdoor market located in the heart of the town. If you lose yourself among the town’s narrow alleys, you’ll eventually end up hanging out in here. You can literally find anything edible at the market: what impressed me the most was the spices and the fresh fish area. It’s pretty busy when it’s open so if you want to go there for shopping brace yourself, but you won’t regret it.
Escape Rooms at Lockout Escape Game.
We split into two team and we entered two different rooms we needed to escape from. Mine was Sherlock Holmes themed. We managed to escape in a bit more than an hour. The riddles and enigmas were very tough, and the team work really made the difference. I was disappointed we didn’t escape in less than an hour, but the other team got out after we escaped so we won :P
Where to eat in Antibes – the photos!
Top Restaurants where to eat in Antibes
This is my personal chart of the best places where to eat in Antibes, so if you have other suggestions don’t hesitate to leave a comment below :)
Restaurant Albert 1er.
Very chic place when I had a massive sea bass and a huge sorbets cup. My colleagues also had oysters and we all enjoyed the food in there. Recommended although maybe a bit pricey, but definitely worthy.
I’ve been told burgers are not the end of the world and a bit overpriced, but I can tell you for sure that my 300gr sirloin steak was epic, and a good value for money.
If you enjoy a good steak house, here’s the place to go in the city centre.
L’Écureuil Espagnol.
We found this place by accident as we’ve been bounced out by another restaurant. The idea of having a paella attracted all of us, and we this time the fortune goddess blessed up with a great atmosphere, awesome food and great staff. They accommodated my food allergies with no problems. I had a massive steak because I couldn’t have the seafood paella, but my colleagues can vouch for the place.
L’Eléphant Bleu.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to eat in a Vietnamese/ Chinese restaurant. Turned out the food was incredibly yummy, with large portions and wide variety of choices. I had a vegetarian two courses meal and a massive gelato as a dessert. The vanilla ice cream I had there is possibly the best vanilla I ever tasted recently.
All in all, I had again a great time with my colleagues. We came back home feeling energised and all happy to have spent some time together. Our team is great and I’m happy to be part of it.