/ In 15 minutes the train will whisk you to the beautiful coastal town of Antibes, which can easily be explored in a couple of hours and still leave time to get back to Nice for dinner.
Antibes was once a fortified village, like most of the other old towns in the south of France, with the original wall running along the shore. As you walk to the Old Town you will notice an ancient fort in the harbor. It looks like it is on an island but actually is on a peninsula. Antibes seems like it is an island because it is on a peninsula surrounded by water on three sides.
Walk straight out of the train station two blocks on Avenue de la Libération to the marina and continue along Avenue de Verdun past the marina to a gate in the city wall that will lead you into the Old Town, a small area just several hundred yards long and wide but riddled with dozens of tiny lanes.
The walk takes about 20 minutes... turn left to Rue Aubernon which will lead you into the heart of the old section and quickly to Cours Massena, the main food market.
There is a large Picasso Museum nearby in the Grimaldi Palace where the artist had a studio that is now incorporated into the museum. Antibes was famous as a home for artists in the 20th century, Picasso in particular, who lived here in 1946 and spent most of his later life elsewhere in Provence. He donated 22 of his paintings to the museum, which also has works by other important artists of the modern movement.
A square bell tower from the 12th century looms over the small square with the Church of the Immaculate Conception, built on the site of an ancient Greek temple. Notice the arches in several side alleys linking the buildings together to help support each other, as if holding hands.
If you walk straight a few blocks, you will find a peaceful residential neighborhood of narrow pedestrian alleys where you might get a little lost. It's fun to get off the beaten track now and then to see how people live in their residential areas -- just a couple of narrow lanes lined with lush plants that provide a little breather before plunging into the commercial district.
Before we go into the commercial shopping district let's have a look at this residential area. This is a charming neighborhood very quiet and it's a pedestrian zone, even for the houses so these people want to get to their house.
After wandering through this residential maze, find your way out to Rue des Revennes, which becomes Rue James Close, the most charming shopping lane in town. This narrow pedestrian route is lined with boutiques and restaurants that are so cute you just might want to drop anchor at a sidewalk cafe and sample the local grinds, such as "socca," similar to pizza with a thick crust.
These few blocks are some of the sweetest in the entire Riviera, and this very old shopping street is a forerunner of today's modern shopping malls. These streets have always been too narrow for cars, so it's been a pedestrian zone from the beginning.
Rue James Close will lead to the main pedestrian shopping street of town, Rue de la Republique, another fascinating route for walking. It connects Place National to Place General de Gaulle, where you can turn right and walk five blocks along Avenue Robert Soleau back to the train station, and then you are on your way once again, home to Nice for the evening.