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The man himself, ( the hat never really caught on)
Me
Lunch on the beach
Room no. 15Golfe Juan - the naked truth
"What to wear? Why, nothing."
Golfe Juan Vallauris occupies the long curve of the bay between Cannes and Juan les Pins. Much of the bay east of Cannes is cut off by the coastal railway line and for some distance the only access to the sea is by unofficial tunnels under the railway line that are impossible to recommend, and the scary practice of crossing the railway track on foot, which I witnessed a number of local men doing - even more risky.
Around midway is an official subway under the railway which opens out onto a rocky little bay, whose main attraction appears to be male nudity, and this section of the coast is well known as an area for (it seems mainly male) nudists.
A number of private villas - some abandoned - are sandwiched between to sea and the railway line, propriete privee, so there is no public access to a large stretch of the the sea front until you reach the small sandy beach of Vallauris, and then the vast yachting harbour of Golfe Juan, whose main thoroughfare is lined with dozens of restaurants.
After the ostentation of Cannes, this stretch of coast lacks the posing potential of its near neighbours. It is fairly modest and very much "French" rather than of international tourism.
"Napoleon, the Emperor"
Its historical clain to fame is its links with the Emperor Napoleon ("Nice country. I'll take it")
Each March Golfe-Juan stages a re-enactment of Napoleon's landing in 1815 from his exile on Elba, and his 1200 man army march to Grenoble and beyond starting in Golfe-Juan. Marching 330 kilometres in the first seven days, a hundred day bivouac to face the royalist army of Louis XVIII, which promptly switched sides, after which Napoleon briefly became the big cheese, until his final defeat at the hands of the English at Waterloo.
Napoleons legacy was the Napoleonic code, which among other things set down the inheritance laws that have bedevilled the French property industry ever since. Due equal shares between surviving spouse and the children, and the consequent complexity of unravelling who owns what share of what, the French tend to rent. Thus instead of mortgages, the French have opted to spend their money on cafe and restaurant bills. A fair exchange some would say. Waterloo's legacy was, of course, the song by Abba.
"Napoleon, the lunch break"
The "Snack Napoleon" eaterie, further the Bar Restaurant Napoleon, and I am sure there is a Hotel Napoleon somewhere.
Remeniscent of the "King Arthur Cafe" I came across once in Cornwall. Not quite the finest ambassador to myth and legend, but business is business.
