Juan-les-Pins Off The Beaten Path

Cap d’Antibes is a symbol of the luxury life on the French Riviera. On our way to the Jardin Thuret we passed countless villa's and houses of the obviously quite wealthy.
On the Cap d’Antibes one can find several green and beautiful gardens; the most popular one is the Jardin Thuret. It was created by Gustave Thuret in 1856 on the slope of La Garoupe hill to acclimatize numerous tropical plants. Many species were planted that were hitherto unknown in this area, such as eucalyptus and pine. This green refuge praised by Gustave Flaubert and George Sand receives numerous visitors each year. If you would like to see some exotic plants in a marvelous garden, that is the place you need to go! The garden is small, 3.5 hectares or so but here visitors can find more than 3,500 of different trees and shrubs. The idea around the garden’s design was to respect of the Mediterranean climatic conditions (absence of regular watering and winter protection) and allows a natural selection of the plants most resistant to the dryness. The plants push as freely as possible.
As a result, the garden looks a little bit neglected or charmingly wild - there is no labels here, few benches and one drinking fountain; but the place definitely worth visit.

The Jardin Thuret open Monday – Friday 8 am – 6pm , admission is free.
62 boulevard du Cap.

On a point on Cap d'Antibes, the Grillon Tower overhangs the remains of an ancient battery. As the story goes, André Sella, manager of the Grand Hotel on Cap d'Antibes, had a large collection of documents and objects from the time of Napoleon's return from Elba. In 1952, the Navy granted him permission to use the tower to house his growing collection. Today the Musée Naval et Napoléonien displays paintings, sculpture and objects from that era. There is a fine bust of Bonaparte, sculpted by Canova in 1810, a statue of Napoleon on horseback by Renault, collection of sabers, swords, guns and pistols, figurines of soldiers and officers of the Grand Army in uniform – you got the idea. A wall painting shows disembarking Napoléon's at Golfe-Juan on March 1, 1815.
Panoramic view of Cap d'Antibes, the Lérins islands, and the Alpes de Haute Provence mountain chain from the large terrace worth visit to the museum.
After a tour of the Museum, the neighboring Ellen Roc Park is well-worth visiting.

Admission €3 adults; €1.50 students. If you stay in Juan-les-Pins a week and going to visit several other museums than I would suggest to invest €10 buying Combined ticket, valid 7 consecutive days for entry to Picasso, Archaeology, Peynet, Napoleon Museum, and Fort Carré.
Batterie du Graillon - Boulevard Kennedy
Museum open Mon-Fri 9:30-noon and 2:15-6pm; Sat 9:30-noon