As part of our 3-month #ForestFeastMediterranean journey, after our month in Barcelona , we headed to the French Riviera. We met Jonathan's parent in Antibes and we all stayed in a dreamy Airbnb that my mother-in-law found us right by the sea – an old stone house that was actually part of the town's ancient ramparts. Antibes is on the southern coast of France, not far from the Italian border.
Our Airbnb in Antibes
We were just steps from the open air market which we passed through daily, picking up the most beautiful radishes, zucchini blossoms and cherry tomatoes. We had the radishes with butter at cocktail hour several nights in a row. Once a week the socca stand was at the market-- a traditional local chickpea pancake made in fiery oven as you wait. Delicious!
The Antibes Market
Ezra with goodies we picked up at the market
Radishes from the market with butter back at our house
The Socca being cooked at the market
Socca, splashed with black pepper-- so good!
Antibes is the most adorable cobblestone town. Right on the water and a shot train ride from Cannes and Nice. We stayed in the old town and each evening we could walk to a different restaurant for dinner. We also rented a car and did day trips to the nearby towns of Eze and Saint Paul de Vence. It's a stunning stretch of coast and I can see why so many artists have been drawn to it. I loved our visits to the Matisse and Picasso museums and imagining them being inspired to make work there.
One of my favorite lunches was on the beach at Le Galet in Nice. A version of the eggplant pizza I had there (with rosé!) is going in the book.
On a day trip to Saint Paul de Vence (Ezra, 3 and Max, 10 months)
Saint Paul de Vence
We also loved our lunch at Le Tilleul in Saint Paul de Vence.
A salad inspired by this one at Le Tilleul is also going in the book! I mean, phyllo wrapped goat cheese!?!
Ez in Ezé :) At the Exotic Garden, in Ezé, France, a hillside cactus garden overlooking the water.
Cocktails outside, looking out onto the main plaza, at Cafe Clemenceau in Antibes.
Sunset from the Picasso museum in Antibes. He worked in this building for several months and the paintings that came out of that time were very much inspired by the food in Antibes.
It was so exciting to find a French Edition of The Forest Feast for Kids in a bookstore in Antibes.
*Just yesterday* a copy of The Forest Feast Gatherings in French arrived, so excited to see it!
This was such a magical little stop on our trip-- I so recommend staying in the historic/old town of Antibes if you are in this area, especially with kids. It's a lovely little village, and very walkable. We were there in November for a week and it was still nice enough to eat outside! I hear the beach scene in summer gets pretty crowded, but I'd love to go back then, too.
Au revoir!
Stay tuned for our next stop...Italy!
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We spent 3 months in Europe in the Fall of 2017 as I was doing research on Mediterranean food for my upcoming cookbook, The Forest Feast Mediterranean (Abrams, Fall 2019). For more photos from our entire trip, check out the hashtag #forestfeastmediterranean on Instagram.
Other posts in this series: