You can’t ignore the beauty of Antibes at the French Côte d’Azur, the charming old houses in the city center at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Next to the cathédrale Notre-Dame de l’Immaculée Conception you’ll find the ancient fortress of the Grimaldi family from the 12th century. In 1608 it became owned by the French crown and since 1966 it houses the Musée Picasso, a nice art museum on Place Mariejol directly at the sea.
Naming the art museum Musée Picasso is on the one hand a marketing trick as there are a lot of artworks from painters other than Pablo Picasso, but it is also true on the other hand as Picasso was working at this place for half a year in 1946 and later donated 23 works to the community of Antibes. In 1990 has last wife Jacqueline Picasso added further works to the collection. It is a rather small exhibition located in a wonderful building and therefore absolutely worth a visit to the city center.
By the way: the community of Antibes names itself ‘Antibes – Juan-les-Pins‘; that is because this spa town (which was only created in 1925) fastly became a destination for the jet set and famous personalities like Coco Chanel, Josephine Baker or Marlene Dietrich visited this place frequently. It might not ring a bell for younger generations, but for some older ones it is still a jet set icon and well known. Peter Sarstedt made it immortal in is 1969 song Where do you go to (my lovely):
‘When you go on your summer vacation
– Where do you go to (my lovely) by Peter Sarstedt (1969)
you go to Juan-les-Pins
with your carefully designed topless swimsuit
you get an even suntan
on your back and on your legs’
Musée Picasso
Place Mariejol
Antibes – Juan-les-Pins
France
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