Flying to Antibes, France

 When we woke up on Day 7, we were trying to wrap our brains around needing to pack up and fly to France. What a whirlwind already and now, another country and language! We were a smidge anxious about the language since we knew very little. Which is to say, none. Pete sent a note to the wedding attendees with some tips- so we’ve learned that it’s Fronce not France. Ahnteeb not Ant-i-bees. Bon Jour and Bon Soir (swah). We knew those- and it reminds me of our favorite story from visiting Marseille 2 years ago. Scroll back in the blog to find it!

The MALBEC crew had all headed to Southampton the day before and boarded the ship for Norway and Iceland.  Ashley and Janine had headed to Germany. So, it makes sense for us to go to another country, too. Plus, France was the entire reason we were really here! Time for the show!

We didn’t know quite what to expect at Heathrow and, as you should know by now, I do not like to be rushed or stressed on travel days, so we had plans to Uber over to LHR plenty early. 

We got the room all packed up- everything was dry, thank God. Took the elevators down one last, very slow, time. It was a great hotel. I’d stay there again! Our Uber arrived and we were off to Terminal 5. 

Everything was going well on the drive until all the sudden Jason said to our driver, “Um.. Mohammed?” 

“Yes?”

“Are we…we’re not going to Gatwick are we?”

And never before has a question in an Uber struck fear into my heart like this. And then there was a pause, which felt inappropriately long.

“No,” came the only acceptable answer.

WHEW! Turns out, Jason happened to see the GPS on the phone and the highway was showing as towards Gatwick, the other international airport. Apparently, you can get to both of them from whatever we were on. We all had a good laugh about it.

Once we got in there, we took a second to try and get our bearings. International travel is so good for reminding you that the world doesn’t revolve around the USA. And, honestly, thank goodness. I’ve been in and out of a lot of international airports and one immediate thing you notice when you go to check in is that you have to look at the big boards to find out WHERE to even check in. There isn’t a static position for your airline and you don’t just line up there. Sometimes you have to even wait around waiting for it to display on the board. Thankfully, terminal 5 of LHR is a whole lot of British Airways so we figured it out pretty fast. We got in line to just print a luggage tag and drop our bag but instead of printing the luggage tag, it printed a piece of paper that said, “We’ve encountered an error. Please see an agent.” Which was great because then we got to stand in another line.

Once we made our way through the other line, we had a delightful agent who let us know, as she pointed to her left, that we could have gone into the first class entry and checked in and gone through security there. Well. Noted. Thank you.

We quickly went that way for security because, when a VIP, let’s use those perks! We went through the absolutely zero line of security and encountered a new body scanner. Gone are the days of placing your arms over your head like a common criminal. Now, you spread your arms out to your sides, hands pointing down.

Once I cleared, I said to the agent on the other side, “That was new to me. Never seen one like that.” He said, “Happy to be your first time, ma’am.” LOL. Ah, love some security agents who are relaxed and able to joke. 

Jason came through next and his bag got kicked over for extra screening. The guy said - “wow, this is highlighting like everywhere. We’ll have to just look around it all.” And we laughed and joked with him the whole time, which was a very quick and easy maybe 1.5 minutes. I love these people. Please, as a Christmas gift, someone get them to train our TSA agents.

Then, we grabbed our carry ons and walked down a short hallway to discover we were in the first class lounge! Shazam. This is what I’m talking about! There was a very large open, serve yourself bar with all the liquor, champagnes, still wines, etc. And then tons of various foods and other drinks all around. And, showers! I’ve been in a lot of clubs but never seem to find the ones with the showers. Not that I wanted one. But that’s cool.

Of all the things to eat, we were most excited to find salad! Ah, veggies! How we’ve missed you. Before long, it was time to reemerge into the terminal with all those other people. The boarding process was slightly odd but whatever. We weren’t flying business class this time because it was a short flight so we sucked it up and saved a few bucks.

When we landed in Nice after an amazing experience in coach including numerous screaming babies and butt cracks, we were pleased to have an easy entrance through customs and immigration. A bit of a line but maybe only 20 minutes or so. Mandy texted, “Have fun in customs!” So we knew she and Pete were waiting on the other side. 

While we waited for our bags, Jason had walked around to grab ours when I suddenly noticed I was standing near someone really tall. I kept noticing in my peripheral vision. I finally looked over and then gasped. My Lord. It was Troy Aikman! Jason came back over and I said, “Babe. Is that Troy Aikman?!?!?!” Jason got to go up and say hello and tell him he was a big fan. Troy was very polite.

I mean, did we just fly on the same dang plane to Antibes with Troy freakin’ Aikman? WHY DIDN’T WE BUY THE UPGRADE???? Sheesh!

Once we cleared all that, BOOM! Pete and Mandy! Fun fact, Mandy and I have been enjoying each other’s company for a solid 10 years of fantasy football smack talk while NEVER HAVING SEEN EACH OTHER IN PERSON. Not even one single time. She saw us and threw an arm in the air. I threw mine in the air. YES!  THIS IS HAPPENING!

We took a free tram one stop to the train. Mandy already bought tickets so we just piled in. It was…maybe 5 stops or so before Antibes. About 15 minutes. Then, we had a 10 minute walk to our Airbnb. Our host was waiting to meet us. When we got to the door, we hit the buzzer and she let us in. This is when we discovered we had 5 flights of and insane looking spiral staircase thing that was likely build in the 1500s (I may be exaggerating but also, maybe I am not. It was intense). And, one of us had to go up that thing while carrying a backpack and our 50 pound suitcase. Also, did you know spiral staircases are narrow? And that 5 flights with 50 pounds in one hand is a lot? I mean, I don’t know this but Jason does. 

WHEW!

When we made it to our door, we met Audrey, our friendly, adorable, and very petite host. She gave us a very quick “tour” and then was gone! The place was ours. It was 3 rooms - the bedroom, the bathroom, and the combined living/dining/kitchen. There was also a lovely terrace with city streets, marina, and sea view. So nice. All the windows opened which allowed the perfect breeze night and day. 

We needed to grab a couple of things from a market or grocery so we’d have at least some coffee in the morning. Mandy texted Jason the address of the grocery. We were all going to meet up that night at 9 at a Mexican restaurant literally around the corner of our place for drinks, dinner, and to watch the soccer championship (that was happening in London!). With time to kill, we started walking around. 

What a ridiculously cute little town. Meandering streets. Tons of flowers. Little shops of every kind. All restaurants with outdoor seating. People eating, drinking, lingering. My absolute favorite thing in Europe- people just maximize outside time. No one is rushed. People linger. 

We sort of accidentally walked all the way to the grocery after encountering a dude singing Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror in a cute little town square area. We picked up some milk, bottles of water, cheese, eggs, ham. Some basics to get us through the morning before we would figure out more.

We found our way back to the apartment only to discover we couldn’t get into the ground floor door. We didn’t ask about that! We tried the key we had and it sorta fit in the lock but…no. Finally Jason texted Audrey and she wrote something that didn’t translate well. It said, “You have a key and a badge.” As we both stood there in the alley trying to make sense of the badge part, we both realized at the same time that what we thought was a plastic keychain was actually a key fob! We placed it by the door and were so relieved to hear the bolt disengage. Whew! Then, we heaved everything up the 5 flights of terrifying turns.

We rested a little bit on our balcony. The weather was perfect. Light breeze. Maybe 68 or so. Delightful! 

Then, we walked down to the Mexican place and met up with Pete, Mandy and some others who had come for the wedding - a German couple named Frank and Beatrix and then friends from Texas, Chris and Reem. Reem! I couldn’t believe it! And she couldn’t believe it when I said I had a cousin of the same name! 

The food was great. The drinks were great. The people were great. We were off to an amazing start! 

We were pooped so we left after that and the others carried on party hopping. Jason sat up on the balcony for quite some time enjoying the sounds of the nightlife, the music, and the bustle. I drank some delicious Amarone we’d picked up and went to bed. 

I’d only been in Antibes a few hours, but I already loved it!