France - Near Antibes and close to beaches

[vintageteacups]

Hi - we're browsing for next year's holiday in France.

I hate the heat but am giving in to a week in the south of France.

We're hoping to visit friends who live between Cannes and St Tropez and thought somewhere like Antibes would be nice.

DH wants to stay in a mobile home but I want to be somewhere more french, like a gite. The children really want to have a garden to play but DH wants to be near the beach.

Anyone know any gites or any good websites to look?
I've looked at Chez Nous, Gites de France, French Connections etc.

We stayed in Antibes a few years ago, it was nice but the town beaches quite small. The harbour is nice and the town for eating out and lovely market. We did take the bus to the nice beaches on the Cap and San Juan des Pins. We got an apartment through Holidaylettings.co.uk or ownersdirect.co.uk (can't remember which)

Thanks Purveyor - so do you recommend Antibes or somewhere else instead?

DH has been to the south before and says 'Nice isn't very nice'. I also heard the same for Marseille and the nearby coast.

He reckons the coast around Antibes and Menton is lovely?

And did you stay in the appartment with children? Did you/they miss a garden?

We enjoyed it - there is enough to do to keep you going for a few weeks. The beaches are not the best TBH, but we didn't go just for the beaches. We went to St Juan for the beach mostly - but you have to pay, they all seem to be private (but you do get waiter service and comfy loungers). Nice is not so very nice, but was OK for a day out (they were digging it all up when we went, might be nicer now). We didn't have a car but managed most things by bus/train (had small DD in tow too). Monaco was lovely for a day, as was St.Paul and the nearby art gallery (can't remember name) and there was a pretty botanical garden on the Cap. Antibes is nice, but small and quiet and seems quite far from much at all. The popularity of the area with the jet-set means that much of the coast is private/out of bounds. There are some spectacular villas to gawp at though and the marinas with the amazing yachts (Roman Abramovitch's latest monstrosity gin palace was moored in Antibes when we were there, what a sight that was!)

The areas closer to Marseille are grottier. I have been to St Tropez too, but when small so can't really give you the low down. I want to go back to Biarritz soon as the coastline there is gorgeous, the sea is rather chillier from the Atlantic though.

This year we are going further South near Carcassonne - near the beaches, but also all that interesting Cathar history. Wine country too

Just saw question about the garden. DD was only 7 months then so it wasn't such a problem and we had a nice top-floor terrace with lovely views. Now we have 2 DCs we do look for gardens. The place we have this year is a first floor apartment but with shared gardens and BBQ areas and a pool and lots of kids toys provided. Went to Spain last year and had a private pool which the kids adored so now wouldn't be without one (even if shared)

Great - thanks for tall that info. To be honest, we don't want to lay on the beach every day either - DH just wants that whole 'hot and beachy' atmosphere!

I much prefer hilltop villages and site seeing, like around Carcassonne; perhaps I will search around that area then. We need to be able to visit our friends but to be honest, it might just be easier to go en route on the way home.

I dn't really want a shared pool either; DH is quite shy and hates to feel as though he has to chat to strangers if he doesn't feel like it!

I was looking for a private pool originally, but couldn't find anything in price range. DP is the same re not talking to random strangers, but I think it could be an advantage with the kids - hopefully they will have playmates. We got the place this year from frenchconnections.co.uk. We got a pretty good response from all the owners, and there are some nice properties with private pools - the advantage in France is that they have to be fenced by law - different situation in Spain, which scared me somewhat with toddlers.

That's what we thought about the fencing thing but apparently there are loop holes (like there not being enough of the stated type of fencing available etc which enable them not to fence them.

At our last gite, it wasn't fenced but was at the bottom of quite a big garden so there wasn't such a risk of them walking out of the door and falling in - still not good though.

will have another look at frenchconnections