Exploring Antibes & the Renoir Museum | Viking “Sea” Cruise Stop in Monaco
Welcome to Monaco. This was our fourth stop on the Viking Sea Cruise. The excursion that we selected for this day was the Antibbs and Renoir Museum. Pricing and trip data for the excursion presented at the end of the video. We pulled into the Monte Carlo docks early in the morning and fairly quickly we were directed to the buses. The bus voyage started with winding through the maze of tunnels in Monaco to get to France and then the town of Antibes about an hour trip. Upon entering the town, we saw Fort Carr, the 16th century fort high up on the hill above the harbor. We quickly learned the town has a sense of humor with the statue of the diver showing a man in a vintage diving suit using his smartphone. The first part of the excursion is a walking tour of Antibes. You start off walking along the city wall and then finally get to go through the gate. Antibes is a historic city being established first as a Greek city followed by being a Roman city. Then from the 1500s to the 1600s, it changed hands many times. Being a Christian town, a Muslim town, then being owned by the Catholic Church, then being French, then being German until finally in the mid600s when it became a fortified city. You were able to walk the stairs up to the top of the city wall. This will give you an excellent view of the harbor, the fort, and the art sculpture. The far portion of the harbor is referred to as Billionaire’s harbor because of all of the expensive boats. You also get a great view of Fort Carr across the harbor. The city walls were built in the 1600s at the same time that Fort Carr was built. The big sculpture that you see down the way was installed in 2010 and is Nomad the letter sculpture. Take your time as you stroll down the narrow cobblestone alleys of the town. These narrow passageways are the soul of the old city. The town’s people are quite proud of the garden areas that they have created with the plants and the trees in these public areas. The doorways are also worth examining with all the images they present, the use of color, the use of the different woods and the surroundings. Not something you see back in Colorado. This tower was built between the 11th and 12th centuries, which makes it older than the city walls. It was built to provide warning of Muslim attacks from across the sea. This cathedral was originally built in the 10th century, destroyed in the 12th century, rebuilt in the 13th through 15th century, destroyed in the 17th century, and then rebuilt by an order of Louis V. The building of this castle started in the mid 400s by the Grimmaldi family and continued into the late 1300s. It is currently the Picasso Museum. We leave the narrow passageways and wander down to the coastline of On St. Rock Cove. The shoreline has a beautiful seaw wall which gives you a nice view of the ships in the cove. You can also look over and see the buildings on the peninsula and even get a good look at downtown. We have a nice walk along the shoreline there, seeing the residences and the restaurants, but it is time to get back into the narrow passageways and head to the marketplace for lunch. We gather at the Championette statue and then are released for free time to wander the streets and get some lunch. We first pass Hotel Deville, built in 1828. In reality, Hotel Deville is the city hall for French towns. Next, we find this interesting triangular building not seen in many places. We continue west looking for lunch, wandering down to interesting streets, passing by plazas. The first is a fountain which has incorporated an old Roman column. We move on to a very large plaza where we see a column gifted to the city by Louis V 18th because the city refused to surrender to Napoleon back in 1850. We continued a little further and found lunch at a very nice open air restaurant. Rejoining the group, we started wandering through the alleys and passageways again, amazed at the hanging gardens and the variety of plants. We had an excellent opportunity to see more doors, each one different and well cared for. Some doors were fancy, some were very simple, but this shows doors are not just a way to get into a residence. They do dress up some of their streets to be very festive with hanging lighted lanterns. One surprised we had was the St. Bernardine Chapel. You’re just walking down this small passageway and then all of a sudden there’s this big chapel built in 1581. On the way out we see an interesting mosaic mural. But it’s time to get onto the bus and head to the Renoir Museum. High up on the hill, you get a chance to see the Shaka Museum Grimmaldi, which was built in 1309 for the Grimaldi family and then later converted to a museum for the city. We drive for about a half an hour and then walk up a steep hill to finally reach the Renoir Museum. We walk a little further and enter the visitor center to get tickets. The tour starts in the basement of the house with Renoir’s statue efforts. It highlights that all of his statues were collaborations with other artist even though he would present them as his own works. It also shows that some of the sculptures were based on earlier paintings such as the washerwoman. The display has both the washerwoman sculpture and the paintings. All of the signs are in French except for when they want you not to touch. Then they have both French and English. You then head outdoors and upstairs to see the paintings. Paintings are shown on both the first and second floors. We were surprised how many non Renoir paintings are shown. They have rooms showing other artists painting in similar methods or using similar topics as Renoir. They show paintings other artists did capturing very similar scenes as Ren Renoir. Not what we were expecting. Finally, we got to the actual Renoir paintings. It was amazing how many of the paintings had the note that they were recovered at the end of World War II and were awaiting restitution to its rightful owner. It was nice getting an upclose look at a handful of Renoir paintings. The museum does not provide much information about Renoir’s life, painting styles, or artistic evolution over his career. Takeaway was an interesting museum, but disappointing in breadth for a featured Renoir museum. We were also surprised that the museum was not climate controlled, and it got hot and stuffy while viewing the pictures. The house tour finishes with a view into Renoir’s studio. The walk around the grounds was interesting since Renoir used olive trees in many of his paintings. They have a copy of one of his pictures of the olive tree grove on a sign in the yard facing the same way Renoir looked to paint the picture. Seeing the gnarly trees was very interesting. Then it was time to return to the ship. The guide and bus driver decided to change the return route and return via the shoreline, which is the French Riviera. Spectacular views of lighouses, the harbor, expensive ships in the harbor, beautiful beaches, lush mountains across the water, and well-kept houses and stores down in the shoreline town. We then reach the mountains which separate France from Monaco. More tunnels to get us through the mountains and finally back to port. Once back on the ship, we were able to contemplate the Monte Carlo skyline and shoreline. The lights were just coming on as the sun was setting. Darkness had fallen when the Viking Sea departed the Monaco port.
Welcome to the Port of Monaco!
This video follows our 4th stop on the Viking “Sea” Mediterranean cruise, featuring the incredible excursion to Antibes, France, and the Musée Renoir in Cagnes-sur-Mer.
We began the morning docking in Monte Carlo, quickly boarding buses through Monaco’s famous tunnels before crossing into France. The journey takes us into the charming town of Antibes, home to Fort Carré, “Billionaire Harbor,” the historic old city, and some of the most picturesque cobblestone streets on the French Riviera.
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What You’ll See in This Video
• Walking tour of Old Town Antibes
• Views from the 16th-century city walls
• The art installation Nomad – The Letter Sculpture
• Narrow medieval alleys filled with gardens, doorways & local charm
• Picasso Museum (exterior)
• Seaside walk along Anse Saint Roch Cove
• Antibes marketplaces, plazas & historic monuments
• Visit to the Renoir Museum, including sculptures, galleries & studio
• French Riviera coastal drive back to Monaco
• Sunset views of the Monte Carlo skyline
Along the way, you’ll learn about the town’s deep history—from Greek and Roman origins to medieval fortifications and Renaissance architecture. You’ll also see highlights from the Renoir Museum, including sculptures based on Renoir’s own paintings and several WWII-recovered works.
This excursion offered stunning coastline views, rich history, and beautiful art… but also a few surprises, including a non-climate-controlled museum and unexpected collections.
If you’re planning a Viking Ocean Cruise, considering a Monaco port excursion, or love travel documentaries around Europe, this video will help you see what the Antibes & Renoir Museum experience is really like.