Last day in #Antibes. Time for a small account:
Côte d'Azur is beautiful. I enjoyed diving back into Frenchiness and actually practicing my French against natural speakers and not just my poor kids.

Many things really didn't change much though: traffic is still just a bad and stupidly organised as it used to (with the honourable exception of Grenoble and Paris). Yes, they have nice wide sidewalks in Antibes and an actual pedestrian zone that is effective at keeping cars out. But once you're out there, cars and lorries are everywhere. Pedestrians regularly have to wait for two red lights when crossing a street, even if there's light traffic. Pedestrian crossing are of course parking spots for very busy drivers and constructions workers work around parked cars in construction sites. Antibes Ordnungsamt just like Darmstadt Ordnungsamt.
The contrast between Paris's traffic soundscape and that of Antibes is stunning: Paris limits speed (30) and through traffic, Antibes doesn't (50 even towards central Place Général de Gaulle). You can definitely hear that.
What you can also hear is the ubiquitous disrespect for 'livraison' parking. Resulting in lorries unpacking on the road, blocking busses and setting off a cacophony of honking - because of course traffic jams disappear when honked at angrily.

On the other hand I was pleasantly surprised by the playgrounds: they are all new and really well planned and nicely laid out. And they are heavily used. That's a nice change from our 2020 Arcachon expérience. The one thing I don't understand though: when you remake a playground, why not repair or exchange the doors? And if there's a public toilet just next to it: why not renovate that one too?