Dancing with the Cars

We are currently residing in a part of Antibes that is called a pedestrian zone. In fact, all of the Old Town is considered essentially a pedestrian zone. Much of the time, you would look about you and consider yourself truly in a car-free zone. There are crowds of people walking in the narrow streets all the time.

But........you'd be well advised to keep your eyes and ears pealed at all times. Cars and scooters (and even trucks) can (and will) appear without warning. I've noticed that I've started to react instinctually. I'll hear a motorized sound behind me and step onto the nearest curb, without breaking stride. Others are doing the same.

Why anyone would want to drive on these people-thronged and very narrow streets is beyond me. But they do. And plenty of them. I figured out pretty quickly that this is not a pedestrian zone as I understand the term. You walk around as if it is, but must be alert at all times.

Even our residential street sees vehicles a few times each day. Since our front door opens directly onto our street, we open our door cautiously--just in case. The garbage truck (oh my, am I glad I don't have to drive that in this district!) comes down our little street several times per week. It's quite fascinating watching the driver maneuver his awkward vehicle in and back out.

There are a smattering of personal vehicles that come infrequently in and out of our neighborhood too. We've seen them pull up to unload groceries or luggage or other bulky items and then disappear back to their offsite garages or other parking arrangements.

There are bollards (retractable posts) at any entrance to our neighborhood. Residents have a remote control that allows them to raise and lower the bollards for their entry and exit. Even the church at the end of our street (which is down a steep flight of stairs from the level of our street) has such a set up. It has a very small open area in front of it and a ridiculously small access road through an arched opening in an ancient wall--with a bollard that can be retracted for wedding and funeral vehicles.

I've seen some very nice vehicles--and some not-so-small vehicles--moving through these streets. You would have to pay me large sums to risk either my paint job or my nerves to the extent required to navigate these very tight quarters. We have watched some hair-raising turns and parking maneuvers. Inches are a luxury here.

We have been walking along our sea wall every day--sometimes from the old port to our residential area, but mostly from our house to the beautiful beaches that are about a 15-minute walk to the west of the old town. Cars (and lots of them) drive this one-lane, one-way road. The walking area is just about two people wide. And the walking is two way. That means we spend a lot of time stepping aside for, or passing, other walkers. But then there are the streams of cars that travel this way with us. There is a constant, intricate dance between passing people and passing cars. We people weave in and out in a fluid line, all the while seamlessly coordinating our timing with the flow of vehicles.

Fortunately, about 4 blocks past our entry to this dance, the promenade walk widens considerably, and people and cars each have their own space. But for that one carefully maneuvered area, we pay keen attention and step lively.

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