European Vacation Day 10 - July 2022

 July 19th - Day 10

Day in the Sun

After looking through guidebooks for things to do, we decided to take a boat over to Foret Domaniale de l'Ile Sainte Marguerite, St Marguerite Island. Cannes is very busy and full of traffic. Cars are not allowed on St. Marguerite Island. So we thought it would be a great escape. Today was really hot. It was 93 degrees F with high humidity and no breeze. We had adjusted to the mid 80 temperatures. The heat ended up making our day a little bit miserable. 

Before the heat got to us.

The island was very pretty and peaceful. It was so nice to hear the sound of the birds and to be out in nature.

We had some fun wandering around. There were miles of trails to explore. 

There were loads of perfectly round rocks for skipping rocks.

These two had a competition going for a while.

We walked the trails for several hours. 

There was a sign on another structure that looked like this so we think this was used as a cannon furnace. Cannon balls were heated up in it before being loaded into a cannon and fired.

The shoreline was all rocks.

It looks like this bird is posing for a picture.

Beautiful views 

Loved this little natural table and chairs.

The views on top of Belvedere du Dragon were beautiful.

Belvedere du Dragon looks like an old bunker.

Of course we had to visit Fort Royal while we were on the island. Fort Royal was used as a state prison. It was built between 1635 and 1637 when the island was occupied by the Spanish. The French completed the fort and used it as a prison and for the military. 

This was said to be the prison cell the Man In The Mask was held in. His identity is unknown. He was a prisoner for 34 years and held in four different prisons during those years. There are lots of theories about the identity of the Man in the Mask. Some think he was the twin brother of Louis XIV and was kept a prisoner so he could not challenge Louis XIV's right to the throne. There are also theories that say the mask he wore was made out of iron and other theories say it was made of velvet. 

The doors on the cell were very heavy and hard to move.

This window only had one set of bars. The window on the cell of the Man in the Mask had three sets of bars, all slightly offset of each other. The three sets of bars would definitely make it difficult to escape.

There was a museum inside the fort. It showcased items salvaged from the sea and some information about the Man in the Mask. It was an uninteresting little museum.

The view from the top of the fort was spectacular. The Mediterranean Sea has such a deep blue-green color, so beautiful.

We grabbed a bite to eat at the hot dog stand before finding a cove to go swimming. I think we were all getting a bit grumpy from being hot and hungry. Eating seemed to perk us up again. 

We saw a couple of star fish in the water.

This seagull found a little bit of rock sticking up above the surface of the water. It perched there for quite a long time.

The water was the perfect temperature. We enjoyed swimming around and cooling off. There were many large flat rocks in the water that were perfect for standing on and swaying with the waves.

I did not get a picture of it but while we were swimming, an ice cream boat came into the cove. People swam out and bought ice cream from it. 

We took the second to last ferry back to Cannes. Visiting the island was a good way to spend our day. Here is a last look at the fort perched on the top of the hill.

Back at the condo, we went for a swim and then went out to dinner.

The food looked very pretty but was just average. We felt we had eaten better when I fixed food at the condo. The fish was dry and the food was not seasoned very well. 

There was a wall of greenery behind our table. I really like this picture of my husband and I together.