Antibes in August

August rewards the early and the late. The Gravette at eight in the morning belongs to the swimmers and the grandmothers; by eleven it belongs to everyone. The market is glorious at nine and gladiatorial at eleven. The coastal path is yours at seven, and the ramparts turn gold again after seven in the evening, when the day-trippers have surrendered to the motorway.

In between — the loud hours, noon to five — the old town teaches you the siesta: shutters half closed, lunch long, the sea waiting for its second act. Our houses are air-conditioned for precisely this chapter of the day.

The single greatest August luxury on this coast is not a yacht — it is not needing a car. From the old town, the market, the beach, the ramparts, the restaurants and the port are all within ten minutes on foot; the train to Cannes, Nice or Monaco leaves from a station you can walk to. While the coast queues, you stroll.

Book dinner a day ahead rather than a week: the old town’s simple tables keep room for regulars, and after three evenings, that is what you are.

When the beaches fill, change element. A morning boat from Port Vauban — with or without skipper — turns August inside out: the coves of the Cap are quiet by definition, the water is at its warmest, and lunch at anchor beats any queue on land.

The evening markets and open-air cinemas do the same for the night: August is the month Antibes stays up latest, and the month it is most worth staying up for.