When the clock strikes the magic hour and work is done, there’s only one thing to do on a Friday evening – head to the nearest bar. Now I know this might not sound like everyone’s ‘thing’, but give some absinthe a whirl and see how you go…
The Absinthe Bar & Museum is something of an institution in Antibes. It’s almost like a rite of passage for young yachties and juniors in port for the first time. But if you put aside the obvious appeal to some of drinking the iconic Parisian tipple, the bar has a unique character and attraction – everyone HAS to wear a hat.
Yes, that’s right, you descend into small, dark room off a narrow, cobbled street into an extraordinary green-glowing room strewn with hats of all shapes and sizes. Hardhats, police hats, French wool berets, wide-brimmed vintage hats, those for horse riders, floral knitted hats, sequined cowboy hats, straw fedoras, the classic trilby… It’s a weird and incredible collection that has helped create the legacy and popularity of this quirky bar.
Once you’ve got a hat firmly on your head (or have at least tried half a dozen on before finding something suitably ridiculous), head to the bar and let the inevitable fate take its course.
You’ll find more absinthe on the menu than you ever knew existed. From memory (and it’s obviously a little hazy despite the supposed rule of only three drinks per person), we had the Libertine ’72 Absinthe Verte (reasonably priced at 7€) and an Absinthe Supérieure (10€), both served in the same fashion from the unusual-looking contraption that the waitress set in the centre of the table. A dash of absinthe, some iced water and a spoon full of sugar to make the Friday medicine go down!
Once you’ve got used to the taste and start taking in your surroundings, the bar has been entirely decorated with colourful absinthe-themed posters and against one wall a piano sits waiting to be played. The first time I visited this bar, a man smartly dressed in a suit, but wearing a sparkly party hat, played jazz after jazz, making you feel like you really could be in 20th century Paris.
Upstairs is a small shop selling merchandise and ‘artefacts’ from the absinthe period so if the drink really isn’t your cup of tea, go for the shopping if not the drinking!
The absinthe bar is only open over the weekends, which is probably a good thing as I’m not sure how much of it one town can drink, but is most definitely worth a visit if you are looking for something out of the ordinary.
At the end of every week, we’ll be reviewing a new bar, club or beach to head to on a Friday (or any day, I guess?) and kick off your weekend. We want to hear from you too about your favourite places to go, whether a low key lounge bar or swanky hotel rooftop terrace, so get it touch!
