l’Olivette People No.3
Olivier- Pointu Owner.
Meet Olivier, Pointu Owner and also the current president of the Association of the l’Abri de l’Olivette. Unlike a Port an Abri exists just for seven months of the year. During the winter months the boats need to come out of the water and the Pontoons are dismantled. The oldest boats stay in the l’Abri de l’Olivette and the others go into local ports. Some people also take their boats away and keep them in their gardens.
I asked Olivier how exactly people get the Pointus out of the l’Abri de l’Olivette if they want to keep them on land for the winter. There isn’t an obvious access ramp up to the road which is a couple of metres at least above the sea level.
“We have an motorised hoist which lifts them up to the road. To get the Pointus in and out of the water we use the traditional method of rolling them over tree trunks. It’s the same method which has been used for hundreds of years but to get them onto the road we use the motorised hoist”.
How long have you been president of the Association?
I took over the presidency in 2007 when the previous president passed away. I already had a boat here at that time but not a Pointu. Back then I owned a Tirbord, a little plastic boat which I used to go fishing. One day I decided to buy a Pointu.
Why? because there are many here so I thought I would try one. In fact my other boat broke down so it was time for a change anyway so I decided to buy a Pointu. My first Pointu was smaller than the one I have now, this one is nearly seven metres.
How much does a Pointu cost?
They can cost anything from 1000-10,000 euros it depends on their state and their size. I have a friend who bought a Pointu for one euro! It belonged to a guy who was retiring and he was obliged to remove the Poinu from the Port. To avoid the hassle of getting rid of it himself he offered it to my friend for one euro.
Where do you go on your Pointu?
To be honest I don’t go far, just around the Cap or to the Baei des Milliardaires. I go out with friends or I meet up with other boats. If I am out on the Pointu for the day I will go snorkelling and fishing, do a bit of swimming, have a siesta and then maybe a little Rose. If you have a good boat you can go further afield like over to the islands but I usually just stay in the local area here. To be honest there are so many amazing spots right here around Cap d’Antibes that you on’t really need to go further afield.
Apart from the Pointu what’s your passion?
My passion is actually diving, I don’t deep sea dive I just snorkel but that’s what I love to do. I love the stillness and tranquility of being underwater. The Pointu isn’t a passion as such however it facilitates my real passion of diving. I have the boat so that I can go away from the coast to dive and be under the water. That was my motivation behind owning a boat.
Having said that I do love my Pointu. I especially like the sound it makes, like a pop pop pop. When I am out on it I love the sound of the sea and the wind and the sensation of being on the water. A Pointu doesn’t move very quickly, it’s not a fast boat, so you have time to look at the views and take in your surroundings in more detail.
The view from the sea is completely different, you see Cap d’Antibes in a way you just can’t from the land. Then you have the silence, which I love. As soon as you leave the coastline it’s so peaceful with just the sound of the water. Sometimes we go past the Hotel du Cap and the enormous yachts anchored in the bay. That’s a nice thing to be able to do and which you can’t experience without a boat.
Did you grow up in Cap d’Antibes?
Actually I was born in Nice but my family moved to Antibes when I was very young. I grew up in Antibes and spent a lot of time on the Cap.
My Grandather was the hotel porter at the Hotel du Cap and my father also used to work at the Hotel du Cap. That is what brought the family here from Nice. My father was the concierge at the hotel for over 50 years. Because of this I spent a lot of time on the Cap when I was young. I would meet my father here when he was on his breaks in the afternoons and we would have lunch on the rocks.
My father and I would also often visit the hotel during the winter when it was closed. He would take me to see the Cabanes in the gardens and we would walk around the grounds together. It was a different era in Cap d’Antibes back then. I expect one wouldn’t be able to do that now.
Did your father also have a boat?
No never. My father was always working. During the season we wouldn’t see him at all. He would leave very early in the morning and sometimes return after 10pm. In the winter he took it more easy and we would get to see him more often. He still worked when the Hotel du Cap was closed but not as much. Basically he didn’t have time to own a boat.
Did you ever want to work at the Hotel du Cap like your father and grand-father?
No, I never wanted to follow in his footsteps work wise. I don’t know why but I just didn’t want to work in Hotels. My father was the Concierge at the Hotel du Cap his entire working life and he was very happy there but I never had the desire to pursue the same line of work.
You father must have met some amazing people during his time at the Hotel du Cap?
I am sure he did yes. He certainly knew all the big American stars. His address book had all the contact details of some of the most famous people in the world, however, my father would never speak of them or his work. If we asked him questions he would never tell us anything. He would go to work and do his job but at the end of the day he would never speak about it. He was incredibly discreet. Therefore I don’t really have any stories to tell about his life at the Hotel as I don’t really know anything about his time there.
I can tell you that he new very well the now disgraced Amercian actor Bill Cosby. He used to stay at the Hotel du Cap for one month every July and my father and he became good friends. Once Bill Cosby came to our house because he wanted to eat some real authentic home cooked Nicoise food. We served him a Pan Bagnat.
My father also went to visit Bill Cosby at his home in the States once. In fact my father received many invitations from famous people so I know he must have had plenty of amazing stories to tell but, as I said, I never heard them.
I guess for him it was just a job like any other job. At the end of his working day he wanted to relax rather than spend his limited free time talking about work. Sometimes I do think it’s a shame that I will never know about this side of my fathers life but that’s just how it is I guess.
Read Story No.2 here
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