Le Défi
Le Défi stands on Antibes’ centuries-old stone ramparts, where the Mediterranean Sea opens towards the horizon. Nicolas Lavarenne’s monumental bronze figure shows a slender nude man balancing on one foot. His other foot hangs forward, creating the impression of a step into empty air.
The pose invites several readings: a tightrope walker, a man approaching the water, or someone entering the unknown. Lavarenne began working with wood before becoming a full-time sculptor in 1993. Antibes exhibited his work in 2016, then acquired this bronze for permanent display along the Promenade des Arts. The walkway connects the Picasso Museum with Jaume Plensa’s Le Nomade.
Ancient walls frame the modern anatomy, while clear weather can reveal the snowy Alps beyond the sea. The water lies several metres below, but the right viewpoint makes the raised foot appear to touch it. Other angles align the foot with the horizon or the treetops of Cap d’Antibes.
- City
- Antibes
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The myTuur app is free, and once you are standing at a spot its story starts by itself.
Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Antibes. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.
What is myTuur?
myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.