Day 13: Villefranche-sur-Mer, France:
…I went to Nice and all I got was carbon monoxide poisoning…
I had no idea what to expect from our stop here on the French Riviera. I was looking forward to getting a car and driving around between Nice and Monaco, but had no preconceptions at all.
We were tendered off the ship and walked a short distance to the train station. The weather once again was fabulous – of course. We waited for the train and I snapped a few pics of the environs and other folks that were waiting. The train arrived and we hopped on for our short (two stops) ride into Nice.
Nice is a large but beautiful city, full of interesting buildings from the Art Nouveau period. It reminded me a bit of Paris but was obviously warmer as there were palm trees everywhere. We walked around the corner to the Hertz office to pick up our car – a strange sort of little minivan that just barely held the four of us and our backpacks in the back. Once Steve figured out how to start the car (same as his Camry hybrid – step on the brake first, like a scooter J) we were off on our drive down the Cote d’Azur toward Monaco.
The Moyenne Corniche is the fabulous “middle” road that runs between Nice and Monaco – a twisty two lane highway with breathtaking views of the coastline and the villages that dot the landscape.
Our first stop on this self guided tour was Eze (pronounced ehz), a beautiful old walled town high on the hillside above the sea. We found parking near the short walkway leading into the older part of the village with all of its little shops and hidden paths leading in all directions. At the top of the stairs we found several vendors, one of them selling a dazzling array of spices. I could smell the Bombay curry blend from 20 feet away and could not possibly resist. I purchased about 8 ounces of various spice blends and several bars of French milled soaps and we continued into the town.
This place reminded me of Venice in the sense that it had a very special and unique charm – a place unlike any other I’d ever seen. Rick and Tim and I took many many photos of old windows and doors with bright pots of flowers standing guard in the sills and doorways. We spent probably an hour or so wandering and just being happy doing so. Afterward we went back to the car to drop off our various goodies and went in search of a snack and coffee (!!!). We ended up at a little place just down the block with a very charming and cheerful man who served us very good coffee and some pastries, then it was off to Monaco!
Monaco was not very exciting but it was fun to stop and take pictures in the beautiful gardens and the church where Princess Grace and Prince Ranier were married.
Lots of tourists ambling about the square outside the palace and the obligatory shops/stands selling touristy crap. We did manage to find a lovely chocolate shop where I bought several bars for gifts.
We decided to head back toward Nice to grab lunch, but lunch never happened… L. It was decided we’d drive to Cannes and eat there, but we got stuck in ghastly traffic in Nice. After about 2 ½ hours of driving in stop and go conditions amidst the fumes from other cars we finally managed to get the car returned in Nice. We gave up on Cannes at about the 90 minute mark in traffic. Bleh! We were all desperately hungry and very cranky as we headed back to Villefranche to meet the rest of our group for dinner at a restaurant near the beach.
We wandered a bit in the old part of town before going to dinner. I found a great little shop where Steve and I bought a new tablecloth and some napkins and a new pair of boat shoes for me.
Dinner that night was the best meal we had on this trip. The restaurant was La Mere Germaine, mainly a seafood place (duh) so I was worried Steve wouldn’t be able to find much to eat but he did just fine. We both had the prixe fixe dinner: a starter (crab cakes for both of us), an entrée (FABULOUS curried shrimp over rice for me, veal cutlets for Steve), and dessert (chocolate tart with sliced pears on top for me, apple tart tatin with vanilla ice cream for Steve). My curried shrimp was probably the best shrimp dish I’ve ever had, and the crab cakes were not truly cakes. They were a crab salad wrapped in a thin slice of zucchini – scrummy!
When dinner was over we all headed back toward the boat that would return us to the ship. Strangely we were stopped by two officers from the ship and asked several probing questions before they would let us pass. I felt like we were in US Customs again. We got on the last boat back to the ship, took a few pictures of the ship all lit up with twinkly lights and said our goodbyes to Villefranche-sur-Mer.
I had no idea what to expect from our stop here on the French Riviera. I was looking forward to getting a car and driving around between Nice and Monaco, but had no preconceptions at all.
We were tendered off the ship and walked a short distance to the train station. The weather once again was fabulous – of course. We waited for the train and I snapped a few pics of the environs and other folks that were waiting. The train arrived and we hopped on for our short (two stops) ride into Nice.
Nice is a large but beautiful city, full of interesting buildings from the Art Nouveau period. It reminded me a bit of Paris but was obviously warmer as there were palm trees everywhere. We walked around the corner to the Hertz office to pick up our car – a strange sort of little minivan that just barely held the four of us and our backpacks in the back. Once Steve figured out how to start the car (same as his Camry hybrid – step on the brake first, like a scooter J) we were off on our drive down the Cote d’Azur toward Monaco.
The Moyenne Corniche is the fabulous “middle” road that runs between Nice and Monaco – a twisty two lane highway with breathtaking views of the coastline and the villages that dot the landscape.
Our first stop on this self guided tour was Eze (pronounced ehz), a beautiful old walled town high on the hillside above the sea. We found parking near the short walkway leading into the older part of the village with all of its little shops and hidden paths leading in all directions. At the top of the stairs we found several vendors, one of them selling a dazzling array of spices. I could smell the Bombay curry blend from 20 feet away and could not possibly resist. I purchased about 8 ounces of various spice blends and several bars of French milled soaps and we continued into the town.
This place reminded me of Venice in the sense that it had a very special and unique charm – a place unlike any other I’d ever seen. Rick and Tim and I took many many photos of old windows and doors with bright pots of flowers standing guard in the sills and doorways. We spent probably an hour or so wandering and just being happy doing so. Afterward we went back to the car to drop off our various goodies and went in search of a snack and coffee (!!!). We ended up at a little place just down the block with a very charming and cheerful man who served us very good coffee and some pastries, then it was off to Monaco!
Monaco was not very exciting but it was fun to stop and take pictures in the beautiful gardens and the church where Princess Grace and Prince Ranier were married.
Lots of tourists ambling about the square outside the palace and the obligatory shops/stands selling touristy crap. We did manage to find a lovely chocolate shop where I bought several bars for gifts.
We decided to head back toward Nice to grab lunch, but lunch never happened… L. It was decided we’d drive to Cannes and eat there, but we got stuck in ghastly traffic in Nice. After about 2 ½ hours of driving in stop and go conditions amidst the fumes from other cars we finally managed to get the car returned in Nice. We gave up on Cannes at about the 90 minute mark in traffic. Bleh! We were all desperately hungry and very cranky as we headed back to Villefranche to meet the rest of our group for dinner at a restaurant near the beach.
We wandered a bit in the old part of town before going to dinner. I found a great little shop where Steve and I bought a new tablecloth and some napkins and a new pair of boat shoes for me.
Dinner that night was the best meal we had on this trip. The restaurant was La Mere Germaine, mainly a seafood place (duh) so I was worried Steve wouldn’t be able to find much to eat but he did just fine. We both had the prixe fixe dinner: a starter (crab cakes for both of us), an entrée (FABULOUS curried shrimp over rice for me, veal cutlets for Steve), and dessert (chocolate tart with sliced pears on top for me, apple tart tatin with vanilla ice cream for Steve). My curried shrimp was probably the best shrimp dish I’ve ever had, and the crab cakes were not truly cakes. They were a crab salad wrapped in a thin slice of zucchini – scrummy!
When dinner was over we all headed back toward the boat that would return us to the ship. Strangely we were stopped by two officers from the ship and asked several probing questions before they would let us pass. I felt like we were in US Customs again. We got on the last boat back to the ship, took a few pictures of the ship all lit up with twinkly lights and said our goodbyes to Villefranche-sur-Mer.
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