Villefranche France

Qui Qui, that's our answer to your question, did you enjoy the French Riviera?




Wednesday was Villefranche, France, gateway to the French Riviera. Our private guide Isolina met us at the pier after the Magic had anchored off shore and we tendered in. We toured today with Lilian, Alex, Deborah, Ian and Olivia, so there were 7 of us plus our driver/guide in a very spacious mini-van. This is a custom tour that I had arranged it certainly made for a very delightful, personalized experience in seeing Nice, Monaco and Monte Carlo and Eze. After stopping for a city overview picture opportunity of Nice, Isolina took us to the Nice flower market and allowed us time to shop and smell the roses. We also were right across from the beach, so we were able to see some of the sights there as well. The beauty of taking a private tour is that if traffic is congested on the main roads that all the tour busses take, our driver can just turn about and take a scenic back road, which is the case for our ascent up to view the artists community of Saint Paul. Here again we had time to stroll through this magnificent community and enjoy some authentic French Crepes for lunch. Picture above is of the cemetary located in this community of Saint Paul.


After lunch we headed down the mountainside and heard about Monaco and its history and about Grace Kelly and her tragic death driving down the upper corniche. Arriving into Monte Carlo was exciting as she took us straight to the Casino area and the famous Cafe De Paris, Le Louis XV restaurant and the Hotel De Paris. The casino did not open until 2PM so we were not able to step inside the lobby even for a quick look. We did go into the Hotel De Paris but thru the revolving doors was as far as we got. Unless we had a hotel reservation or a restaurant reservation, the doorman would only allow us to do a quick look around the beautiful lobby.





Our next stop was the prinicipality of Monaco where we viewed the palace and the church where Grace Kelly's funeral was held and where she is buried. Again we were allowed time to stroll these narrow little streets filled with cafe's and shops. We had time to sit down and enjoy a French cup of cappacino in one of the little cafe's. As we were leaving Monaco, the Disney bus tours were starting to arrive and queue up at the church. It was so nice to just hop into the mini-van and speed off. Off we went to the perfume factory of Fragonard. Isolina had arranged for us to take a tour and see how perfume is made. Of course the tour ended in their gift shop which was a pleasant smelling place to be.

Next and last stop on our personal tour was the little village of Eze, another mountain top artist community. We didn't have a lot of time to spend here but we enjoyed the visit just the same.


When Isolina dropped us off back at the pier in Villefranche, Gary and I walked around the shops and restaurants in the area just to get a flavor of Villefranche. We tendered back to the Disney Magic and enjoyed a relaxing evening on board. Bell tower in Villefranche, pictured below.



Will try and get the rest of our shore trips posted before the end of the cruise. The shore days are so long and the activities on board so late, that it is hard to find time to update the blog.

Later,
Sandy