Nice, France

Our next port of call after Gibraltar was Villefranche-sur-Mer (Villefranche on the sea) along the French Riviera, which is very close to the famous city of Nice, and only 10 km south west of Monaco.

Interestingly, the bay here is one of the deepest natural harbours of any port in the Mediterranean Sea. About one nautical mile to the south, the sea floor drops to form a 500 m deep abyss known as the Canyon of Villefranche. However, ships cannot dock at Villefranche (as it is usually called) and instead have to anchor offshore. Passengers have to catch tender boats to the port.

Usually when we go on a shore excursion we have to report with our ticket to the ship’s theatre, where we are issued with a coloured numbered sticker we have to wear during the excursion, then sit until our excursion is called. We are then led off the ship and through the port facilities to our coach and tour guide. While it sometimes feels like we are being herded like cattle, this makes for very smooth and efficient organisation of the group. That way you have the maximum possible time for your tour. 

The stickers enable our tour guides to recognise the members of their group when other tourists and other tourist groups, sometimes from other ships in port at the same time, are milling around the same area. As well, our tour guides keep counting us every time we get back on our coach from walking to see something. They cannot leave that spot until any missing person is found, unless given permission by the ship in the case where every effort has been made and the person still cannot be found. Clearly, passengers also have a responsibility not to wander off, to keep their group in view, and to arrive punctually at the agreed time and place if they have been given some free time.

Anyhow, on this occasion, my tour did not start until just after midday and we had to catch the tender boats ourselves and meet at a point on shore for the tour. I am very obsessive when it comes to being on time, and always prefer to arrive early. My trip to shore took much less time than the crew thought it might, so I found myself on shore almost an hour ahead of time. By this time I was quite hungry, having had a very early quite light breakfast (as usual), and knew there was no meal included in the tour. So instead of visiting the market stalls along the shore line, I took a few photos and then had a light lunch at an outdoor cafe overlooking where we had to meet. It was very French, so I enjoyed that little indulgence.  

My tour was meant to be to Nice and the picturesque, historic hilltop village of St Paul-de-Vence near Nice, in the Provence region. It turned out that we simply raced through Nice on our coach and were only able to glimpse its famous beach promenade, which was very disappointing, though in fairness to the tour company running our tour, there did not seem to be any places for coach to park or to drop us off. Perhaps that kind of tourism is deliberately discouraged in Nice. If you are rich and famous and paying a fortune to live or stay there, you don't want busloads of tourists gawking at you whilst you lie on the beach!  

However, it was very hard to get any photo at the speed at which we were travelling. But I have to tell you the colour of the sea was the most beautiful blue. The buildings along the shore were mostly cream-coloured multi-storey hotels and apartments, as well as some mansions, and generally very elegant. There were some luxurious mansions perched on the hills behind the city too, which apparently belonged to very famous people.  

What also struck me was the vast size of the Nice airport, which was further along the same road as the beach promenade. Apparently it is the second biggest airport in France, and services Monaco as well. There were at least 30 very expensive-looking private jets in one area of the airport, as well as many international jets on the tarmac. 

After that we headed into the countryside to the hilltop village. I will tell you about that in the next post. 

A view of the coastline near Villefranche from the ship.

Another view of the coastline. I think this is Villefranche.

Yet another view of the bay at Villefranche from the ship.

The port at Villefranche. The water was crystal clear and a lovely turquoise blue.

This is not very clear - I used the wrong setting on the camera and only realised too late - but this was the view looking up the hill from the port area of Villefranche. It looked like there was an old Roman bridge up there.

The little French cafe where I had a couple of small pancakes and maple syrup, and sparkling mineral water.

Part of the huge wall and fortress used to protect Villefranche from invaders, including pirates.

Another part of Villefranche.

The road to Nice. Somewhere along the road is a memorial to Princess Grace of Monaco, who died in a car accident along here somewhere. 

Closer to Nice.

A statue and building in Nice.

The most unusual library in Nice. It represents the thinking man-woman.

One glimpse of the beach promenade. Unfortunately it was a divided road and the French drive on the right side of the road, which brought us further from the beach. A lot of the palm trees were propped up by wooden beams, as you can see. 

I used my zoom lens to try to show you the two colours of the water. The beach was below the roadway, out of sight.  

My last glimpse of the beach. At least my seat was on the beach side of the bus, though it meant I could not take photos of the buildings along that road.