Hallo all!
OG - Welcome back! Hope they manage to wean you off the morphine soon. I know it can make people feel a bit woozy. I'm sure it must be more comfortable to be vertical rather than horizontal. Hope J's appointment goes smoothly.
OG, great to have you back online, and to hear that you're managing some time out of bed now. I hope you're also in less pain now, and can soon ditch the morphine. Onwards and upwards!
Also hope that J has a hassle free trip down to The Christie. Good that he's managing to get lifts to work.
Lindybird: Thanks for the heads up about Mrs T leaving. Maybe she didn't want to cope with another upgrade. :-)
OG: Wonderful to have you back and to know that you're up and about. Hope you continue to feel better and that all goes well with J's appointment and overnight stays.
Off to sort out the world....
Now I can get on with describing our trip. On the first day, we had a hearty breakfast and then went up on deck to see ourselves arriving in France.
This is what used to be called the Cote d'Azur, one of the first modern "resort" areas where people came for the sea air and change of scene which was thought to be beneficial to health.
The small town of Villefranche, near Nice.
There were quite a few expensive looking villas, perched up on the hillsides with good sea views. We decided not to take a tour on this our first day, so went ashore on a tender boat to explore on our own.
Our boat wended its way ashore through these expensive looking yachts, so we amused ourselves by deciding which one we would have.
Another view of the shore. We were lucky to have good weather.
The town as seen when we first stepped off the boat.
ps. I'm sorry if some of the pictures appear quite dark: I think I must have altered something on my camera because it seemed different, but I wasn't sure which thing I had changed!
We decided to walk along the front of the resort, and so set off to the right of the last picture. First, there are lots of small boats moored here.
Another, nearer picture of the frontage.
There were lots of interesting buildings. Some of them had flowers growing up the walls, looking very summery.
Interspersed with modern blocks of flats: I liked this palm tree heavy with its flowers.
At this point, looking back over my shoulder, I could see our ship in the back of the harbour and a beautiful wooden sailing ship moored in the bay amongst the modern yachts.
We walked the tiny promenade until we came to the small beach area. It looked very peaceful, there is little traffic allowed near the sea, most of it is above.
View from behind the beach, which looks back the way we have come.
Lindybird: Smart to get your photos up before the dreaded upgrade or who knows where they'd end up! Villefranche looks very French (surprise) and not too crowded - also a surprise given that that part of the coast must be very popular with cruise ships. Re those yachts, I'll take the turquoise one! FYI, you might be able to lighten the images if your software starts behaving itself.
We enjoyed our stroll. No decisions to make or timetables!
Its a smart little town, and everyone looked very relaxed.
We walked back again and decided to sit under an umbrella right on the front and be served our coffee on a plush sofa (of course, we paid extra for our drink because of the location, but it was a nice interlude!) This is the view from where I sat. Smart French ladies kept passing by us, they are all very well dressed.
As we walked back, in the other direction, I noticed this interesting building. It was marked as the birthplace of someone famous, a writer, but I forgot to make a note of his name.
Darn it, I thought if I didn't change this round it would come out the right way up.....
Ah, that's better!!
I found it fascinating how many different versions there were of balconies: some large, some small, some ornate.
...........now I've lost a picture of a church which I know I had, and the pc has lost it somewhere.... I'll put it in later. Bah!
Here it is. The hills behind are all taken with buildings of one kind or another, getting their views of the sea.
We walked around a tiny market, mostly full of souvenir knick knacks and jewellery, but then walked uphill for another view of the bay. We then caught a boat back to the ship just in time for a late lunch.
After a nice rest on deck in the afternoon, catching up on our sleep also from the day before, we had a pleasant evening, and at dinner were listening to other peoples descriptions of their tiring visits to Nice, farther up the coast - some of them spent hours on a coach but we were glad we hadn't bothered. This chap was waiting on our bed when we returned to our cabin.
Lindybird: Agree Villefranche a much better choice than Nice. I do love how the French and Italian coastal towns cling to the hills - and with such a variety of architectural styles and colors. Interesting also that French women (always so stylish) would still dress so in a beach town.
I think our ship moored there because it was perhaps cheaper for the cruise line and less busy than Nice or Monaco, where there may have been actual piers to moor against. We had to sit out at anchor in the bay and have little boats to bring us ashore, but it was fun to whizz along in them, and they returned every half an hour so there was no wait to return to the luxury of the ship.
The French and the Italians are ALWAYS well dressed: they don't do slovenly or even relaxed. Makes you feel as if you didn't try hard enough! I hope to find time tomorrow to come on and begin our Italian adventure, which is where we tied up next.
Lovely start to the cruise, LINDA. Do you know how that picture eventually changed to the correct orientation?
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!