Early start for the trip to Nice, which we thought was a better option than the poser trip to Monte Carlo. So early breakfast and then onto the lifeboat for a transfer to the shore. The town looked pretty much as the other ports we had seen so far, must be a Mediterranean thing. There was a bit of a flap getting ashore as there was a little swell and the guy steering made a bit of a hash of it, nevertheless, he got us over in one piece.
The coach ride to Nice was interesting enough to keep me awake despite the early start although once again we never really got much time to look round the town before we had to return to Villefrance. However, it did look like a place that would be worth a more leisurely visit sometime in the future, even if it is in France. There was a castle there that had been destroyed by the then current Napoleon in 1870. There was also a really swank looking Russian Orthodox church that the White Russian exiles had built with their remaining wealth. The guide told us that the French has recently spent hundreds of thousands restoring the gold leaf round the domes and then Putin claimed it was Russian as it was built with Russian money and now it is classed with the same status as an embassy and the French aren’t allowed to see what their money restored. Tee-heee 🙂
The day had been pretty overcast and we had been warned of some rain but, it was still warm. Sure enough as we made our way back to the tender back to the ship it started to rain slowly. Back on board, by the time we had scoffed some tea and biscuits the sun was out in force again. The guide had told us that Nice generally only has a little rain and that the temperature is in the thirties most summers. There were more statues of Garibaldi round Nice which is understandably as he was born there, but he hated the place after the French absorbed it as payment for support against Austria.
Monaco and Monte Carlo were both very close to Villefrance and we found out it would probably have been possible to visit both on a local bus if you had enough French to get by with the locals. We had just enough time for a quick look round the town before the trip back to the boat and we found it was pleasant enough and had lots of narrow medieval style streets with lots of small expensive poser shops although wandering a little of the main street we managed to find a yokel store and get Annette some emergency €2 wine.
Back on board more good food and entertainment which for the rest of the narrative this part will be excluded as it will just become repetitive, as will the part where Annette stands for half an hour of so watching the ship leave the port. I got round this problem by writing up my notes or reading. I managed to complete two reading schemes while she stood filming. If ever you are stricken with terminal insomnia, ask to watch one of the videos. So only the noticeable exceptions will be mentioned. Once again, I will say the standard of entertainment was generally very good and I was rarely bored by it.