In Villefranche we needed to take a tender to the port. We took another TBL (Tours By Locals) tour to see the surrounding area. In Villefranche, Michel and Yvonne were our guides.
In Villefranche our guides took us first to Eze which is one of our favorite medieval towns. It is built on a small hill right next to the sea. The one cobblestone street in the town leads up to a garden that has some great views of the area. We arrived nice and early in the morning before there were too many people and were able to collect some of the history of the town while taking some great pictures. As we started back down the cobblestone road, the large cruise ship excursions started to come up. Seeing these very large groups of people with only one guide, reinforced our feeling of why we like TBL and the personalized tours you get. At the bottom of Eze, several people took a perfume factory tour. There are many places in southern France where you can tour Fragonard or some of the other perfume manufacturers’ factories. We then drove off to Monaco where we drove along the famous speed track that the Grand Prix holds their big race every year. The race had just completed a few weeks before and you could still see fresh tire marks on many of the roads. We were dropped off by the Monaco Casino so that you could either go inside and try your luck, or just walk around and take some pictures. In front of the casino you will always see the extremely expensive cars of some of the casino patrons. Before leaving Monaco, we drove by the palace where the Prince lives. The flag was flying telling us that the prince was in residence at the time. We drove by the St Nicholas Cathedral where Princess Grace was married so many years ago and is now buried there. We were even shown the road where her car veered off over the cliff that, it is believed, her 17-year old daughter was driving at the time. From Monaco we traveled to Nice but stopped a couple of times for some photo opportunities. The French Riviera is such a nice place to take scenic photos. In Nice our guides dropped us off at the bus station where we took some time to wander around the city. We looked at the open market, walked over to the beach area and then just spent time in the old city (some just eating some lunch and others just wandering around the shops). We then walked back to the bus station and took a local bus back to our port which was only 15 minutes away. Back at the port we walked around Villefranche taking a few more pictures and visiting some of the many shops in the area.
This cruise gave us a good sampling of France and now we head off to Italy!
Sharon & Greg
In Villefranche our guides took us first to Eze which is one of our favorite medieval towns. It is built on a small hill right next to the sea. The one cobblestone street in the town leads up to a garden that has some great views of the area. We arrived nice and early in the morning before there were too many people and were able to collect some of the history of the town while taking some great pictures. As we started back down the cobblestone road, the large cruise ship excursions started to come up. Seeing these very large groups of people with only one guide, reinforced our feeling of why we like TBL and the personalized tours you get. At the bottom of Eze, several people took a perfume factory tour. There are many places in southern France where you can tour Fragonard or some of the other perfume manufacturers’ factories. We then drove off to Monaco where we drove along the famous speed track that the Grand Prix holds their big race every year. The race had just completed a few weeks before and you could still see fresh tire marks on many of the roads. We were dropped off by the Monaco Casino so that you could either go inside and try your luck, or just walk around and take some pictures. In front of the casino you will always see the extremely expensive cars of some of the casino patrons. Before leaving Monaco, we drove by the palace where the Prince lives. The flag was flying telling us that the prince was in residence at the time. We drove by the St Nicholas Cathedral where Princess Grace was married so many years ago and is now buried there. We were even shown the road where her car veered off over the cliff that, it is believed, her 17-year old daughter was driving at the time. From Monaco we traveled to Nice but stopped a couple of times for some photo opportunities. The French Riviera is such a nice place to take scenic photos. In Nice our guides dropped us off at the bus station where we took some time to wander around the city. We looked at the open market, walked over to the beach area and then just spent time in the old city (some just eating some lunch and others just wandering around the shops). We then walked back to the bus station and took a local bus back to our port which was only 15 minutes away. Back at the port we walked around Villefranche taking a few more pictures and visiting some of the many shops in the area.
This cruise gave us a good sampling of France and now we head off to Italy!
Sharon & Greg
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