12 June - French Riviera: Nice

June 12, 2019

Today, we did not dock at a port. We did what is called a tender. This is where the cruise ship rests out in the middle of the harbor and the guests get transported back and forth to the port dock by smaller boats. Since we didn’t really have a lot planned for the day, we waited until the crowd leaving the ship died down. This meant that we were able to sleep in a little and have a slightly later breakfast. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! A lot of sunshine and warm temperatures.

We go to the port in Villefranche and walked down the wharf to the train station. The lady in front of us was having trouble with the ticket vending machine, so we tried to help her...but to no avail. It turns out that many places in France...this machine included...will not accept foreign credit cards without a PIN. So, we left the line, went under the tracks and purchased our tickets from a real live person! The tickets for the train cost us 3€80 each. It was quick and easy. Soon, the train came and took us 2 stops in to Nice. The station there was pretty big with 8 tracks! By this time, Sherry Ann really needed to use the restroom, but the public toilets here cost €80. Well, if you know Sherry Ann very well, you also know that she was NOT going to pay to use the restroom. But I was able to talk her into it, which was good. She felt much better. The station also had free internet, so Sherry Ann messaged AJ and also Mattina Ann. While we had Google Maps available, we also looked for the nearest post office. We had brought some things to mail to AJ, and decided that France was a great place to mail it from, being a domestic shipment. Anyway, It was right in front of the station at the other end! Sweet!

We walked the distance to the post office and mailed the package, 2-day priority, for a mere 12€50! It would have cost us over $100 to send it from home. And it’ll get there so much faster.

From there, we made our way down to the water front and the Prommenade des Anglais. On the way there, Sherry Ann remembered that it was time to apply more sunscreen. It just so happened that we stopped right in front of a brasserie (which Sherry Ann learned is not a brazier store). The front window had many tempting pastries on display, so we gave in. We each got a nut pie. This was a mix of pecans, pistachios, almonds and other nuts mixed in probably molasses and placed in a tart crust. We also got a couple of very dark chocolate bonbons. Wow. That’s all I’m going to say about that. Anyway, we got to the prommenade. This is the main road with so many stores and shops. The public beaches also line the prommenade on the sea side. At the far East end, there is a big...sign...that says #ILoveNice, so we got our pictures there then headed up to the ancient chateau. The way there was up a very long series of stone staircases that wound up the side of the mountain. Fortunately, Sherry Ann was able to find, at the expense of a 10-minute wait, an elevator. Oh, happy day! Once at the top, it was my turn to find a restroom. When we finally found it, it was also available for a fee. This time, it was only €50. Again...oh happy day.

As we strolled around the hill-top castle ruins, we came upon a man-made waterfall. It was very impressive. We took some pictures and enjoyed the sound of the sascading waters for a bit, then proceeded back to the elevator to go back down the mountain. At the bottom, we again wound our way through narrow cobbled streets, past shops toward the course. Just before we got there, we stopped in a deli and Sherry Ann got a panini, while I got a sandwich and we ate it on the go. They were both really good. The course was really a wide park in the middle of the road. Grass, trees, playgrounds, splash pads, trees, shops, etc. At the end of the course was the Fontaine de Triton. It is a big, impressive fountain where we took some more pictures. From there, we made our way back to the train station.

When we got there, Sherry Ann had a minute to get on her phone and send another message to Mattina Ann. We’re pretty sure we woke her up...it was only 08:30-ish back home, but that’s okay. I kept an eye on the time table looking for the time our train back to Villefranche would be departing, but saw nothing. Mattina Ann called mom via FB Messenger, and just then, the schedule changed and we had 3 minutes to get down to the platform before our train left. The next one would be 30 minutes later. So Sherry Ann said good bye, and we booked it to the platform. There was still a crowd of people there, so we knew that we hadn’t missed it. So, we waited...and waited...and waited some more. I looked at the timetable, and it was now delayed 25 minutes! Not so happy day. We didn’t really have to wait that long...it was more like 15 minutes. Happier day.

Upon our return to the ship, we got ready for dinner. Instead of going to the formal dining room, we tried out the casual dining buffet. It was good, but not super great. It’s good for breakfast, but I’m not quite sure how often we’ll have dinner there. Anyway, after dinner, we went back to the Solarium and soaked in the sea-water pool. Funny story...the wind had really picked up, and the waves began to swell, so the ship was rocking pretty good. As you walked down the halls, you would stagger back and forth across the hall, it was that strong. Anyway, the pool was interesting, because the water was also going back and forth across the pool. It was difficult to stay in place, but we didn’t feel so much of the motion of the boat. It was more like sitting in a little cove at the beach.

We eventually got out of the pool and dressed once more to go to the grand theater to see a musical production of popular music across space and time. It was a really good show. We ended up sitting next to the Brit couple we had dinner with the other night. They’re really nice. After the show, there was a pool party on deck 10 where they featured music by the Beatles. We went and strolled around up there for a while, singing along. But Sherry Ann got wise and steered us back to our room, knowing we had a paid excursion in the morning, and we had to get a early start the next morning. It was already past 23:00!