Day 2 - Villefranche, France part 1

We woke up Tuesday morning and looked out of our window, and we saw land! There was the coast of France. We watched from our window for a little while, then we decided to go up on the deck and look around from up there. After we ate breakfast, we headed for our assigned meeting place to go on our first excursion, "Nice & Monaco on Your Own".



We were tendered into the Villefranche port. From there we got on a bus which took us over to Nice. We did have a guide, Stephanie, who told us facts about the area. When we got off the bus in Nice, she told us what time to meet her back at the bus, and about the little market that was open until 1pm. There were flowers upon flowers and plants at one end. The flowers gave way to gifts, souvenirs and finally food. The market was about four blocks long. Bill and I walked up and down twice. We stopped and bought postcards, and then decided we were hungry. Should we buy something to eat from the market, or try a cafe?

We decided to try something from the market. We saw these things, and thought they looked great! We bought one avec jambon et frommage (with ham & cheese). My french wasn't too great, but I managed to place our order. This thing was tasty. (We never found out what it is exactly. Think pizza dough, with holes likes a pretzel, but not twisted like a pretzel. It tasted more like a french bread pizza, with the ham and cheese sprinkled and baked on top!) Plus it was huge! Bill bought a bag of fresh picked olives which even I enjoyed! Olives in Europe do NOT compare to olives here.

We walked around Nice. We walked over to a square with a fountain. I ordered two coca colas. We walked through a park where there was a carousel. We walked along les Avenues D'Americannes (the American Avenue) which is along the Sea. It was sunny and blue over the water. Then we walked back over through some shops and it was time to go!



The bus took us over to Monaco which was only about a 45 minute drive from Nice. (Villefranche lies between the two) Here is a picture from the bus looking out from the middle road. There are three roads that run from Nice to Monaco. We took the low road to Nice, and the middle road to and from Monaco. We did not take the high road.