Playing with the rich and famous

I have to say that the train system in Europe is fantastic. You can get from one town or village to another with very little effort and very little cost. Our hotel is about 100 metres from the train station so it's pretty handy. We're becoming quite adept at figuring out which side to be on and reading the notice boards. Sometimes it's clear, sometimes it's not so you just go for it and hope for the best. We even had some French people asking us for directions on the train to Monaco. We told them where they needed to go - hopefully it all worked out for them. Talk about the blind leading the blind.

A street in Villefranche-sur-Mer heading down to the beach

The seaside of Villefranche-sur-Mer

A view from the museum

Yesterday we hopped on the train to Villefranche-sur-Mer, a lovely little seaside town. People we know had recommended it to us and we also heard it from a few people we've met over here. We lucked out because there were no cruise ships docked when we were there so it wasn't too busy. The art museums are located in an old fort with lots of sculptures. The gardens are beautiful as well. A very quaint village. We could see ourselves staying there the next time we come to the French Riviera.

After picnicking on the beach, we took the train back to Nice. There is a new tram that takes you down the hill to the beach. It costs 1 euro each. There were security guards checking people's tickets and issuing fines to them, just like at home. It seemed so odd to have this modern train in the middle of the old town.

The tram in Nice

Like most towns we've seen so far in France, there is a new part and an old part. The new part looks just like any other city, lots of stores and high rises. They even have a Sephora Wendy! We decided to explore the old town of Nice as that's where all of the history and beauty is. Lots of hustle and bustle with people everywhere. I can't imagine what it would be like over here in full-blown summer months. We picked a perfect time to come - 24 C weather and way less people. We went into a number of really beautiful Baroque churches. The architecture and art  is just amazing. We had some divine gelatto from Fennochio's, a famous Nice gelatto place with 99 flavours. Lots of pizza places everywhere we've been so far but we've resisted because we're saving ourselves for Italy!

A street in old town Nice

We had great plans to go to some hill-top villages (Eze, St-Paul de Vence and Grasse) today, since it's our last day here, but we elected instead to hit the beach! It's not every day that we get to swim in the Mediterranean. We plan to spend some more time in France next time so we'll catch those villages then. I had to do a quick alteration to turn my tankini into a bikini. Everyone wears a bikini over here, even the old grannies. We cannot get over how tanned people are. They are so tanned that they look like burnished leather. I wonder what the melanoma rate is like here? This afternoon we took a walk over to Cap D'Antibes, where the rich and famous live. It was a great walk (except for the time we almost got run over by the car coming around the corner). On one side of the cape, they have built a beautiful rough-cut seaside walk through the volcanic rock. It's quite remarkable how they have cut stairs through the stones. All along are luxurious villas with big huge gates and stone fences so you can't see in and lush, greenery that you can see from above the fence line. It was quite a contrast to the walkway. The villas had locked gates leading on to the walkway, which I'm sure they only access when no peons like us are on it.  If only I was a billionaire ....... 

Chermin pie-tonnier de Tire-Poil footpath

We're off to have crepes tonight. We've had a number of Provencal dishes so far but no crepes. We love, love, love the croissants and baguettes that we pick up fresh every morning at the patissiere around the corner. Ira's pretty good at the French/gesture trick - works well. Cream puffs, croissants, baguettes, oh my!  Thank goodness we're doing lots of walking or we would be 30 pounds heavier by now. Ah, the food ..... tres bien, mais oui!