We were meant to sail into Monte Carlo but due to the Monaco Grand Prix, a huge number of cruise ships, our cruise decided that Villefranche-sur-Mer. Or the poor man’s Monte Carlo. It is very beautiful and there is definitely a lot of Italian influence.

It was very beautiful sailing into Villefranche, a little hint of Cinque-Terre and Amalfi with the buildings squished into the mountains surrounding the city, but not quite as stunning.

The water was crystal clear and an amazing blue which is where the region gets Cote d’Azur name from.

Today I made our first excursion mistake, injuries aside, and I had us booked on the panoramic tour. What this translates to is driving around the towns, with a very knowledgeable guide telling you everything, you can stop and take photos (sometimes), and that is it.

You don’t really get off the bus, you do not explore, you don’t really do anything. Luckily it did not last long and we were able to go exploring in the afternoon.

There was a slight upside, you knew where stuff was.

There was an option to head to Monaco and see the Grand Prix, you have to pay of course, but Jason was not that keen. Aren’t I a good woman to offer.

So, back to the boat for a burger for lunch! A quick regroup, repack the backpack and off we go. We had decided to go for a hike around the peninsula. So we did!

We started off in the Citadelle, it was beautiful. But, it really is an impressive fortress as it took us 20 minutes to find the entrance! Damn!

12kms of little streets, wonderful tracks, hot temperatures and stunning views. We walked from the Citadel in Villefranche-sur-Mer to the lighthouse, and then around to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat port. It was a stunning little place and clearly there was a lot of money docked in the marine. Had a beer and wine to recuperate and then walked back to the citadel.

I have to explain that the route we took when we were walking was constantly around the Mediterranean, beautiful blue water, cooling, refreshing, inviting. I managed to go the whole walk without jumping in. Until the last 1 km. Then I had to go in, fully clothed, and it was awesome.

I am sure you can all imagine the impressed look on Jason’s face, yeah, but I did it anyway and I am sure that it helped heal all my scratches and cuts as they looked way better the next day.

After my quick dip it was time to head back to the ship a little bit damp. Absolutely shattered, what a busy day.

We were using tenders to get between the port and the ship all day, and it went really well. Far better than our experience in Malta.

We chilled in our room for a while, ordered a cheese platter, had some drinks. I didn’t realise you could even do that until someone mentioned the room service. Wish I had figured out the cheese platter a week ago 😀

That night we had no specialty bookings and we missed an invite from some fellow Kiwis to join them for dinner. So we decided to eat at the Terrace Restaurant as they were having a French themed menu. There was not too much French theme, mainly in the entrees and desserts, but the desserts were well worth it!!!!

Jason has a nasty cold at the moment so no extra energy to go dancing or watch a show, like that was going to happen anyway, ha, ha.

So off to bed to prepare for Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. I am so freaking excited for this excursion which is centred around food and wine.