Saturday, August 25, 2012

Cruisin' France (Part 2)

After Italy, came France.  The southern part of France to be specific - along the famed Cote d'Azur.  If I was forced to choose a favourite part of the trip, I would say this day topped the list.  (Over Italy?!  It surprised me too!)  The truth is, when I saw the list of ports, I was most excited for the Italian stops - I had so many expectations on what we would get to see.  Some of the most famous places in the world!  In my mind, Cannes and Marseille were bonus cities, and I really didn't know what to expect.  But I fell in love with those coastal cities and would love to visit again.

First we stopped in Cannes, and from there we boarded a train along the coast.  We had planned to visit Nice, then return to Cannes.  But when we found out that Monaco/Monte Carlo were only an extra half hour away we thought, "why not!".  So yes, we packed 3 cities into 1 day.  And it was absolutely stunning, as you can see below.



Monaco/Monte Carlo:  Gorgeous buildings built into the cliffs, overlooking the bright blue sea.  Super clean, and full of VERY wealthy people vacationing.




We passed a hotel lined with Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Bentley (Mercedes were for the common folk).









This is probably where the celebrities were hiding - the casino.







Nice & Cannes after the jump!




Nice was also beautiful - definitely a bigger city, but still very clean and easy to navigate.




Mostly known for the long, rocky beach.




Had to stop at the bakery for some macarons!  And a huge piece of meringue.




FYI - the pubic toilets cost $0.50 per use and are located right on the sidewalk.



And back to Cannes!  The beach was packed with tourists from the ship.  We were quite exhausted by this point, and wishing we could jump in the water, but we settled for a French slurpee and some people watching.







This is the theatre where the annual Cannes Film Festival takes place.  Complete with a walk of fame - that's my hand inside Sylvester Stallone's print.









I'll wrap it up with Part 3 next week!  Marseilles and Barcelona.

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