But I'll retrace my steps to last night to Eze. We had the most beautiful drive along the road called Le Grand Corniche. There are 3 of these Corniches, all at different levels. (One of them was where Grace Kelly was killed.) As we drove along, Jonathan pointed out all the houses of the rich and famous, including Elton John and Bono amongst others... The drive was simply spectacular, as the weather was very kind to us.
Views along the Corniche Road
We arrived at a little village called Eze which is set on yet another mountain top for protection. It was quite a climb to get up there, but I'm reasonably fit at the moment after the walking I've done in the last few weeks.... (Are all my detractors listening here...!!!) I was a bit worried about a few of the oldies because we have multiple hip and knee replacements on the bus, and I was expecting one of them to keel over at any moment... In fact I noticed a defibrillator half way up the hill - an ominous sign indeed!
But what was more disappointing was that nothing was open. Today (Nov 11) is a big national holiday for Remembrance Day, where the French especially celebrate the end of WW1.
And because it's the end of the season, and the eve of a holiday, not much was open in the village. So we were hauled up to the top of this little mountain, and given two hours to fill in with little open. I tried the tourist thing for a while, but then I did what any self-respecting Aussie would do... look for the nearest pub!. A couple of my colleagues had beaten me to it, and had a good start. They kept up that pace all night, and some felt a little worse for wear today! You'll be pleased to know that I was very moderate - as we had a "drinks included" dinner that night in Eze, and it was lovely. The bus was quite racous on the way home around those Cornices... Luckily our driver didn't have any! It was very windey.... (curves)
So today we set off again, and again we were blessed with outstanding weather. We had a short ferry trip included today, so I was very pleased that it was all nice and calm.
View from my hotel balcony in Nice
We started with a drive to Cannes, the home of the film festival, and saw where it all happens. The building itself was quite disappointing. We only had a drive through, no stops, so my photos are not flash. It was my turn to be at the front of the bus today, and it was a good day to be there. The coast at Cannes is lovely, but we found out today that they import the sand for the beach. Every week they have to get new sand and compact it down, then the sea just washes it away - as the sea does!
Cannes foreshore
Our next port of call was St Maxime which is also along this coast, and we had a quick break for a toilet stop and coffee.From there we took the ferry across to St Tropez, where the beautiful people hang out! Didn't see any today .... must've been
because it was a Public Holiday.
On the boat in St Maxime harbour
We had 2 hours to explore the village of St Tropez and it was quite pretty. Again, as I've seen on other days, it was a mixture of the old town and the newer areas. We didn't really go to any rich and famous places, but it was a pretty town with a lovely harbour. And of course, there were all the yachts of the rich and famous.... Couldn't even begin to calculate what they'd all be worth....
Jonathan, our tour guide
Pics from St TropezAfter lunch and our wander there, we got back on the coach and moved on to Marseille. This town was quite a surprise to me.... First of all I had forgotten, or didn't realise it was a port town. And secondly because it is so splendid! It is the
second biggest town in France after Paris (3rd is Lyon and 4th is Nice). It's massive and we were able to see the breadth of it from the vantage point of the Cathedral - Notre Dame de la Gard (Our Lady of the Guard - who watches over the city)
Notre Dame de la GardIt is a spectacular site, both inside and outside the Cathedral. It is perched way above the city on the highest hill - as Churches tend to do! The inside is most beautiful.... there are walls where people buy space or send in paintings of artefacts eg boats or planes, because they believe Our Lady has helped them in some way, and that is their way of saying thanks.
Roof of Cathedral - everything is mosaicBut once you go outside, the view is simply incredible. Once again teh pictures cannot do justice to the view that is literally breath-taking... That is, if the 250 steps required to get up there, don't take it away first! Unfortunately we only had a short time there. I Wish we could've swapped the time slot with last night, when there was too much time!)
We had a guided tour around Marseille and it was full of history, as is all of France.... It was lovely to see, but again time was short. So much to see - so little time...
Before I conclude and go and get my dinner (Roast Pork tonight - hope it's s true roast dinner!) - I have to tell you another toilet story! This time I took a picture...! I again ventured into one of those self-destructing toilets, but what a
surprise.. No such thing as even a toilet bowl, just a semi-circular stainless steel ring around a hole in the stainless steel floor beneath. As soon as you go in, the water starts running underneath you and in the tap area.... maybe it's a plot designed to touch your psyche and make you hurry up.... I couldn't believe it...
Quite a few of the others in the tour group went in too, and we all couldn't believe it...! And it was in St Tropez - the home to the rich and famous! You'd think they
could at least offer a decent toilet. But maybe they don't go the toilet, or maybe they just go on their very rich yachts..... Quite ironic that such an edifice was found in such a place.
On that note i'm off for dinner.... wish me luck with my roast pork!
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