A Day In the Sun and Nice...

Villefranche, France

October 24, 2007
N43°41.989
E007°18.508

Villefranche is a comfortable little town, situated in a small cove, with trendy restaurants overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It’s situated between Monaco and Nice, and easy to make a day trip to places as far away as St. Raphael or Cannes; making it a perfect stop for cruise ships on their way from Barcelona to Trieste. There’s a pebble beach that runs east to west, receives sun all day long and is a perfect place to relax and go for a swim.

Yesterday, we took advantage of the warm fall sun and relaxed with the locals at the beach. The weather was perfect, the water a little cool, but refreshing, and we were both determined to finish our books. I was trying to get some last minute sun in an effort to hide my tan lines for the bridesmaids’ dress I have to wear in a few weeks. I even tried to blend in with the locals and dropped my bikini top, allowing the “big-bigs” to get a little sun. We sat on the beach for over four hours, paying little attention to our watches, only realizing the time when we got hungry around 4:00 PM.

When we woke up this morning, we knew we made the right decision yesterday by taking advantage of the beach. The weather turned for the worst and the winds picked up over night. Our plan for the day stayed the same though; we boarded the train for Nice and explored the Promenade des Anglais, Old Town and a highly recommended ice cream shop.

The high winds and light rain didn’t break our spirit. We truly enjoyed the Mediterranean town for the day. The Old Town had some great boutiques, spice shops, and, of course, the promenade with perfectly placed benches overlooking the aquamarine sea. We could only imagine what the views (and crowds) would be like on a warm summer day.

The train back to Villefranche was crowded with tourists from the cruise ship that arrived in the morning. The train pulled into the station and the people from the cruise line scrambled back to their ship. We watched as they all gathered around the pier waiting for the ferry and felt fortunate to have three days to enjoy the quaint town of Villefranche, and not eight hours.

Tomorrow is a big travel day… we head to Barcelona which will be home for the next 13 days—the longest time in one place since April.