June 29 Arrival in Europe

 We flew to Nice, France on June 24/25 and for the first time in forever, it seems, all went according to plan. The flights left on time and arrived early. An auspicious start.

 We arrived two days early to allow for jet lag and expected (but unfulfilled) delays in travel. Our hotel, on the Promenade in Nice, was the Radisson Blu. It's not the optimum location, as it's several miles from the city center, but there are restaurants and the cobblestone beach right there. And it was about a 10 minute taxi ride from the airport.

While waiting for our room to be ready we walked along the beach. 

There is a dog friendly section of beach with several statues of dogs. I liked this one.

For our two mornings in Nice we ate breakfast at this little place two blocks away. For the two of us it was about 15e. The buffet at the hotel was 29e per person. We were out of place -- we were the only ones not smoking. We found a table upwind and away from the restaurant. Welcome to France.

On day 2 in Nice we took the tram into the center city. It was simple and inexpensive. We used three different bus/tram/train systems in Japan in the spring so we now feel like real travel warriors. The remoteness of the Blu is inconsequential given the ease of using the tram with a station right next to the breakfast place. 

This is the old port, the center of the town. 

Garibaldi Place (I think)

Cathedral St. Reparate

We joined the ship in Monaco and did nothing but unpack. We've walked to F1 circuit, so what else is there to do? We'll be back in Monaco in about a month.

June 28 we sailed to Marseille, which I don't think we've ever visited before. A fort guards the harbor entrance.

The breakwater and lighthouse mark the entrance to the harbor.

We're docked just across the street from ABC (Another Bloody Cathedral).

We took an excursion into the countryside to the town of Aix-en-Provence. There was a wine tasting that was fairly low key, then we explored the town. Aix is the city of "a thousand fountains" but in actual count more like 140.

Meeting place is under the balcony held up by muscular statuary.

A fountain with plant life

Fontaine de la Rotonde, a historic fountain. Just to the left of this picture is a gleaming Apple store. Not historic.

Europe is gripped in a heat wave the last week of June and beginning of July. It was sweltering walking around Aix. Fortunately we found a Monoprix grocery store and stood in the frozen food section while we waited for our bus pickup time.

The bus told us the outside temp. Inside the bus was probably 30-32. A sweaty day for sure.

 

 Sunday June 29 and another new port (one of the reasons we booked this cruise was the number of places we hadn't visited before), Sete. A cute little town, but still asleep on a Sunday morning. We got out early because the heat had not diminished.

Not much shopping was available.

City street