Day 8 - Ville Franche / St Paul de Vence, FR

Our 2nd port day did not disappoint - I basically decided that heaven must be like waking up on the coast of France.  This day was different bc it was not a true port, but rather a stop in the middle of the sea and a boat tendered us to shore.  Our excursion wasn't until the afternoon so we took the boat to Villefranche to walk around this colorful little seaside town.

After our morning stroll through town and through the gardens of the Citadel, we went back to the ship for lunch and to meet our tour group for our excursion to St Paul de Vence.  It required a drive through Nice - on the way there we drove through the town...but I will admit that the tour guide was hard to understand, the drive was long, and that motorcoach was basically like rocking a baby to sleep (it got to the point where I think we all looked forward to our daily naps on the tour bus), so I didn't see much of Nice on the way there...

But then we arrived at our destination...the medieval village of St Paul de Vence.

A hilltop fortress filled with windy cobblestone shop lined streets.  It is so hard to fight the urge to say "I can't believe how old this is".

There were so many mystery doors and each one so unique (and old)...

Religious figures tucked in every nook and cranny...

There were lots of great shops...seamstresses making Provencal tableware, artists with their own shops selling their paintings (we found a water color here), fresh herbs and oils.  I wish I could have brought back more.  After meandering through the village, we sat for our daily sampling of the local wine - another bottle of Rose on this day.  

And we had the added treat of watching some rather serious bocce ball matches - some of the older men had some rather heated "discussions" after some of the tosses.  Very entertaining.

Parting shot of the village...

And so we began our ride back - this time the ride through Nice was coastal.

I can't imagine not being happy here...especially if I was here on one of those boats.

Ah, but wait...we are here on a big boat...and it was waiting for us...

And we made it back in time to enjoy that balcony for a bit before dinner.

Day 7 - Cassis and Toulon, FR

Our first port was Toulon, France...the best part about being on the cruise was waking up every morning and pulling back the curtains to find a new beautiful port town and this was a wonderful way to kick it all off.  We had an early excursion to visit Cassis - a small seaside town - so we got up and out early to meet our group and take our first fun ride on the motor coach.  It was a gorgeous ride along the coast of the Med, this was our first bus stop where we got to get out for a view down in to the town on the way...

After the chilly wet days in Paris, it was so nice to feel the sunshine!

Once we made it down to sea level, we hopped on this funny little train that took us in to the town.

Cassis was Perfection...a line of cafes with the most perfect view, and so many cute boutiques down every alleyway.  I could have spent days...

We had some time to explore, so at the tour guide's advice, we bought tickets for a boat ride in along the coast...

This was one of the cutest things I have seen...children learning to sail...

I am pretty sure the guide said this was a famous beach from a James Bond movie...

After taking in as much of the beauty as we could (and frantically shopping for soap made in Marseilles), we made our way back towards the ship...and with the time we had to spare before the shipped departed, we took yet another boat over to Toulon.

We took a stroll around Toulon, which was not quite as picturesque as Cassis, but still interesting to explore.   Since it was the day before our anniversary, it was only fitting that we found a store named "Key West" (oddly it was filled with ball caps and street shoes - not sure what impression they have of Key West).

Then we found a cafe on the water to relax and enjoy a nice chilled bottle of Rose (pretty sure Michael's phone was left sitting right next to that pretty little bottle - never to be seen again).

And we made our way back to Le Port.  Our first day of the cruise was pretty perfect (minus the missing cell phone).

Day 6 - Cruise Day

We woke up on our first morning in Barcelona, ready to spend a few hours exploring and seeing the city before boarding our ship, but we had a minor "missing wallet" mystery to solve first.  All we had heard and read about Barcelona was "great city, but my purse/wallet was stolen" - and it didn't help that Kristen, whom we were just with in Paris, had been robbed twice when she had visited years before.  So when Michael's wallet was MIA we just assumed someone had taken it from our room and Barcelona was just an evil place.  But, after some mild panicking, checking our cards online and time spent searching, it unearthed itself in a drawer.  I guess we had to have a few travel snafus...at least they all had happy endings. :/

After that, we didn't have quite as much time as we thought we might so we strolled the area around our hotel, grabbed some breakfast (at what was probably the equivalent of a Spanish Dunkin Donuts but all of their restaurants have sidewalk seating under tents so it feels fancier!), and then just walked some more. 

Barcelona has a completely different vibe from Paris but what they do have in common is that they are both culturally and architecturally fascinating.  

We got a much bigger and better taste of Barcelona after the cruise...but that morning definitely left me excited to see more.

Since neither of us had ever been on a cruise before, we played it safe and checked in on the early side.  Which gave us time to settle in to our room (which was much bigger than I expected - I was worried I would be claustrophobic and seasick!) and make our way to the deck for a boat drink and our first real (non-airplane) view of the Mediterranean.  Gorgeous.

View from our room.  If I ever take a cruise again, a balcony will be a must.

The main thoroughfare of the ship...

On deck, Barcelona in the distance...beautiful teal water below...

This day was all about getting on to the ship so a slow picture day...just imagine boat drinks, nice dinner, followed by blackjack in the casino (that was pretty much the routine every evening!).