Mediterranean Madness Part IV, France

This is the part of the review where we are actually on the ship and visiting ports.  The story really takes off from here!  Oh, and I call the first port call as day one.  Some would call it day two, since we did start sailing from Barcelona about 12 hours earlier.  Tomato, tomato(e)..
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St. Paul, France

Day One; Port One

French Riviera 

 A side note before I describe this port call.  You have several options when it comes to touring the Med (don't I sound sophisticated?  The Med!  Ha!).  Well, you can do anything from wing it once on shore, to organizing an elaborate, fully catered tour.  Some tours include wine and a meal.  It depends on what you want, and HOW MUCH you want to pay.  Ship sponsored excursions are sometimes the most economical and safest bet, as the ship will usually guarantee that you return on board if something goes wrong, but, you spend the day with 30 or 40 other people on a bus.  A private tour will provide you a tour guide, comfortable accommodations, and privacy, which is a big deal to us.  Plus, a private tour allows you to change your itinerary if you decide to do so.  If you wing it, then remember that God give grace to the fool and the drunkard, so good luck!  There is another option that is worth discussing.  You can book a tour package that includes multiple port calls.  Again, this is very similar to a ship sponsored tour in the quality of the tour and accommodations, but IT IS NOT a ship sponsored tour.  If something goes wrong and you are delayed the ship doesn't have to wait for you to return.  You could be left behind.  This rarely happens.  Really.  Some of our group booked all of their tours through this type of deal. Sarah's parents and sister/brother-in-law booked their Cannes tour through this company, and it worked out okay.  (I'll tell you what went wrong a few paragraphs further down.) Sarah and I had decided early on that we wanted to reserve some of the tours for just ourselves and our children.  Cannes was one of those tours.

 

Our first port call was Cannes, France (pronounced can, like a Coke can), and we initially booked a deal for a private tour with one tour company, but later we discovered another private tour group called, Riviera Premium Tours, which was 200 Euros less, and basically offered the same amenities.  Our guide met us at the gate as we disembarked.  As you exit the port, you will see the guides standing near the gate holding a sign with your name on it.  You won't have to search for them.  Our guide's name was Ingrid, and she was a pretty, slender blonde with a charming smile, and had a decidedly classy, European look to her.  And she occasionally commented, "Ooo la la" whenever something funny was said, or when someone cut her off in traffic.  We had a great day with her, as she asked us lots of questions at first, trying to determine if we liked big city shopping or small town explorations.  We told her that we wanted to visit Nice (pronounced niece), and explore Eze (pronounced ezz as in Esmerelda), and if we had time we could drive through Monaco and see Monte Carlo.  She nodded that she understood what we wanted from her and then we were off.  We had a charming drive along the French Riviera coastline, and stopped in Nice for an hour, where Ingrid told us to walk down to the beach, then tour the flower market, and explore the blocks surrounding an old cathedral.  We were to meet her at a corner near the flower market.

 

The kids loves the rocky beach!  Nice is in the background of the first shot.

We walked two blocks to the beach and were shocked to see that the beach was rocky.  Not rocky like the Oregon coastline, but small river rocks and pebbles.  And people were laying on them and sun tanning.  To me, it looked as comfortable as a bed of nails, but hey, it was the French Riviera, and life is good.  We each touched the water and sunbathed for a moment, so we can now cross that off of our bucket list.  There were a few women who were sunbathing without tops, but it was not a hot day, so the area was not terribly overrun with sunbathers.  We had our kids with us, so I was a little concerned.  Well, since we didn't point it out, neither of them noticed the semi-nude sunbathers, all of whom were face down, so we escaped without being traumatized by the audacity of semi-nude sunbathers!  At this point, let me tell you that if you intend on swimming in the Med at all, this would be a good opportunity, as the other tours don't really take you to the shore line.  You can have the kids wear a bathing suit under their clothes and you can jump in the water and play.  But, an hour goes really fast, so you must decide if you want to swim or walk around.  Barcelona does have an actual sandy beach, and the water is warm enough to swim.  THAT would be your most strategic time to swim.  But this tour is about culture.  If you want swimming, go to the Caribbean, right?

From there we walked two blocks back to the flower market and spent another 30 minutes or so walking and exploring a very simple, but beautiful market.  We found several artists selling original works in the market, and bought a few pieces for incredibly affordable prices.  We bought two water colors at a price of two for 15.00 Euros.  There was a man selling very nice original oils for 30 Euros each, and they were on loose canvas, so they could be rolled and packed away easily.  Seth was on a mission to find snow globes at every port, and he found his first one quickly; things were off to a good start for us.  Caitie and I stopped and bought a slice of pizza that had anchovies and tomato slices, which was surprisingly tasty.  Our hour evaporated must faster than we anticipated.  We didn't make it any farther than the end of the flower market before our time ran out, so we returned to our meeting place, and Ingrid drove us along the coastline to the medieval village of Eze.

 

Nice has beautiful streets and is charming.  We would love to visit this city again!

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Before I take you into Eze, let me pay homage to a particularly enjoyable and informative review of Serenade and the Med.  In preparation for our trip, we read the review posted by a woman named Sheri who calls herself the Middle Aged Drama Queen, and her review is awesome.  You should check it out.  Well, she refers to the other tourists as barbarians.  It's funny, and she includes herself and her family as part of the barbarian hoard that invades Europe.  It's all in fun.  And now, back to our story...

Eze quickly turned out to be one of our favorite stops.  There were few barbarians there, and we had the run of the town without feeling crowded.  Eze is loaded with simple shops that sell art and jewelry, and restaurants which sell anything from crepes, to sandwiches, to actual dinners.  We meandered along the narrow winding streets until we found ourselves at the very top, where the castle used to stand before one of the many King Louis destroyed it.  It is now a garden and we paid 6 Euros each to walk through the garden.  The kids were free!  It turned out to be more of a cactus garden, which surprised me, but the views of the Mediterranean were inspiring, and worth the money spent to tour the gardens.  Several historical markers with explanations in both English and French dotted the pathways, and we enjoyed a casual stroll to the top of the ruins. 

These pathways are the streets!  There are no cars.  You will only find winding streets and stairs leading from one level to the other.

At the top you will discover the ruins of an old castle.  This is all that remains.

From there we had 50 minutes left so we decided to find a place to eat.  First we went and sat at a restaurant just outside of the garden entrance, but by then, several score of barbarians arrived and everyone decided to sit at the same restaurant at the same time.  So, we found a sandwich shop that sold very tasty chicken and ham sandwiches on baguettes for about 6 Euros each, and a place where we could by some crepes for a great price.  We bought 3 for 6 Euros.  Sarah went with the kids to the crepe place, and I went to the sandwich shop and picked up a couple of items, along with some wine and cokes (standard American products) and we sat on the terrace at the sandwich shop and enjoyed our last few minutes.  And what a tranquil place for us to sit!  The wine was so good, and our lunch was very relaxing.

When we returned to our vehicle, Ingrid asked if we enjoyed our time at Eze, and when we assured her we loved it, she announced that she knew exactly where to take us next.  She suggested that we skip Monaco and go St. Paul.  It is my firm conviction that you trust your tour guide.  If the guide makes a suggestion, then go with it.  Don't over think their suggestions; unless it's something you had your heart set on.  Ingrid drove us to a hill that overlooked Monaco and we looked down upon it from a half mile or so away.  Monaco is the second smallest independent state in the world, the second richest in the world, and it's only commissioned naval vessel is an oil tanker.  And from where we stood, we could plainly see a cruise ship in port, and we knew there would be thousands upon thousands (not making those numbers up) of barbarians crowding the streets.  We discovered later that we would not be allowed to visit the Monte Carlo Casino without certain attire (the kids couldn't visit it at all), and Grace Kelly's gravesite was closed to tourists.  So we didn't feel cheated not to formally visit Monaco.

That hill side offered a double bonus, not only could we see Monaco, but we could also see Italy clearly from that vantage.  Three countries from one place.  Not too shabby!  

 

That blue peninsula on the left is Italy.

Then Ingrid told Seth to stand in the middle of the star diagram on the patio in front of us, and she instructed him to start talking.  He spoke and then he immediately recoiled in surprise.  Seeing his reaction, I tried it next.  That particular place on the patio offered a rather strange echo that could only be heard by the person standing in the middle of the star.  Each of us tried it and all agreed that was a very fun surprise.

And now on to St. Paul (below).

This is how you enter the village...

Having seen Monaco from the hill side, we then journeyed further inland and visited the town of St. Paul, another medieval village.  This town was remarkable in every aspect.  It was similar to Eze, but it was much larger.  The entire town was within walls built by the King during the 13th or 14th century.  He ordered 700 homes to be demolished and used those stones to build the walls and fortifications.  They stand to this day.  St. Paul is a charming and comfortable village to visit, and its shops are just as charming.  If you're into gelato (and who isn't, right?) you will discover a gelato store as you enter the village and look to the left.  I've tried gelato in many European cities, and I can say with all confidence that the gelato in St. Paul is the best I've encountered, and is only rivaled by Fargii in Barcelona. 

This gelato was so good the kids dropped to the street and started eating!

This fountain is near the village center.  The water is potable!

Chocolates, caramels, and art.

We spent an hour and a half walking the streets.  If you like narrow, quaint, charming, and inviting, you will find St. Paul to be the quintessential French medieval village.  The streets are too narrow for cars, so you will see a few scooters and many push carts moving throughout the shops.  We stopped at a candy store named Le Cure Gourmande and bought some incredibly rich caramels and sampled several varieties of chocolate covered nuts.  And, if you like art and wine, this is your next favorite haunt.  Every other shop was either wine or art, and the quality of these products is unparalleled.  The clerks were friendly and inviting, and seemed to appreciate our interest in their products.

We could walk these enchanted streets all day!

If you walk to the end of the city, which is where the city wall forces you to turn to the left or right, you will see a commanding view of the sea and the rolling hills of the French Riviera.  And you will also find a cemetery, where Chagall is buried.  Another interesting point about St. Paul is the lack of bright colors you would notice in Nice or Cannes.  The drab stone colors are more consistent with the traditional French look.  I can tell you without a doubt that an hour and a half is insufficient amount of time for a visit to St. Paul. 

View from the end of the street with Mediterranean in background.

This is also where we discovered our first pay for service restroom.  It's common in Europe to pay for access to the services.  It is almost always less than a Euro, so keep some spare change in your pocket for just such an opportunity.  But, if you buy something in a restaurant, they will generally allow you to use their services for free.

Sadly, our time was exhausted and we were forced to surrender our delightful tour of France and return to the ship.  I will give you a little of Ingrid's background, so you have an idea who she is, and you might choose to request her as your guide.  She has a degree in archaeology, which gives her a very broad foundation for historical information and theories.  She was very concerned to know that we were happy with the progress of our tour, and she continually adjusted her presentation to match our interests.  She is from Paris, but prefers to live in the Nice area because she prefers small town living.  She is very fashionable and knows how to outfit any shopper who wants to experience shopping for the bling offered by the lifestyles of the rich and famous.  At the same time, she knows how to connect with tourists who want a quaint and introspective tour of the Riviera.  You won't regret having her as your guide.  Trust me!

Ingrid was a wonderful guide!

Do we look like we just returned from a medieval village or two?

That night we had a formal night on the cruise.  We made it back to the ship in time to get ready, but if you have formal attire that is a little less formal, this would be a good night for it.  If you require more than an hour to make your grand presentation, then you might be pressed for time if you have the first seating.  That evening we heard the horror stories of our family members who were on that group tour I mentioned earlier, not the ship sponsored one.  They had a family group in their tour that was left behind in Monte Carlo because they simply disappeared.  The guide waited for them until the last possible moment, but eventually had to get the other cruisers back to the ship (Our family made it back on the last tender…Whew).  That couple had to take a cab from Monaco to Cannes.  I'll wager that was an expensive ride.  Barbarians!  Private tours are worth the expense...  

Okay that was our first port and a fun day in France.  Tell me, am I posting too many photos?  Or would you like more?  Feel free to leave a comment below, you don't have to register.

Part I Getting there

Part II Barcelona

Part III Barcelona Continued

Part IV France

Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy

Part VI Rome

Part VII Sea Day

Part VIII Turkey

Part IX Athens 

Part X Santorini 

Part XI Sea Day 

Part XII Italy: Positano, Sorento, Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii 

Part XIII Sea Day

Part XIV Back to Barcelona

Part XV The Journey Home and Final Thoughts

Mediterranean Madness Part III, Barcelona Continued

Barcelona continued...

One of the hardest things we had to plan was our hotels in Barcelona for the day before the cruise and the day after.  Many of the hotels in Spain don't accommodate Four people; if you needed more space, you got a second room.  Since most of the rooms we were considering were running between 100 - 200 Euros each night, two rooms was going to significantly increase our expenditures.  But, Sarah, excessive planner that she is, found two hotels within our budget and desired area that would accommodate up to four people to a room.  She fussed with the details for a long time and when she found a rate she liked, she jumped on it.  In our opinion, we weren't going to find a better deal.  So, we ended up with reservations at the Hotel Regina for 150 Euro per night.  We were right off Plaza Catalunya and just at the top of Las Ramblas, a street famous for it's touristic shopping.  We found a great location!

 

One corner on Las Ramblas 

At the end of our tour Jordi dropped us off at the door to our hotel and gave us a recommendation for dinner.  We thanked him for a wonderful tour and proceeded to check in to our room.   Check in was quick and easy.  They do take all of your passport numbers down for the tourist tax and I had to fill out a form as the head of household stating that my children are under age 17 (they were exempt from the tax).

No matter where we go our children seem to enter a hotel room and then immediately detonate a dirty bomb.  They seem to explode upon entry.  I'm sorry we forgot to take pictures before we turned the kids loose.  But these pictures will work, I hope.  They have to.  We have no others.

  

We were so tired by this point; we actually had the discussion that we might just skip eating entirely for that day and go straight to bed.  But, Sarah and Caitie were starting to get headaches, so we summoned the strength to walk the two blocks to the restaurant.

Sarah's sister, brother-in-law, and parents as well as several of our cruise critic roll call buddies had been in Barcelona for several days already and had been posting pictures of the wonderful tapas and sangria.  We were determined to not to get on the ship without having sampled the food.  Jordi recommended Ciudad Condal, it was just a few blocks from the hotel.  

 It was very easy to find and we were quickly seated.  We sat for a few minutes examining the menu but were so tired that nothing was making sense to us.  The waiter finally came by (he was from the Philippines and spoke perfect English) and we explained that we had been up for 30 hours, did not know what we were doing, but really wanted to try some tapas and sangria.  He suggested we let him choose some of the more popular items to bring us.  This sounded like a plan we could get behind!  We tried some delicious tapas.  Unfortunately, it is a blur.  I know there were some bread and ham type meat.  There were veal medallions on toast.  There were papas bravas (fried potato wedges with a creamy sauce and red pepper sauce).  The kids had some mini hot dog and hamburger tapas.  The sangria was delicious but went straight to our very tired heads.  It turned out to be a great meal.  We were satisfied with our tapas experience.  On the way back to the hotel the kids spotted a Burger King.  We stopped and picked up some nuggets and fries to carry back to the hotel in case someone woke up hungry at a strange time.  We didn't have to worry about that because as soon as the kids got still they were down for the count!

 

Seth fell asleep playing his game and Caitie went down while drawing!

That night we went to bed at 6:30 and slept soundly until 4 AM.  Hotel Regina is a very nice hotel, and the rooms are comfortable, the beds, which were all single beds, were comfortable, and I suppose the bidet was comfortable, if that's possible.  One quirky thing about the hotel was trying to figure out how to turn on the lights.  We walked around hitting every switch and looking for a breaker box, but then Sarah remembered reading that your key card must be inserted into a slot on the wall.  We did that and, "voila" the lights came on!  Very clever, so long as you don't lose your key.  Plus, it helps you remember to take your key with you when you leave your room. 

 

When we woke up (at 4am) it was much too early to get going so we used the excellent hotel Wi-Fi to FaceTime my parents back in Texas.  Of course it was midnight to them so we woke them up, but they were glad to hear from us none the less.  We chatted for a while and got ready for the day.  We left the hotel about 8AM to walk around the town.  We ambled down a very quiet Las Ramblas until we found La Boqueria.

La Boqueria Market...well, a small portion of it. 

 

Various shots of the market...

 

A great place in the market to stop for breakfast.

We wandered around the market marveling at all the item being set up for the day.  We found a little spot at the back of the market to have some breakfast.  Churros y Chocolate!  Delicioso! And the coffee was also fantastic.  The kids ate the chocolate with a spoon!  

 

 

The Columbus statue is pointing at India, in case you wondered.

We continued our walk down to the Columbus statue, then back up Las Ramblas and off through the Barri Gotic.  We ended up at the Barcelona Cathedral.  It is a magnificent structure.  There was no charge to enter the Cathedral but proper dress was required.  Luckily we were properly covered and allowed to enter. 

 

After our visit to the Cathedral we headed back to the hotel to pack up for the cruise.  We got back to the room and gathered our things and checked out about 11:45.  We had prepaid this room on Hotels.com so we only had to pay the tourist tax which was a couple of Euros.

Random shot.  Who knows?

We went out to the street to find a taxi and there was one sitting right there!  We started loading our bags into the back then I noticed the meter was already running.  Hmmm....we realized then that someone had called for this cab and we quickly took our things out of the trunk.  We didn't want to pay that extra charge (if you have the hotel summon your cab for you the meter starts when he gets the call).  We only had to wait a couple of minutes for another cab to pass by and we snagged it.  Loaded up and headed off to the port. 

The cab ride to the port was 15-20 minutes and cost about 24 Euros for the four of us. We arrived just after noon.  This was a departure from our normal cruise routine where we get to the port as early as we think we can get away with and end up sitting, waiting for them to let us board.  We were able to check in within minutes (they did keep our passports which are returned after the stop in Turkey) and walk directly onto the ship.  No waiting.  It was great.  We did stop at the duty free shops after check in and buy two bottles of Cava for about 10 Euros each to carry on board.  Cava is Spain's version of Champagne, and is quite pleasant. 

Once on board we headed to the Windjammer where we got some lunch and found some family.  The rest of the family had been staying in a different hotel in Barcelona and had spent several extra days there so we actually did not see them until we boarded the ship.  Then went to the stateroom, which was ready.  Our luggage had already been delivered to our room!  All five pieces!  And it was only about 1:30! 

Chris and Mich (Sarah's sister), and Chris' mother, Meg.  Chris playing putt putt with his father, Chris, Sr. and grandpa, Mr. (Bill) Bellamy.

We're ready to roll...or sail! 

Now I will mention the only big disappointment on this cruise, our stateroom.  We had originally booked a balcony.  Then in an effort to save money dropped down to an ocean view.  A few months before the cruise I caught a rate that gave me a balcony guarantee for the same price as my OV so I switched.  The rooms were assigned and we got 7154.  I found out about the white ship structure that would be just off my balcony, didn't really bother me.  We like the balcony just because it's nice to be able to step right outside from the room and not have to go to another deck.  But it was the configuration of the 3^rd and 4^th berths that made this room almost unliveable.  

We squished the hide a bed back a little to move around the room.  Once someone is in it, you are landlocked!

 

When the four beds were out you could not get to the bathroom.  We have sailed many times with our kids in the same cabin and until this cruise Carnival held the honor of the worst layout but that has been handed over to this cabin!  I know it is not the case for all RCCL ships because we have not had this issue before.  But now it is a question Sarah will definitely ask.  The balcony was a definite plus though!  In fact, the balcony was almost exactly the same size as the stateroom!

 

The main dining room and our table.  Mike and George Anne are Sarah's parents. We had a great time eating every night with her folks.

The rest of this day was spent exploring the ship and unpacking.  We went to our first dinner in the main dining room.  We had early seating and all of our reservations had been linked.  They put us as two tables (one for 10, one for 6).  This worked fine except it would have been nice if the same server had been working both tables.  As it was, the table for 10 was always finished much faster than our table of 6.  This made coordinating after dinner activities more difficult.  But it wasn't a big problem.  After dinner we went to the Welcome Aboard Show featuring Sasha and Luis (Gauchos).  In retrospect, I would have gladly skipped this show for some extra sleep.  Not good.  After the show it was off to bed.  We were still feeling the effects of the jet lag and we had to be ready for Cannes, France the next morning!

Now, about Barcelona...  We loved it!  It is a beautiful city with a rich cultural and historical past, and it is a city with a vision for the future.  I can see why it is the third most visited city in the European Union, with Rome being first, and Paris second.  I would have to say, though, the city is a bit schizophrenic.  With the ancient influences of Rome, the fortifications of the Catalonians, and the bizarre and partly insane designs of Gaudi, there was so much contrast that we had trouble making sense of it.  Perhaps being so exhausted, that's the way we interpreted it.  But when you are sleep deprived, and then you stand in front of a Gaudi designed building that has the appearance of melted wax, it is hard to keep a firm grasp on reality!

And next is France and our first day of cruising! 

Part I Getting there

Part II Barcelona

Part III Barcelona Continued

Part IV France

Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy

Part VI Rome

Part VII Sea Day

Part VIII Turkey

Part IX Athens 

Part X Santorini 

Part XI Sea Day 

Part XII Italy: Positano, Sorento, Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii 

Part XIII Sea Day

Part XIV Back to Barcelona

Part XV The Journey Home and Final Thoughts