Villefranche-sur-Mer: What’s Not to LOVE? - July 18, 2010

Senne's Summary:

Saturday - We left Aix, and took train to Villefranche-sur-Mer. It’s fabulous here.

Sunday-Went to the beach…toured a Cliffside Fortress (drawbridge included).

Saturday July 17, 2010

This morning we woke up at 8:00! HOLY EARLY! We packed our bags and had a lovely Pain au Chocolat for breakfast. We met Eric to get back our damage deposit, and then walked to the bus station. I carried my bag the whole way again (with only one little sit down rest!)!!! We caught the shuttle and headed off to the TGV station. It’s about 17 km out of town… seems kind of inconvenient for tourists, but I suspect the people that live in Aix thought it might keep their city quieter. They announce which track our train will be on, 1 minute before it pulls into the station. You need to be on the ball and fast, because the train does not stop for long! We got on the train… kicked some guy out of our seats 😉 and settled in for the ride. The train is an excellent way to travel! Lots of room, fast, easy, cheap… I like it!

My favourite part of the train ride was when we actually got to see the ocean again! We were both very excited about that. It’s funny how you can just miss seeing the ocean!

Our train arrives in Nice almost exactly on time and then we have to figure out how to get to Villefranche. I had the vague instruction "take the regional train". It didn’t take too long and we had figured out where to get tickets and were out by the track waiting for our next train. We only had to be on the train for two stops, and then we were in Villefranche! We exit the train station and go to our meeting place with Shelley, which is literally at a restaurant just down the stairs from the train station. She is checking another guest in at another one of her apartments (she has 7!), so we sit and enjoy a milk shake while we wait.

When Shelley arrives we are pleasantly surprised to find out our apartment is just upstairs! Steps from the beach. YES!!!! The best part about seeing the apartment was when we walked in and she opened the front window. There is a giant picture window that slides into the wall, and an automatic metal blind that goes up. When the window was open, it was like we were sitting outside, right in front of the Mediterranean Sea!

The apartment is perfect. It’s small, but nicely remodeled and has everything we need including, Internet, English TV, beach chairs, fridge for the diet coke, etc.

After Shelley gives us the grand tour we go in search of some insect repellent (I already have 4 GIANT mosquito bites!) Apparently they don’t sell bug spray here. I used some of Steve’s witch hazel on my current bites which seems to shrink them up a bit, and close the door to the back garden where it appears the mosquitoes are coming from.

A view of Villefranche-sur-Mer from the Beach

Next comes my favourite part! We go down to the beach and get in the water. AAAAH! The water is beautiful. Even though the sun has set (it’s still light out) the water is warm and refreshing! We stayed in the water for quite some time, had a little walk and then went back to our apartment. We both agree it’s an excellent first day!

Sunday July 18, 2010

Okay this is the place for us! This is exactly what we like… heat, ocean, beautiful scenery, I can see cruise ships anchored while laying in bed, a relaxed pace….. ahhhhh!

The view from our apartment out to the bay

This morning we went down to the beach. It was packed with people but we managed to find a nice place right in front of the water. We went swimming and then lay on the beach…. Repeat… repeat… We also had a nice little baguette sandwich from a vendor on the beach. No regular beach food here (fries, hot dogs, etc) but much healthier baguettes :)

We decided to have a little out of the sun time and went back to the apartment for a game of cards… I can’t tell you the name we’ve given our game (inappropriate again)… but I can tell you that UNFORTUNATELY Steve is the reigning champion… sigh.

When we’d cooled off a bit we walked down the waterfront and found a little Brasserie that served Tapas. We had an excellent little lunch overlooking the bay. Then we wandered further into the old town and found an old cliffside fortress. It even had the remnants of a drawbridge. Sadly, the drawbridge did not operate anymore, because I REALLY wanted to see it in action! There was lots of interesting cannons, ruins, etc. up there. (forgot the camera) and of course the view from the top was amazing.

Next we wandered through the old town, picked up a few things at the epicerie and headed home to play more cards (remember if Lisa doesn’t win we play again!). I still didn’t win. 😦

We decided to go for a night swim. There was still quite a few people at the beach (maybe 100?), and there were still a few people in the water. This is a big deal for me, because I don’t like to go in the water in the dark… who knows what’s lurking there. (I’ve watched A LOT of scary movies!) I managed to get over it (well I was really hot, that helped encourage me) and we went for a swim in the dark, dark, ocean! It was actually very nice. Then we sat outside for a bit looking at the stars and the lights off the boats.

A very relaxing day in paradise.

PS Some of you have asked me if I’m ready to come home yet. The answer is NO! As a matter of fact, if I could find a way to stay here, I would 😁 You’d all come visit us, right?!?