Cruising the French Riviera

Our ship left the quaint coastal towns of Italy and headed to the swankiness of the French Riviera. First up, Cannes!

The film festival had ended just days before so sadly, star-watching was out (15 years prior I had been in the city during the festival, which was eye-candy overdose!) but this city is a star all on its own. Slip upon slip of mega-yachts, gorgeous beaches, pricy boutiques, and opulent hotels line the main strip La Croisette.

We found a huge farmers market and happily wandered the stalls of unique offerings; vegetables, fish, olive oils, patés, bakery goods, etc. I think the best view into a city's culinary style is to check out the food markets, plus it's just damn fun to see so many unfamiliar items. And tasty.

After a quick rosé break down by the waterfront, we continued down La Croisette making our way to the famed Hotel InterContinental Carlton and took seats outside on the patio for drinks and snacks. Posh.

We shopped around town as we made our way back to the ship via tender. A quick clean up, a cheerful in-room happy hour, and we were back on the tender.
Most cruises have at least one full day at sea, but since all our destinations were fairly close together we left each of our port of calls in the evening and awoke each morning to a new gem. Two exceptions were overnights in Cannes and Monaco. We took advantage of the anchor and headed back into Cannes for an absolutely delicious dinner at Le Relais des Semailles in the charming old town.

We chose to spend our second day in Cannes on the ship, the entire day spent lounging in the sun. They opened the marina again so Dayne tried some stand-up paddle boarding. Later that afternoon DeLille presented a tasting class pitting DeLille wines again some Old World ones. It was just a really relaxing day topped off with a special dinner by Chef Moore, this one better than the first as he mentioned he also got to go shopping at Cannes' farmers market.

On day six we awoke in Saint-Tropez. Lauren and I had morning massages in the ship's spa and then we all took the tender to shore. We spent the morning ogling the luxury speed boats, exploring cobble-stoned lanes, and watching the red and white outfitted contestants of an annual regatta as they discussed strategy, or maybe rosé.

Lunch of moules mariniere was had along the marina in a restaurant with a slide-open ceiling, followed by gelato and more yacht shopping. We headed back to the ship to soak up some rays and take in the view of Saint-Tropez.

Our next port was Monaco where we had two days during the infamous Grand Prix. I wrote about our experience here.

Our nine day cruise finished up in Nice. It's cheezy to comment on how nice this was, right? Oh well.

We walked a short way from where we disembarked to the Hotel Suisse. Our room had a balcony with a fantastic view of the beach and the town, I only wished we had more days to enjoy it but we were just there for an overnight.

Nice is another city I had been to years ago and I was really excited to be there again. We started by exploring the flea market in Cours Saleya, it just happened to be Monday, the only day of the week it runs. It is a big market, filled with an assortment of antique silver, linens, paintings, dishes, etc.

Then after a delicious boulangerie breakfast we walked to the Musee Marc Chagall. I absolutely love Chagall and found this to be one of the most beautiful collections of his work I have ever seen. When in Nice I'd say this is a do-not-miss!

We headed back to Cours Saleya, many of the market stalls now packing up, and chose Le Quai Restaurant for a very good lunch.

That evening we had our last dinner at Luc Salsedo. It was the perfect end to our trip, delicious food that was regional and seasonal, a comfortable but not stuffy dining room, and great service.

We were up the next morning before the city fully awoke and had one last glimpse of the Mediterranean before catching our flight home. 

Photos from the French Riviera are here.

Cruising the Italian Coast

A few years ago we went on a cruise up the Italian coast to the French Riviera. If that sounds lovely it's because it was. We sailed on the Windstar Windsurf which, at least at that time, was the world's largest commercial yacht. Topping all off this goodness was that DeLille Cellars was the host so all of their wines were on-board, available, and included in our price. Unlimited wine. Score!

We boarded a charter bus in Rome and were taken to Civitavecchia Port about an hour and a half away.

The ship was absolutely beautiful.  While our luggage was being delivered to our rooms we got all checked in while sipping on complimentary mimosas.

I've been on 2 other cruises, both with the huge cruise lines, and was expecting the same sort of cramped and uninspiring lodgings, but this room was great! Really thoughtful set up, it used the space super efficiently. Even the bathroom was excellent. The 5-mast sailing vessel had approximately 300 passengers and 150 crew.

We sailed away from Rome's port, enjoying the festive bon voyage atmosphere, (and the free wine) outside on the deck even though some weird clouds threatened to dampen us and the mood.

The next morning, after having breakfast in bed, we met our friends Paul and Lauren and set off to explore our first port, Portoferraio, Elbe. It was an easy walk to the town center and we did a bit of exploring on the way to our destination- Napoleon's house during his exile on Elbe.

We walked up a street of stairs and peeked into a church halfway up, finding the alter inside to have some strange bones.Turns out they are the remains of San Cristino, the martyr patron saint of Portoferraio.

San Cristino, the martyr patron saint of Portoferraio - See more at: http://www.infoelba.com/island-of-elba/territory-history/places-to-see/churches-sanctuaries/misericordia-church/#sthash.cEuWyht6.dpuf

San Cristino, the martyr patron saint of Portoferraio - See more at: http://www.infoelba.com/island-of-elba/territory-history/places-to-see/churches-sanctuaries/misericordia-church/#sthash.cEuWyht6.dpuf

Napoleon's house was really nice but the gardens were gorgeous! Interesting plants and trees, pretty birds, stunning views of the deep blue sea, and warm sun made us think he didn't have it too hard during his stint here.

We did a bit of shopping and had lunch on the port before returning to the ship with plenty of time to get in some sunbathing. When our ship sailed, unfurling the five sails and cutting the engine, we had excellent seats (and wine) for views of the lush coastline.

We arrived the next morning in Portofino, our ship anchored outside of the tiny harbor. We took a tender in and were instantly charmed by this absolutely most picturesque of towns. Brightly colored buildings, boats ranging from super-yachts to individual fishing skiffs, and horseshoe shaped waterfront were almost too perfectly pretty. 

We walked the path up to the church and castle, stopping to peek at the cemetery with its gravestone markers containing photos of the deceased, like this handsome devil (did his family really want to remember him like this?)

Then we continued on the path heading around the point and back down, giving us spectacular views of the ocean, our ship at anchor, and taking us through a forest of really lovely trees, plants, and flowers.

We wandered along the main town and found seats waterside on the quiet arm of the harbor, at a great little shop/eatery. Champagne and amazing snacks, coupled with some gourmet food shopping, were just what I needed.

Back on board the ship we found they had the on-board marina open, the lower back of the boat opens and you can go water skiing, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, etc. Dayne and I chose to dive into the warm blue ocean for a little swim.

Each night we hosted an evening happy hour in our room, ordering a cheese tray, popcorn, or the like. There was actually enough room for the four of us to hang out comfortably. The rooms don't have balconies like on the big ships, but there are portholes letting in light and ocean views.

Before dinner one evening we took advantage of the open-bridge policy and headed up to check out all the navigation and instruments. The 2nd in command was really nice explaining everything to us and even let me drive (kidding!).

The ship has two restaurants and as part of the DeLille package they had Chef Bobby Moore on-board to provide 2 special dinners. Overall we didn't find any of the dinners, regular chef or Seattle chef, to be anything outstanding but meals were ok. And breakfasts and lunches were good. And of course there was wine ;)

We left the shores of Italy and continued into France...

Photos from the Italian part of the cruise here.