Relaxing Day on the French Riviera

Theresa writes:

Day 34

This morning we woke up and threw open the French doors to admire our amazing view.  Our apartment is five floors up so we enjoy a sweeping view of the bay from the terracotta colours of Villefranche old town on our right to the green peninsula  of Cape Ferrat on the left.  The flat has a long deck and three sets of French doors so both bedrooms and the living space open onto the balcony.

The flat itself is worthy of comment.  It was built in the early 60’s and hasn’t been renovated since.  The lino on the floor, the brown/orange pelmets and couch coverings are a homage to this bygone decade.  All the furnishings are also  of the era – obviously the current owner bought the flot lock stock and barrel off the original owners.  It has a certain charm and the wide open spaces of the living areas mean its perfect for our stay but the lack of a shower and the dodgy wiring are the downsides to their unmodernised flat.

No food in the house for breakfast so we headed over to Monaco.  Its only the next bay over but we enjoy the novelty of popping to another country for a meal.  Filled with croissants, pastries and coffee we spend couple of hours exploring the city.  Its highly built up with lots of construction going on – a quick look in the real estate window shows average price for a 2 bed flat is around 2.5 million euros…  Loads of superyachts in the marina, expensive supercars on the streets and tourists everywhere.

Home for lunch and then a short walk down to the beach where we while away the afternoon.  Scott leaves us at 4 to head to Nice for a football game and the kids and I stay for another hour before grabbing an ice-cream and heading home to get changed for dinner.  We are going to eat out in Villefranche tonight and grab the bus to town. Unfortunately I stay on the bus one stop too long and we have a good 10 minute walk back into town which the kids are unimpressed with. 

One street back from the beach we start our search for a good restaurant to eat at.  The kids select an Italian place la tavola and to our delight we are given a table on a private terrace.  We are separated from the other areas by bamboo and greenery with a peep of ocean to look at.  The food is fabulous and the kids well behaved and I enjoy one of the nicest meals of the trip.    The last bus has stopped running so we walk home via the waterfront with it sparkling lights from restaurants and me pigging backing Emma most of the way….

Goodbye Villefranche I think we are all a little sad to leave here so soon.